THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Action is awesome and if you don’t believe me, watch Con Air.
PLOT
The film follows combat veteran Cameron Poe who is sentenced to ten years in prison after accidentally killing one of three intoxicated men that attempted to assault his pregnant wife Tricia (Monica Potter). Eight years later, he is paroled and boards a flight to Alabama on a converted transport plane known as the 'Jailbird'. Aside from his diabetic cell mate Mike 'Baby O' O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson), he is boarded with very dangerous criminals that include the likes of: serial rapist 'Johnny 23' Baca, mass murderer 'Billy Bedlam' Bedford, Black Guerilla member Nathan Jones/Diamond Dog and career criminal Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom. The flight is overseen by US Marshal Vince Larkin. Before takeoff, he is approached by DEA agents Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney) and Willie Sims (Jose Zuniga). The latter plans to go undercover to get information from drug kingpin Francisco Cindino (Jesse Borrego), who will be picked up en route. By the time the Jailbird is in the air, all hell breaks loose. Joe 'Pinball' Parker sets another prisoner on fire with smuggled kerosene. This distraction helps him free Cyrus, Nathan and Bedford. They plan to fly towards a non-extradition country after the scheduled transfer at Carson Airport. Sims tries to retake control, but is quickly killed by Cyrus in the process. Since some of the other prisoners were killed in the crossfire, they intend to disguise the guards and tape their mouths as a precaution, including the pilot. Cameron wants to leave in order to expose what is happening, but chooses to stay in order to look over Baby O and protect the female guard Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin) from Johnny. Standing up to Johnny puts him in good grace with Cyrus. During the swap, he puts Sims' tape to the disguised guard in hopes for word to get out of what's going on. The new set of prisoners that get picked up include: Cindino who planned the escape with Cyrus, cross dresser Ramon 'Sally Can't Dance' Martinez (Renoly Santiago), Earl 'Swamp Thing' Williams (MC Gainey) whose aviation experience assigns him as the new pilot and serial killer Garland Greene. Pinball gets killed by the plane when crushed to death by the in the cargo hold. Before Cameron dumps his body, he sends a message to Larkin to update what's going on. The marshal does get the news after discovering evidence of Cyrus's plan to escape in his old cell. With the tape being sent back and getting messaged via Pinball's corpse, Larkin is certain that Cameron is on his side to stop Cyrus. Realizing that their next stop is the opposite direction to the disused Lerner Airfield, he dirves there personally and calls National Guard for backup before Jailbird lands there. Cameron takes a risk of keeping his identity secret by killing Bedlam when he found evidence on him, as he was raiding the cargo. When landing at Lerner, there is no second plane waiting for them. Cameron points to Cyrus that it's possible that Cindino could be betraying him. As everyone waits, he scouts the area to find insulin for Baby O, but encounters Larkin who understands what he's doing. However, both find the plane Cindino promised, but is protected by goons of his own who plan to leave the others behind. After their stand off, Cindino tries to sneak away, but Larkin disables the plane and crashes it. When Cyrus sees this and realizes he was betrayed, he retaliates by killing Cindino, burning him alive. With armed forces advancing, Cyrus tries to ambush them but Larkin is able to intervene by reactivating unused plow that becomes a bulletproof shield for them. Cameron does find insulin to save Baby O, while also stopping Johnny again from raping Bishop, cuffing him to one of the plane's cells. When the troops are able to overrun the trap, the prisoners take off on the Jailbird once again. When Bedford's body is found, Cyrus shoots Baby O, realizing Cameron's true intentions. Before he could kill hyphen both, Larkin and Malloy arrive in attack helicopters, damaging Jailbird's fuel tank. This results in the plane crashing into the Las Vegas Strip, resulting in Johnny as the only casualty. When the authorities arrive, Baby O is taken to the hospital and the other escapees are arrested once again. However, Cyrus, Nathan and Earl flee once again via firetruck. Larkin and Cameron chase them down to prevent them from escaping. Cameron crushes Nathan with a motorbike and Larkin floods the cab with a fire hose, resulting in Swamp Thing to crash and jump out the windshield. Cameron also pins Cyrus to the firetruck and when it crashes, he crashes through an overpass, gets electrocuted by power lines and finally dies when his head is crushed by a pile driver at a nearby construction site. Cameron does reunite with Tricia and meets his daughter Casey (Landry Allbright) for the first time, but the film ends in a surprising cliffhanger where Garland Greene is only one to be seen successfully escaping, gambling at a casino.
THOUGHTS I first saw this film sometime in 2015 and personally, I still think this is pretty fun to watch. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Director Simon West succeed in providing such high octane action you’ll ever see. Having well crafted practical sequences like the Vegas chase or the Lerner ambush makes it hard to not enjoy. Like a lot of action movies, I get a kick out of it because between the all the mayhem, you learn the sense of morality. It sparks the question on should be involved in something when it’s not your business. We’re being told that when you something go wrong, you shouldn’t be afraid to step up. You get that message in the perspective of our lead protagonist. Nicolas Cage gives a good performance out of Cameron Poe for making him a soldier with a heart. He didn’t deserve the punishment he got but he chose not to fight for his right because it could’ve gotten worse. He chose to miss his original opportunity to escape because his instinct of not leaving people behind got the better of him. There was no way he would forgive himself if he left Baby O and Bishop to their deaths. The journey he would then go through became worth it in the long run because he still got to see his family. Whatever version you hear from the song ‘How Do I Live’ written by Diane Warren, you’ll likely enjoy as I do because it expresses how much he loves his family and when you hear it play when he reunites with them, you can’t help but choke up as they embrace. Although Cage shined bright as Poe, he wasn’t the only sane protagonist in this film. John Cusack is awesome playing Vince Larkin because he is someone who tries to own up his mistakes and doesn’t hesitate trying to fix it. Once he realized shit hit the fan, there was no way he was gonna stand by and let the criminals escape. And seeing him be on the same page as Poe and understands his motive, it shows that great allies can come from unexpected places. When you have a movie with respectable protagonists, you need formidable antagonists to go along with it and did we get a colorful bunch. Dave Chapelle was straight forward hilarious as the mild mannered who died so ridiculously. Danny Trejo and Nick Chinlund gave their own layers of cynical in their villainous roles. Trejo accurately presents Johnny 23 as pervertedly lustful while Chinlund portrays Billy Bedlam as a smart yet sadistic figure. So when they die as well, I’m not phased because they had it coming. Ving Rhames makes Diamond Dog a standout because despite having his own set of prejudice, he’s willing to cooperate to further his goal of freedom. The most surprisingly interesting character to be shown is Garland Greene. Thanks to the versatile performance by Steve Buscemi, he throws in more complexity than expected in his given time. We know from the get go that he is psychotic for his actions, but his time in prison has now put him in a crossroads. It gets more surprising that a random encounter with a little girl unexpectedly helped him change his perspective of life. I’m not sure if he deserves the freedom he gained from escaping, but I do respect that he intends to be a whole new person since sparing the child proves his intent to put the past behind him. Last but not least, the best of villains in this film will always be Cyrus the Virus. Portrayed spectacularly by John Malkovich, he is bad all the way through like those that follow him and lives to be as toxic as his nickname suggests. It makes sense that if he wants to be free, he’s gonna be as destructive as possible to get what he wants. When you got a lunatic as an escapologist, you just know you’re gonna be in trouble. And when died as well, I don’t think there is exaggeration that the world felt a little safer with him gone for good. I'll never stop saying how fun this is, but it ain't gonna excuse some issues I spotted. First off, I know the drunk guy harasses Cameron because he is drunk, but how do you make an impact on the insult if you're giving him the money to pay for them? It felt so dumb that the shit talking was basically asking someone to run an errand. While I thought that the escape plan for the prisoners is pretty smart, it looked way too easy mainly because Bishop's keys were so easily accessible. Had she had them a little less accessible for someone to snatch, then Pinball would've been on a time crunch to free Diamond Dog. Again, I don't care how long this was planned, but it looked too easy to pull off. It made sense for the original pilot to lie to Agent Ginny (Angela Featherstone) that the ruckus was minor, but why wasn't she suspicious since she admitted concern of the flight in the first place? Even if others ignored her, it would've been more realistic of a reaction if she kept wondering if something was up after the pilot's lie. It does get pretty intense when Sims gets made, but how did the guards not notice his gun before Pinball when they cuffed his legs? If they did figured it out and allowed him to keep it, then we should've seen that play out. It is luck on Cyrus' side that the exchange goes down during a sandstorm, but since he is claimed to be one of the worst, how come no one recognized him at the slightest? I honestly believe that his goatee should've been a giveaway. I then wonder why no one other than Ginny contemplated the possibility of Cyrus taking over the plane with the other criminals? They obviously contemplated if they were on bus, so everyone should've had deeper thoughts to avoid such a catastrophe. Billy is smart to be suspicious about Cameron's intentions, but why should he care of which prison section he was at when they're in the process of escaping from prison? The suspicion had to start somewhere, but this honestly should've not been the way. And I know the prisoners are in a time crunch to escape, but I have to admit it's impossible for 14 men to pull a plane out of sand when an average aircraft would weigh tons. What confuses me so much was how when the plane crashes in the Las Vegas Strip, the propeller boomerangs back to the plane and hits no one. That is luck that I refuse to believe because this is breaking the laws of physics before The Fast Saga made it cool. And why the hell would Cameron's family be sent to an unsafe environment that is the crashed plane? Since the pilots had to have seen the wreckage, they should've taken them to the airport or another police station. Anywhere but the strip would be a better reunion. Ignore this and you're all good. In short, Con Air is still a memorable action film for knowing what it is, elaborate entertainment. If you are an action lover like me, check this out.
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