Con Air

CON AIR (18)
D: Simon West
Touchstone (Jerry Bruckheimer)
USA 🇺🇸 1997
115 mins
 
Action/Adventure
 
W: Scott Rosenberg
DP: David Tattersall
Ed: Chris Lebenzon, Steve Mirkovich & Glen Scantlebury
Mus: Mark Mancina
 

Nicolas Cage (Cameron Poe), John Cusack (Agent Vince Larkin), John Malkovich (Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom), Steve Buscemi (Garland Greene), Ving Rhames (Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones), Colm Meaney (Agent Duncan Malloy), Mykelti Williamson ('Baby O'), Rachel Ticotin (Guard Sally Bishop), Monica Potter (Tricia Poe)
 
90's action cheese which is far more enjoyable than it has any right to be...
A former American soldier is convicted of murder after protecting his wife from thugs and upon release is transported on a high security aircraft alongside a group of notorious criminals being transported to another prison, but the convicts hijack the flight before it makes its destination with the objective of flying themselves to freedom.
Some of the dialogue is banal, and it's all incredibly silly, with little regard to human lives or damage to big cities, but it's all to be expected from a Bruckheimer-produced film.  Simon West's direction is actually very subtle compared to what Michael Bay could have done to this.  Nicolas Cage hams it up a little as a Southern good ol' boy, as does John Malkovich as Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom (now that's a movie character name if ever you heard one).
Nevertheless, if you're a fan of brainless tongue-in-cheek action movies, Con Air is one of the best.  If you're looking for something more gentle, watch a Merchant-Ivory production.
7/10

Nicolas Cage in Con Air
Nicolas Cage in Con Air