Wow. Not in the good way.
When a movie goes into production, it is generally a good idea to have a story first. This movie jumps topics and does nothing but scratch the surface of any direction it goes in. There is no logic to what happens. There is no character development. For all of the "action" it has, it is awfully dull.
This review is as fragmented as the movie is.
It starts with the cliché action film opening of having the good guys doing something to prove they are good guys, but doesn't really have anything to do with the rest of the movie. From here we move to the introduction of the new plane. A mission ensues which shows some flaws in design of the ship, lightning strikes, more problems ensue. The ship is pursued, one of the good guys turns back and ends up in North Korea, focus shifts to some bad, ahem, command decisions. Finally everyone lives happily ever after.
Writing is still fragmented, I apologize. This movie has done something to my head, I can feel my IQ dropping.
I so wanted this to not be as bad as everyone was saying it was. I've disagreed with everybody before, but in this case the bad reviews were spot on. The story has no focus, it jumps from vignette to vignette with not so much as a line of exposition. Characters appear and disappear at random. Moments of potential character development are covered over with music. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it.
It was, um, directed by Rob Cohen, who has given us such cinematic gems as Daylight and The Fast and the Furious (I left out xXx because I actually liked that one). He seems to be attempting to channel Michael Bay's better moments, and failing. I may not be Bay's biggest fan, but he knows how to put together an exciting action sequence. The action scenes are so chopped up, you have no idea what's going on, much like this admittedly inept review.
There was a very telling line said by our lead, Josh Lucas, let me see if I can remember it: "I just don't think war should be turned into a video game." That's pretty close, now replace war with movies. Surprising they didn't adapt a character's philosophy into their thoughts on film making.
I like the three in the leads, but I feel bad for them being in this dreck. I probably feel worst for Jamie Foxx, after really opening peoples eyes last year with Collateral and Ray, and winning an Oscar for the latter, he just seems to be slumming it here. I don't mind big stars doing popcorn type films, but this was not a good choice, kind of like Cuba Gooding Jr. doing Chill Factor. I also think that Jessica Biel will come out mostly unscathed, she is still an up and comer, and we do get a few moments of her in a bikini, and a very tight flight suit, which is never a bad thing.
Not really sure what I can not write well about this movie. It tries, I guess I could give it that. It borrows from any number of other films like 2001, The Terminator, Top Gun, Short Circuit, and WarGames. There are a couple of nice shots, but that is really about it. Lots of CGI airplanes and explosions. Oh yeah, there is very good use of the surrounds, that is possibly the best I can say.
Bottomline. A poorly written review for a poorly made film, how fitting. This arrived DOA in theaters, and deservedly so. This is one of the worst films I have had the displeasure of seeing this year. Strangely, I don't regret it, but I cannot recommend it to any more discerning in their movie going, I would rather you go see The Island, which is actually quite good.
Not Recommended.
Also at Blogcritics.
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