Put the bunny in the box - Con Air (1997)


Big stars fly high in this sky adventure of a movie.  Featuring Nicholas Cage as Cameron Poe the convicted ex-Army Ranger, John Malkovich as Cyrus the Virus, that famous convict, and John Cusack as Vince Larkin from the US Marshall.

Movie starts off with Cameron Poe being discharged from service and returns to his pregnant wife Tricia Poe (played by Monica Poe).  On their way home, they were attacked by three drunk men and Cameron inadvertently killed on of them, sending him to prison for involuntary manslaughter.  

He was in prison for 8 years when he was paroled.  In his trip home, he gets to ride in Con Air.  A US Marshall service plane tasked in transporting convicts across the country.  The service is being handled by Vince Larkin and for this trip, Poe gets to travel with some ruthless son of ........ known in the prison system, led by Cyrus the Virus.  

While in flight, a distraction was started so that Cyrus and Diamond Dog (played by Ving Rhames) could take over the plane.  They managed to take over and pretend to be prison guards in Carson City, where they deplaned 6 people (including gagged prison guards) and picked up new convicts, one of them is Colombian cartel Cindino.  Cyrus was doing all of this because he wants to escape with the help of Cindino, who promised they have a plane waiting at their new destination.  Hoping to take them to a non-extradition country.

Poe was supposed to be one of those who would have deplaned in Carson City but fearing for his friend's life and the well being of one lady guard, he lied to Cyrus.  He said that he was still due for 15 more years in prison and that he wants to escape along with Cyrus.  To alert the authorities of what happened, Poe managed to insert one of the DEA's tape recorder in one of the gagged prison guards.  Hoping that should it be found, they will be alerted and hopefully stop the plane while its still on the tarmac.

They learned this late as the plane took off again, off to Cindino's waiting plane.  The transponder of Con Air was transferred by one of  Cyrus' crew to one of the planes in Carson City so when DEA people followed it, they were led to a sight seeing tour plane.  Vince Larkin knew it was a false lead as Poe managed to drop one of the dead convicts with a note alerting him of Lerner Airfield.  The place where Cindino's plane was waiting. 

When they reached Lerner Airfield, Cindino's plane was nowhere to be found and Larkin was already there waiting for them.  Poe and Larkin had a chance to finally meet, and Larkin knew already that Poe was an ally in said plane.  Both also found Cindino's plane, it was hidden in one of the hangars.  Cindino had other plans and this did not include Cyrus' and his crew.

Eventually his plane was rendered disabled by Larkin when Cindino made a run for it.  Cyrus discovered the double cross and lights up the plane killing Cindino in the process.  In their escape attempt, they also discovered that a group of National Guards were enroute (called by Larkin) and they staged an ambush using a horde of firearms found in the plane.   Cyrus also finds his crew member dead in the cargo hold (Poe killed him when he was found out that he was on parole already and that he lied about his 15 more years in prison).  and suspects Poe.  Poe was to be shot by Cyrus when the attack helicopter earlier who chased a sight seeing plane, caught up with them.  

Under machine gun fire from them helicopters, Poe was able to take control of the Pilot and have him land the plane in an airport in Las Vegas.  The pilot told Poe that he can't reach the airport as the plane was damaged already from an earlier helicopter attack.   They had no choice but to land in one of Vegas main thoroughfare.  During the crash Cyrus and two his crew managed to escape through the mayhem and was able to escape using a fire truck.  Larkin and Poe pursued them in motorcycles and was able to catch up.  In the end they were able to kill Cyrus and his crew, and Poe got to meet his wife and daughter.

A great story of an ex soldier with a moral high ground, so much so that this was the reason why he was able to kill that drunk man just trying to protect his wife.  This same moral high ground led him to protest his diabetic convict friend and the lady guard that went with them on the plane.  He had 2 chances to be free yet he chose to go after Cyrus.  This might puzzle an ordinary man but with the character development of Poe here, we can understand his decisions.  Nicholas Cage has been faulted with shoddy acting in many films but we beg to differ in this one.  First, this was our first time to see him with long hair and Two, his accent as a local boy fits him perfectly.  We liked how he handled his role here and this was one of the reasons why we liked the film.

Second reason we like this is we have been given the chance to see John Malkovich reach out to us as the ruthless mastermind.  He doesn't hesitate to kill yet he manages to be wise enough to listen to reason.  Making him a villain that is almost invincible.  We love Malkovich here so we liked the film.

Other cast members who did their roles well where of Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi.  Although the latest convict had nothing to do with the plot, his character made for an interesting side story.  And this is Steve Buscemi, so expect him to shine even with a small character role.

Other actors were just eye candy and you don't see them acting that much except for some shouting and running.  John Cusack as lovely to see him in romantic comedies, being a US Marshall does not suit him.  He is not a G-man we would come to expect.

If you happen to see this film in one of the streaming services (we can't find it in Netflix), grab hold of some popcorn and hang on for the ride.  This bunny will come home so just put the bunny in the box.

latest update - its available in YouTube for buy or for rent.  Oh and just disregard the song in the end.  It doesn't work well with the film. :)








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