Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
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And now we come on to the final part of the unofficial Nicholas Cage trilogy, Con Air. And as he is such a big fan I would like to dedicate this review to Daniel M.
Year of release
1997
Directed by
Simon West
Written by
Scott Rosenberg
Starring
Nicholas Cage
John Malkovich
John Cusack
Ving Rhames
Steve Buscemi
Colm Meaney
Con Air
Plot - Cameron Poe (Cage) is a highly decorated Army Ranger who is sent to prison after causing the death of a man while defending his wife. After being locked up for seven years Poe is granted his parole and is all set to head home to his wife and young daughter that he has never met. His passage home will be aboard the Jailbird, a prison airplane used for transporting prisoners. On this day Poe finds himself sharing the plane with some of the most sadistic and ruthless criminals you could ever wish to meet, or you know, wish to not meet. Amongst the passengers are criminal mastermind Cyrus the Virus (Malkovich), his right hand man Diamond Dog (Rhames) and infamous serial killer Garland Green (Buscemi), aka The Marietta Mangler. And perhaps unsurprisingly given the company he is keeping things don't exactly go smoothly for Poe in his attempts to get home. The criminals seize control of the plane and plan their escape. The one thing the criminals didn't bargain on however was that they'd be sharing the plane with an Army Ranger whose convictions and character will not allow for this to happen.
Cyrus the Virus, the villain in Con Air, picks up a stuffed toy bunny and holds a gun to its head. He threatens our hero, Cameron Poe, that if he moves he will shoot and kill the inanimate bunny. If you already feel yourself rolling your eyes and that you are obtaining an unacceptable level of incredulity, then I advise you to turn back now. This is not going to be the film for you! 
Yes that's right, we now move on to the third and final part of the mid-90s, Nicholas Cage action trilogy, Con Air. Probably the film of said trilogy which most splits opinion. Many people love it to the degree where it has become a cult film, while just as many people if not more think it's preposterous rubbish. And given the moment I outlined at the start I'm surprised it ever got made. I can just imagine people reading the script and this moment producing reactions of “what the f*ck?!!!”
The action in Con Air is overblown, preposterous and outrageous. Just the way I like it! The film's simple plot; bad guys attempting to get from A to B while good guy tries to stop them, allows the film plenty of time for explosions, furious shootouts, brutal hand-to-hand combat and all manner of vehicular chaos. There are a series of huge set-pieces which just seem to escalate throughout the film. The highlights would have to be a massive shootout at an abandoned airfield which pits all of the prisoners against the National Guard, and the massive finale which just keeps getting bigger and bigger. To start off with the plane carrying the prisoners crash-lands right in the middle of Las Vegas on the Strip. You would assume that's the film's climax but it's not, it just keeps going. Cyrus and his buddies flee in a fire truck while Poe chases them down in a motorcycle. Able to leap from the motorcycle onto the truck's ladder, Poe finds himself face to face with Cyrus, battling atop the truck as it speeds through the streets of Vegas. Eventually Cyrus is cuffed to the ladder as it is raised up, leaving Cyrus exposed as the truck crashes, sending him flying through the air and through a series of electrical cables. Ok surely that's the end right? Well not quite. There's still time for Cyrus to have his head crushed by a piece of machinery at a construction site. With all this action the film rarely allows you a single pause for breath.
With its large cast of recognisable stars, many of them associated with the action genre, in a way Con Air sort of feels like The Expendables before there was The Expendables. Leading the pack you obviously have Nicholas Cage once again. As I've mentioned in the previous couple of reviews he is an extremely divisive and often immensely irritating performer. However there is one thing I will give Cage credit for. He never really rests on his laurels as an actor. Some actors you'll see trot out the exact same performance time and time again. Cage however has an array of accents, mannerisms, ticks etc at his disposal. And of course the variety of hairstyles that he has sported on screen are legendary. So when you go and see a Nicholas Cage film you really have no idea what's in store, as scary a prospect as that is. And whatever eccentricities he chooses to impart to his characters, he always commits to them fully, no matter how misguided we might find them to be. So here we get a languid Southern drawl which is so slow it arrives about a week after Cage does, and of course the infamous greasy mullet. It really is quite something watching Cage run; his long, flowing locks blowing in the wind in slow motion.
Film Trivia Snippets - Con Air actually has the unique distinction of having an element of its production nominated by both the Academy Awards and the Golden Raspberry Awards. Trisha Yearwood's “How Do I Live” was nominated both for a Best Original Song Oscar, and a Worst Original Song Razzie. It didn't win either. /// When the end credits begin to roll a message pops up stating the film is “In Memory of Phil Swartz.” Swartz was an effects specialist who worked on the movie and was sadly killed during filming when a rigged plane fell and crushed him. /// In the film Colm Meaney's keyh chain has a little Star Trek communicator ornament on it; a little nod to his role as Chief Miles O'Brien in both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. /// The film's explosive Las Vegas finale was filmed at the legendary Sands Hotel immediately prior to it being demolished. When the production team heard about the plans for demolition they immediately scheduled a multiple camera setup to take advantage of the event and that actually provides the explosions seen in the movie.
The villainous characters are all very colourful, cartoonish creations that urge the actors to really go for it, to ham it up to their hearts content. And pretty much all of them rise to that challenge. The fact that it features quite a number of character actors certainly helped. John Malkovich is great fun as the deliciously monikered Cyrus the Virus, playing him with a fantastic charisma. Also onboard you have the imposing figures of Ving Rhames as Diamond Dog, M.C. Gainey as Swamp Thing and Danny Trejo as Johnny 23 (named for the 23 women he has raped). As a massive X-Files fan Nick Chinlund works as a superb piece of casting as Billy Bedlam. As a result of his role in the show as a death fetishist serial killer he is someone that I always find extremely creepy. And just for good measure the film also throws in Dave Chappelle as the motor-mouthed Pinball who meets a very unfortunate end. While on the side of good I felt that Colm Meaney was very entertaining as a gruff DEA agent. John Cusack is ok but I feel that at times he seems rather lost, as if he is way outside his comfort zone. The only occasion where the film really drops the ball with a character is in Renoly Santiago's character, Sally Can't Dance; an unfortunate stereotype of the black drag queen character that frequently seem to populate prison movies.
And then there is Steve Buscemi's contribution to the film. Not many films appoint a f*cked-up serial killer as its comic relief, but then Con Air is no ordinary film. So Buscemi's Garland Greene, aka 'The Marietta Mangler', is indeed assigned that role with his weird and eccentric behaviour. This despite the fact that his character is a serial killer who was responsible for some 30 deaths. Who once beheaded a girl and wore her head as a hat across three states! 
At one point during the film, after the plane has landed, Garland walks off and stumbles across a young girl who wants to play with him so they have the creepiest tea party ever. The camera pans away leaving the two of them alone and it seems a sure bet that at the very least he is going to kill her, if not also molest her first of all. And yet later on we find out that she's completely unharmed and Garland seems to have undergone some kind of transformation, like he has had an epiphany as the result of the little girl showing him kindness; perhaps she was the first one who ever did. And after the film has seemingly ended we get a little bonus scene which reveals that not only has he been the only inmate other than Poe to survive but that he is free and clear and gambling in Vegas. If I'm honest I don't really have any clue what the film was attempting with his character, but for me that just adds to Con Air's preposterous charm. And Buscemi is a great piece of casting as just by being himself pretty much I find him genuinely creepy! You'll never hear "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" the same way ever again.
As I alluded to earlier I have to talk about one of the film's other star, namely the fluffy, pink bunny. On first impression it seems to be an exceptionally daft addition to the film, particularly in terms of the perilous situations that the bunny often finds itself in. However as silly as it may seem I think there's also a little more to it than that. The film features themes of family and fatherhood and for Cameron Poe the bunny acts as a metaphor for his paternal desire. No seriously hear me out! We have already seen Poe struggle to connect with his daughter and form a relationship. Stuck in prison for her entire life the only form of communication they have had is through writing letters to each other. For him the bunny represents his dedication towards being a good father for little Casey. Which is why he takes it so serious when one of the inmates takes possession of it, “Put the bunny back in the box.” Or maybe I'm just trying to place way too much depth on it in an attempt to justify liking such a stupid movie! And even I can't attempt an explanation for that scene where Cyrus threatens Poe by holding a gun to the bunny's head.
I'm sure that Con Air is seen by many as being completely mindless trash, hitting all of the lowest common denominators of the action genre, but I like to think it's a good bit smarter than that. I think its script is actually quite witty and self-aware, and features just as many laughs as it does explosions. I find the film to have an awareness and almost a self-mocking tone in terms of how daft it is. It takes all the cliches and tropes of the masculine, testosterone-injected action film and takes them to their extremes. I think this is particularly apparent in the performances of the cast. As well as a whole array on one-liners the script has got a series of cheesy, groan-worthy lines of dialogue which are just awful but also brilliant; a perfect ingredient for the cult film which Con Air has undoubtedly become. And as for Con Air's fantastic premise, one that I imagine many people feel is complete nonsense. Well it actually isn't. The film's screenwriter, Scott Rosenberg, based it on the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, which has the nickname of Con Air. As in the film the plane transfers prisoners across the country. After learning of the program in a newspaper article, Rosenberg visited its base in Oklahoma to gather information which eventually formed the basis of the film.
Conclusion - From its pink bunny to its story arc for Steve Buscemi, as action flicks go Con Air is certainly one of the more quirky. And personally I think it's one of the most fun. I can understand why some people just cannot be bothered with it but I just find it to be terrifically entertaining. The film pretty much only has two modes; bombastic and explosive action scenes, or quieter moments where the likes of Cage, Malkovich, Rhames and Buscemi are all pretty damn great. Just immense fun, pure and simple.
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