I first noticed Dean Cochran for his role in A DANGEROUS PLACE, and after seeing that he can perform a pretty good fight scene, I thought it'd be cool to see him headline a movie. I need to learn to specify my wishes, because even though AIR MARSHAL does indeed turn Dean into a leading man, the vehicle itself is pretty darn dreadful. With poor action scenes and a seriously flawed screenplay, this is definitely one of the worst offerings from the Nu Image / Millennium catalogue.
The story: When a trans-European flight is hijacked by extremists, an undercover air marshal (Cochran) must find a way to save the passengers before the plane is shot down by the military.
This movie was released in 2003, but might as well have been released 20 years earlier given its mindset. Hollywood never tires of vilifying Arab characters, but AIR MARSHAL is so irredeemably embarrassing in its heavy-handed Islamophobia that one would almost think it's an ironic statement against it. The whole movie actually feels like a farce on traditional action: moments of idiotic heroism (e.g. the captain's roller coaster flying) flow smoothly into the most harebrained coincidences (e.g. the friendly stowaway), while women fawn over hero Dean for no real reason and a child (Luke Leavitt) is *almost* sucked out of a sprung window (SPOILER) an hour before he helps land the plane, putting his video game experience to good use.
Eli Danker leads the hijackers, and even though his character is a walking cliché, he's a rare example of competent acting in the film. There's also good old Tim Thomerson playing a hostaged senator, but he's mainly = there to pad the cast and doesn't do anything cool. Dean Cochran looks like he's enjoying himself but is stuck playing a completely unremarkable character. It's a relief when he can stop talking and fight, but the four cramped brawls likewise lack any shred of uniqueness (no shortage of slow motion, though). A narrow body jet is an awkward place to stage an action flick to begin with, but the characters don't care at all about wantonly firing guns – even purposely shooting the window that the aforementioned boy gets to see the outside of.
I'd see another Dean Cochran action vehicle, if such a thing ever came about, but only if it were helmed by a completely different set of filmmakers. I haven't gotten into the ridiculously transparent special effects, but only because they're the least of this one's problems. It's worth skipping.
The story: When a trans-European flight is hijacked by extremists, an undercover air marshal (Cochran) must find a way to save the passengers before the plane is shot down by the military.
This movie was released in 2003, but might as well have been released 20 years earlier given its mindset. Hollywood never tires of vilifying Arab characters, but AIR MARSHAL is so irredeemably embarrassing in its heavy-handed Islamophobia that one would almost think it's an ironic statement against it. The whole movie actually feels like a farce on traditional action: moments of idiotic heroism (e.g. the captain's roller coaster flying) flow smoothly into the most harebrained coincidences (e.g. the friendly stowaway), while women fawn over hero Dean for no real reason and a child (Luke Leavitt) is *almost* sucked out of a sprung window (SPOILER) an hour before he helps land the plane, putting his video game experience to good use.
Eli Danker leads the hijackers, and even though his character is a walking cliché, he's a rare example of competent acting in the film. There's also good old Tim Thomerson playing a hostaged senator, but he's mainly = there to pad the cast and doesn't do anything cool. Dean Cochran looks like he's enjoying himself but is stuck playing a completely unremarkable character. It's a relief when he can stop talking and fight, but the four cramped brawls likewise lack any shred of uniqueness (no shortage of slow motion, though). A narrow body jet is an awkward place to stage an action flick to begin with, but the characters don't care at all about wantonly firing guns – even purposely shooting the window that the aforementioned boy gets to see the outside of.
I'd see another Dean Cochran action vehicle, if such a thing ever came about, but only if it were helmed by a completely different set of filmmakers. I haven't gotten into the ridiculously transparent special effects, but only because they're the least of this one's problems. It's worth skipping.