Loud , brash , over the top action movie extravagance

Rating: 6/10 (16 August 2013)

"Con air" defines the term "popcorn movie". It's an action film designed strictly to entertain. The film is over-the-top with over-the-top characters, dialogue and situations that are just too unbelievable to happen in real life. It's done DELIBERATELY . "Con Air" is pure cartoonish excess from start to finish . A genuine escapism. At no point does this film ever take itself seriously. I cant help but feel that people who didn't liked this movie haven't realized the joke.
The movie was inspired by a newspaper article about a plane that transports convicts. The story does have resemblance to "Die hard". Anyway , the story is rather thin , full of holes and the characters are one dimensional The screenplay however deserves praise for the dialogues and colorful characters.
Direction by Simon West is great. He has a quick-cut, music-video sensibility . The film moves along at a brisk pace, cheerfully glossing over its own improbabilities, you might even not notice the plot holes because things are happening so quick. West manages to cut from one story arc to another with a certain amount of skill, keeping each arc from completely snowballing into something unmanageable. West keeps you on the edge of your seat with the non stop action. There are multiple destructions of all kinds throughout the film and countless explosions. From one devastating climax to another devastating climax. At the end you'll be left breathless and your senses stinging with over-stimulation. The corny emotional sequences, however, ring completely hollow.
There is a hell of impressing cast here : John Malkovich ( superb as crazy bad motherf***** Cyrus The Virus) , Steve Buscemi ( a brilliant pastiche of Hannibal Lecter with his Garland Greene) , John Cusack ( nice good guy) , Ving Rhames ( great as intellectual black racist) , Danny Trejo ( good as sadistic rapist Johnny 23) , Dave Chappelle (the first and only time he was funny – as Pinball) and finally Nicolas Cage ( a weird mix of Jesus and Rambo , but it works).
Also the lesser known actors deserve applause : Renoly (as the gay prisoner Sally Can't Dance) , Colm Meaney (as the asshole cop) , Mykelti Williamson ( as the always suffering Baby O) , Rachel Ticotin ( as tough guard Sally Bishop) and Monica Potter (as the loving wife Tricia Poe).
The movie is full of great dialogues and one liners . Here are some of my favourite quotes : "Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash." And "Insanity, I'll tell you what insanity is: spending sixty years working in an office only to end up in an old folks home to die an undignified death while trying to get to the toilet – that is insanity" . Who could forget "Put the bunny down" or "He's got the whole world in his hands".
Non stop action and hundreds of classic one-liners, what's here not to love ? "Con air" it's an endlessly re-watchable genuine action movie escapism. Lynrynd Skynryd " Sweet home Alabama" is a song that reminds me of this movie . Simple , unambitious , fun and charming . Just like "Con air" . I give it 7/10.