Con Air (1997)
*** (out of 4)
Newly released con Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) just wants to see his six-year-old daughter and wife for the first time but to do so he must battle a plane full of some of the worst criminals in the country including Cyrus The Virus (John Malkovich). CON AIR doesn't have too many brains but it's certainly a highly entertaining film with some of the most memorable and fun characters that you're going to see in a picture like this. I certainly hopes no one comes to a movie like this expecting some sort of art-house picture because those folks will just be cheating themselves. Those wanting a lot of things blowing up will certainly be entertained by this. The greatest thing going in the film's favor is the terrific cast, which not only includes Cage and Malkovich but we also get the likes of Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Dave Chappelle, Danny Trejo, John Cusack, Mykelti Williamson and Colm Meaney. The terrific cast certainly adds a lot of fun to the picture as the supporting players all fit their roles wonderfully and there's no question that the two leads are perfect. Malkovich chews up the scenery in the role of the bad guy who you can easily fear but also tell how smart he is. Cage, with a hilariously fun Southern accent, is also extremely good in the part and is smart enough to know when it's best to just wink at the viewer and have some fun. Another major plus are the stunts and action scenes. There's certainly some great stuff here including the finale with the plane landing in Las Vegas and of course the end stuff with the firefighter truck. Throughout the picture we're given all sorts of fun situations and it certainly doesn't hurt that we've got all these likable characters. CON AIR isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it's certainly a lot of fun and that's all that matters.
