"Let me give you a word of advice. Always bet on black!"
Passenger 57 appears to be set in an alternate world commonly inhabited by a majority of 90's action flicks: plot elements (and developments, for that matter) are merely perfunctory, bad guys can't shoot straight, the crafty hero is impervious to bullets (which, for the most part, miraculously whip around him), and illogicalities flourish. There's a profusion of ooh and ahs in this by-the-numbers shoot-'em-up Die Hard clone keen to establish Wesley Snipes as the coolest action hero this side of Bruce Willis.
This routine hijack action affair lacks the intelligence and class to match the Die Hard films it clearly desires to emulate; however what the film lacks in logic it compensates with relentless action. In all seriousness, there isn't a great deal one can state in relation to this film from a critical viewpoint. It's a technically sturdy film, but it's rather logically inept and it fails to offer anything overwhelmingly groundbreaking.
Wesley Snipes quips, glares and Kung fus his way through the film as airline security expert John Cutter. He's offered the job of chief of security at American International Airlines, which he accepts. En route to Los Angeles, Cutter is placed on the same aircraft escorting notorious terrorist Charles Rane (Payne) to LA where he will most likely face the death sentence. As fate would have it, Rane's evil accomplices gain entry to the plane. When Rane hijacks the plane, there is only one hope for everyone on-board - John Cutter (who's sitting in seat 57, therein justifying the title). Cue a wealth of shootouts, a dash of blood and some exciting heroics.
It says something about the despondent lack of originality in Hollywood and of the influence of Die Hard on the action genre when audiences are offered two Die Hard imitators in the same year - Under Siege with Steven Seagal and the film in question; Passenger 57. This is primarily conventional moviemaking, but it slightly rises above the norm due to its enthralling action sequences and ability to entertain for every second of its brisk 80-minute duration.
Small-time director Kevin Hooks orchestrates several glorious action scenes. As Wesley Snipes demonstrates his expertise in martial arts, Hooks' lens captures it adroitly. Throughout the film's to-the-point runtime Hooks shows a masterly skill at plunging the viewer into the heart of the action and keeping a viewer's pulse pounding. There's little time to lull or stall as it moves from concise dialogue scenes to the action. No fat attached, no deep character development, and no genuinely insightful dialogue. The sheer outrageousness of the shootouts is to be criticised, though. Bullets being fired on a commercial airplane? I don't think so... A misfired bullet should screw with the plane's controls, and bullets should exit a victim who's just been shot - breaking a window or something. It's entertaining nonsense wholly neglecting intelligence.
Special effects are fairly laudable considering its time, and the funky score accompanying the visuals (courtesy of '70s jazz-rocker Stanley Clarke) is above-average. Perhaps the film could've been superior if only the material wasn't played so seriously. A bit of Die Hard-ish humour would do some good. It's also very cheesy (the winding down following the villain's demise is worthy of chortles and ridiculing out of sheer disgust).
Passenger 57 is boosted by the top-flight performance of Wesley Snipes. He essentially plays an interchangeable character that could have been written for Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone or even Arnold Schwarzenegger or Steven Seagal. Snipes' likable, fast-talking airline security expert enlivens the slapdash plot with his physical grace and impressive martial arts skills. His action-hero gymnastics on and off the plane evoke 1990's Die Hard 2: Die Harder. More importantly, the fact that Snipes' Cutter battles both terrorists and self-absorbed bureaucrats mimics the little-guy-against-the-system virtue of Bruce Willis' John McClane (from the Die Hard series).
Bruce Payne plays the cunning, ruthless, psychopathic, ominous villain of the film. He's the Euro-terrorist following the mould of Die Hard's Alan Rickman whose menace is the apparent contradiction of his articulate, well-spoken English and off-handed brutality. But he's a feebly-written character; amid all the killing he ultimately forgets to have a solid cause.
Look out for an incredibly youthful Elizabeth Hurley as a stewardess-come-hijacker. Tom Sizemore also appears in the form of Cutter's best buddy. In order to further solidify the film's shameless stance as a conventional action flick, Sizemore's character is named Sly (you know...as in Sylvester Stallone).
Fundamentally Die Hard on a plane - Fly Hard, if you will - this is a slick, adrenaline-pumping action flick. In spite of the countless nits to be picked from the sloppy script (the climax is hopelessly preposterous), and the reliance on formula (who would've possibly presumed the hero would kill the villain?), this is thunderously good fun and you could certainly do a lot worse. The action sequences are exhilarating, Snipes is magnetic as well as athletic as the primary hero, and it spawned a lot of the "plane" action movies such as Air Force One and Executive Decision. It's a basic, formulaic, entertaining time-waster.
"You know, that's what I admire about you! Even though you are being hit on by absolutely beautiful woman, you are determined to maintaining your vow of chastity. You know, you'd make a hell of a republican!"
My Friends
All Flixster
(19592)
Female
Male
MCT:September 10, 2008
MCT:July 13, 2008
MCT:May 18, 2008
