Con Air (1997)

 

A Jerry Bruckheimer production? Does it have explosions? Of course it has. Does it have larger than life characters? Check. Silly premisse? Absolutely! Is it entertaining as all fudge?

Do I even have to answer that question? I mean, this is all kinds of cheese, but it's the right kind of cheese.

Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage) is a soldier who gets to go home to his pregnant wife, but gets into a bar brawl and kills a man. Thus, he is sent to prison for 7 to 10 years and doesn't get to see his daughter grow up. But then he is supposed to be released and is put on a plane that transports prisoners (the eponymous Con Air). But you can see this next thing coming from a mile away: several of the more high profile baddies hijack the plane and Cameron feels he is the only one that can stop the evil machinations of a gleefully evil John Malkovich. 

Lovely how the plot is just that: good guy tries to stop bad guys, because good guy is a total badass. And of course it works. 

Nicholas Cage sports the oddest of hairdos, but is bizarrely enough quite believable as an Army Ranger, even if he lays his Alabama accent on a little thick. 

Unless people from Alabama actually speak like that, in which case: I apologise. I never thought Southern Drawl actually meant you constantly sound as if six litres of saliva is about to exit your mouth. 

So yes, things go 'Boom!', or rather: 'BOOM!!!', fisticuffs ensue, oneliners are spewed and everyone involved seems to be having a fun time. Speaking of which: the cast for this one is nothing short of impressive. We have Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, John Cusack, Danny Trejo, Dave Chapelle, Colm Meaney... This list is insane. Sure, maybe not everyone is an A-lister, but it's a genuine feast of recognition. Couple that with literally everyone playing it larger than life (with bonus points to Malkovich, as he is really hamming it up to the stratosphere) and you get an insanely fun romp. 

Yes, you best leave your brain at the door when you enter. That goes without saying. 

But it's one of the more fun things there are, and there are worse ways to spend nearly two hours. If only you remember to put the bunny back in the box.