Starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Mykelti Williamson, Dave Chappelle, Colm Meaney
Written By:
Directed By: Simon West
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista
Buy on Amazon.com link

Ridiculously action packed film starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, and John Malkovich, in this new unrated extended edition, is a guilty pleasure of mine. From what appears to be an inside joke on action films, Con Air delights in two hours of endless action and fighting sequences. Also, tied in with a hilariously bad accent by Cage, and Malkovich as the over-the-top bad guy, Con Air is a movie I’ll always leave on whenever it’s on TV.

Nicolas Cage stars as Cameron Poe, an ex military bad ass, who accidentally kills a drunk dude in a rainy bar brawl. He leaves behind a gorgeous wife he just got back from the military to see, and finds out she is pregnant as well. Well, so much for watching his child grow up. Thrown into prison, Poe does his best to avoid the typical prison nonsense, ya know, surviving, getting banged in the shower, laundry room or his cell. Conveniently on the day of his release, he must fly home on a maximum security flight along with his buddy from jail, Bubba, err I mean, Mike “Baby-O” O’Dell (Mykelti Williamson.) Oh, it wouldn’t be a movie if it was just those two guys, but we get the cream of the crop of scary, bad guys. Murderers, rapist, serial killers, and MP3 file sharers, well maybe not the last one, but there are a whole slew of nasty folks on this flight. Yes people, our hard earn tax dollars at work. What I never understood was why Cage’s character would be thrown on the flight if he was getting out of prison. Was it just easier for him to go the same way the baddies were going? So where was I? Oh yeah, the plane of course gets in the hands of all the criminals and now Poe and his buddy are in for a more bumpy ride than before. To help try and save the day, Poe tries to keep his distance from Cyrus the Virus (Malkovich) and Diamon Dog (Rhames) by sitting back and making it look like he is helping them. In truth, he is worried that he won’t get to see his daughter on her birthday, or ever. On the ground, John Cusack plays Larkin, a U.S. Marshal, whose plane is up in the sky. He’s in charge, and is going to do what it takes to get his plane landed safely. Honestly, I was surprised to see him in this because usually he’s holding up a stereo in front of some girl’s window playing Peter Gabriel. To not spoil all the fun for you folks, I’ll leave some of the story for you to learn on your own.

What I will say about the film is that the explosions and action are very well produced, just a little bit carried away and silly. Ya know the type; one gun is shot and a group of guys go flying in the air with a giant gas tanker exploding. Yes, that kind. The sequence that gets me laughing out loud is the silliness of the ending in the movie that takes place in Las Vegas on the strip and how extreme it had to be. One answer to all of this is Jerry Bruckheimer. The king of “blow the shit out of everything” action films is the producer and has his staple all over the film. In someway though, I think the film can laugh at itself because they had to know that this wasn’t going to be taken seriously. It’s a popcorn flick mostly. Hell, I still enjoy watching it. Once you suspend disbelief and get past Nicolas Cage’s southern accent, it’s a lot of fun, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Features:

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English

Favorite Scenes: The Take off, Put Down the Bunny, the ridiculous landing/chase through Vegas.
Rating: R
Running Time: 122 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: