You're not meant to take it seriously, so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Rating: 9/10 (27 August 2016)

Con Air was one of my favourite movies growing up and to this day I still enjoy watching it from time to time. Con Air was another reason Nicolas Cage was one of my favourite actors as a teenager, although nowadays not so much. Con Air is still enjoyable eye candy with non stop action, explosions, and crackling one liners. John Malkovich is a delight as the lead villain and John Cusack who is normally well known for comedies and dramatic films did great in his first action movie.
Former Army Ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage, The Rock) is sentenced to 10 years in prison after he kills a drunken lout who accosts him and his pregnant wife Trish (Monica Potter, Along Came a Spider), despite the fact Cameron was acting in self defence. After being paroled after 8 years and keen to meet his daughter that he has never met, Cameron is flown to Alabama on board the Jailbird along with a number of dangerous criminals being flown to a new maximum security prison. The assortment of criminals include Cyrus "Cyrus The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich, In the Line of Fire), Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones (Ving Rhames, Pulp Fiction), John "Johnny 23" Baca (Danny Trejo, Heat), William "Billy Bedlam" Bedford (Nick Chinlund, Training Day), Joe "Pinball" Parker (Dave Chappelle, The Dave Chappelle Show), "Swamp Thing" Williams (M. C. Gainey, Breakdown), and Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire). While Cameron tries to keep his head down and stop the crisis, he also works to protect his diabetic friend Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson, Forrest Gump) as well as the guards kept hostage including Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin, Total Recall). Meanwhile on the ground, US Marshal Vince Larkin (John Cusack, Grosse Point Blank) must also work to stop the criminals from escaping custody however his efforts are hampered by headstrong DEA Agent Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney, Under Siege) who is eager to have the plane obliterated from the sky.
Following the success of the blockbuster hit The Rock (1996), Nicolas Cage's career kicked into another gear in the late 1990's with Con Air. His accent may be a bit dodgy, but Cage looks impressive after pumping iron for his role as Cameron Poe and getting involved with doing his own stunts. John Cusack who is well known for romantic comedies such as Say Anything...(1989) does a great job as US Marshall Vince Larkin who seems like the only ally he has is Cameron Poe in taking down the dangerous convicts who have seized control of the Jailbird. John Malkovich who has always been a quality actor sinks his teeth into his role as Cyrus the Virus and comes up with all the cool one liners throughout the movie. The rest of the supporting cast including Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi also do a fantastic job in their respective roles.
Simon West makes his directorial debut with Con Air and it is unfortunate that he hasn't hit the same heights of success with his subsequent movies with movies such as The General's Daughter (1999), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), and The Expendables 2 (2012). Con Air would also be the first movie produced by the then-newly established Jerry Bruckheimer Studios after Jerry Bruckheimer went solo following the tragic death of his producing partner Don Simpson in 1996.
Con Air is everything that is to like about blockbusting action movies. One where you can just sit back and enjoy all the action. The story and some of the acting may be divisive, but put all of that aside and enjoy the fun.
9/10.