Flying solo men? Here is a film that will complete any Saturday night being spent alone

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2006)

If there is nothing else to do on your wimpy, pathetic, miserable life, then do what most lonely people should do on a Saturday night: check out a mindless action flick. Of course, the trick is, finding an actual good one. The 80s was a decade chock full of them, but the past two decades, we've seen quite a decline on full-powered action movies destined to destroy the plot and still be able to run on fight after gunfight after explosion after unnecessary roughness. The Rundown is an example of an action flick that doesn't allow the plot to conquer the film, and allows for style to conquer substance. The Transporter relies on an extremely simple plot and expands upon it with a long action scene that runs in the second half of the movie. Jerry Bruckheimer knows how to blow things up (a lot of things I may add), and while this isn't always good for Hollywood, which doesn't get many films nowadays that can be attributed to the word "instant classic" or "masterpiece," the technique does indeed work for this movie; the mindless yet satisfying Con Air.
Con Air has enough action, blood, and guts to make you look away at the screen and wipe off the bloodstains that have suddenly appeared all over your shirt. While being hyper-violent but not a point of losing too much realism, Con Air stands as one of Bruckheimer's best works, director Simon West's best work, and one of the best action movies to come out within the last 15 years. Also, unlike most action movies released in history, this one actually has believable acting, some convincingly tough and creepy convicts, and also doesn't allow the sappy moments to soak in on the running time.
Convicts. Plane. Convicts entering plane. Smart convicts. Hero of story is at the wrong place at the wrong time. Convicts take over. Simple enough? Now, add the fact that more convicts have to enter the plane, add the fact that some feds want to shoot the plane down despite the innocent folks boarding, add the one guy about to die if he doesn't take his insulin, add the one female aboard and a rapist ready for his next victim, and then add the psychotic murderer who scares even the toughest aboard. We get conflict after conflict after conflict; it doesn't end. By the time the movie is over, we'll be able to see four to five fights, one massive gun battle, and a dozen action sequences, some ranging from short, to amazingly loooong.
Scott Rosenberg does a superb job in giving the characters in the film a lot to do, even with the film clocking in at two hours. Also, he doesn't sap the movie up with too many tear-jerking scenes about Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage) wanting to see his wife and daughter after 8 years. John Malkovich is excellent as the main villain, as he is violent, unsympathetic, yet portrays himself as trigger-happy, when he is much smarter than the impression he gives others. Ving Rhames does his usual awesome performance as the main villain's second-hand man. Rounding out the supporting cast is Dave Chappelle, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, Mykelti Williamson, M.C. Gainey, and also John Cusack.
Con Air takes no prisoners, literally and figuratively. This is a Man's film, and it's not for the easily offended or queasy. This film has it all: good fights, action sequences that stretch beyond the imagination, brutal deaths, amazing gun battles, and then an obsession with pyrotechnics that delivers so many explosions, it almost looks like World War III was going on. The special effects were excellent and was never overused, and rarely did it ever look unrealistic. But for some odd reason, everything flammable that you can possibly think of just happens to show up.
With little time to think about what just happened, you are forced to sit there, like some of the victims in the plane, and go along for a wild ride that seemed to have no end. Nonetheless, it's a better ride than you would expect out of an action movie that has more fire than air in almost every frame. Witty dialogue, nice little twists, well-thought out sequences, and a cleverly creepy scene involving the most psychotic killer and the most innocent of children rounds out the 1997 action blockbuster.
Bottom Line: Lowlifes, single men, get off your seat, and rent Con Air. You'll forget your troubles; you'll forget everything that's going on, because this movie won't allow you to think. Instead, you'll be practically forced to sit there and witness all the carnage, all the senseless violence, and all the bitter, no-holds-barred action that is sprinkled upon every single set and scenery in the movie. No, that's not a bad thing at all. Despite the fact that mixing action with good acting and great writing happens so seldom it can be considered a modern-day contradiction, Con Air pulls it off nicely. The movie doesn't take long to start, and once it starts, it will continue flying high on bloodshed up until the very end. This is indeed a Man's film. Before Snakes on a Plane, there were convicts on a plane. Difference is, the snakes didn't have motivation, or weapons of mass destruction. Con Air: please remain seated, and enjoy the trip