Con Air (1997)
Director: Simon West
Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, John Cusack, Ving Rhames
Primary genre: Action
Secondary genre: Thriller
Nominated for: Best Original Song, Best Sound
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“Con Air” is a true product of the 90s; back then filmmakers attempted to entertain instead of prioritizing the in-your-face discussion of modern socio-economic issues and cringy identity politics at the expense of having a bloody good time at the movies.
Featuring Nicolas Cage, his gorgeous hairdo and a Southern Alabama accent as army ranger Cameron Poe, the script surrounds him with a wide and peculiar variety of crooks inside a US prison transfer flight that goes awfully wrong employing in the process some witty banter between these highly volatile individuals and taking the piss when it comes to their intelligence (Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama“ comment comes to mind).
Jerry Bruckheimer, the legendary action producer whose most recent hit at that point was “The Rock” (1996), seeks to reinvigorate big budget spectacle and while you might have thought that nothing could top Michael Bay’s essentially “Die Hard” (1988) clone, you keeps proving you wrong. Although most of the proceedings are confided inside a plane, there are overreaching (and occasionally banal) efforts to expand the action by including shoot outs, explosions, car chases, fist fights and a spectacular plane crash in Las Vegas that deserves the price of admission alone! You could almost think that such a title is misleading but under Simon West’s slick technical direction things make sense and are downright a joy to watch them unfold with a hefty dosage of humor too.
Yet, “Con Air” amidst all its offering chaos, never forgets to provide an emotional link for the audience in the form of a memorable and likeable main hero and Cage plays Cameron Poe to perfection without relying on Cag-isms and delivering some surprisingly funny one liners (“My first guess would be…a lot“). He is supported by an eclectic for this type of film cast that range from John Malkovich to Steve Buscemi who relish their roles as larger than life crooks and killers although they are too cartoony to be taken seriously and some hints around their own dynamics would have been great to explore. John Cusack on the other hand serves as a subtle and welcome commentary on the US penitentiary system and brings appropriate amiable charisma as a connoisseur sandal wearing law enforcement agent.
Do not go and expect too much from “Con Air” substance wise. It is a telegraphic film that pities under some of the most extraordinary circumstances ever conceived in paper, a hero and a villain and many would argue that such an element is part of its wide appeal since the film is on the joke too (“On any other day that might have seem strange“). “Con Air“ is pure pop corn entertainment made by the finest materials that money could buy (it was even nominated for Best Sound and Best Song in 1998) and dressed by the simple and effectively testosterone infused score by the former guitarist of “Yes”, Trevor Rabin and Mark Mancina. Board this flight asap.
One of the best action flicks of the 90’s
+Cage rules as Cameron Poe
+Supporting cast is top notch
+Practical action overload
+Well crafted
+Likeable hero
+Great and appropriate score
-Would be great to explore dynamics between prisoners
-Prisoner archetypes