Rating of
3/4
Bring on the Springsteen ... And get off my plane!
Filmhaus - wrote on 04/12/21
There are some movies that are exercises in mediocrity, and there are some that rise above expectations.
For me, Air Force One is one of the few movies that does both.
It's critics make valid points; it's a meat-and-potatoes entry in the action genre, the characters are archetypes, the plot twists are foreshadowed far in advance, and the script borders on jingoistic, hitting every emotional beat right on cue.
However, you could make the same criticisms about 4th of July celebrations with your family: it's firmly planted in the expected.
It's the same relatives that show up, the same patriotic stories that get brought out of mothballs, and the same display happens at sunset to Bruce Springsteen.
Even if it's cheesy, you love it anyway, because there are virtues in life's rhythms that are important enough to revisit.
That being said, the film knows this, and delivers on expectations.
It delivers with Wolfgang Petersen at the helm, as he imbues each scene with high-octane doses of courage, bravery, and grit on the same level as Das Boot and In the Line of Fire. He's the perfect director for the material and does more than a competent job.
The casting is perfect with Harrison Ford as the All-American hero/president, and Gary Oldman as the moustache-swirling, over-the-top accented Russian terrorist with the perfunctory amount of moral ambiguity.
The script is fun, with one-liners galore, and the emotional payoffs are enjoyable.
And what more could you expect?
