Rated PG-13 for intense action, some violence, brief strong language and innuendo.
Directed by Rob Cohen (Fast and Furious, Dragonheart, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story)
Starring Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, and Jamie Foxx
One word to describe this film: Rental.
Yes, it was cliché, predictable at times, shallow . . . but it was also mildly entertaining and creative.
Ben, Kara and Henry are navy pilots who have a new partner . . . an AI (artificial intelligence) controlled fighter plane that goes crazy. (“This is highly irregular Dave.”) They must get the AI plane back from its rogue mission, destroy it, or be destroyed . . . which is it?
I really didn’t expect much from this attempt at Top Gun meets 2001 a Space Odyssey, but I guess it had a few surprises.
THE GOOD:
- Performances were first rate. We all know Jamie Foxx can act. But Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel weren’t disappointing in any way.
- The plot actually had a few turns I didn’t expect.
- The flight scenes were very well done. Great action and solid affects.
THE BAD:- I predicted several elements of the film going into it and they all turned true: 1. Jessica Biel would end up in a bikini. 2. The powers that be would turn corrupt, trust the AI, get burned, and then attempt to cover it up. 3. And lastly, I predicted the fate of Jamie Foxx’s character (there’s a rule of thumb about the fate of the black guy in films like this!) Cliché!
- A couple of the “ground combat” scenes were far fetched. “Oh yeah, all those bullets missed our hero! How coincidental! Oh, our hero’s bullets didn’t miss them though.”
- Jamie Foxx did Collateral, then Ray . . . then THIS?!! I don’t want to slam on this film but . . . that would be like if Denzel did Glory and Philadelphia . . . and then replaced Ernie Hudson in Leviathan!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT:
Not young kids. Profanity consists of 1 “f” word, 12 “s” words, 1 use of “p*ssy” to refer to someone as a wimp, the use of God’s name in vain and a few other mild words. Then there are a few sexual inferences that tweens and teens would pick up on. There is no sex or nudity, but there is Jessica’s bikini scene, and a few cleavage shots.
Jump on screenit.com’s web site or kidsinmind.com’s web site for more specifics to make your decision.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
