I realise that Con Air is about as far from ground-breaking visionary cinema as you can get—Hell, it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, which speaks volumes about the artistic integrity involved—but as a thrilling slice of slam-bang popcorn action fun, it works a treat.

Nicolas Cage plays Cameron Poe, an honourable army ranger who is sent to a maximum-security federal penitentiary after accidentally killing a man while protecting his pregnant wife (Monica Potter). After serving eight years, Cameron is finally given parole, and scheduled to fly home on a C-123 Jailbird aircraft, along with several other prisoners whose number include evil criminal mastermind Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich) and Poe's likable diabetic cell-mate O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson). Poe's freedom is delayed however, when Cyrus and his equally vile cohorts take over the plane by force, and O'Dell's life is placed in jeopardy...

Unlike The Rock, which was an overly dramatic and rather jingoistic affair, Con Air is pure cartoonish excess from start to finish. To try and analyse the plot or apply logic to proceedings is futile, the script conveniently glossing over details as and when it suits (for example, we never learn what Cage's cell-mate O was jailed for; as a result, he becomes a sympathetic character, when the guy could have been a child killer for all we know!). Director Simon West sure isn't concerned about his film making sense, 'cos he's too busy having the time of his life inflicting maximum damage on everyone and everything in the most spectacular manner possible. In this film, the rules are 'don't just have a car crash when you can drag it behind a plane on a hook for a while before smashing it onto a runway?' and 'Don't just kill a man when you can kill him and then drop his corpse from several thousand feet onto a moving vehicle?'.

It's stuff like this, coupled with a formidable cast and excellent stunts, pyrotechnics and special effects, that elevate Con Air from the ridiculous to the sublime. I give Con Air a rating of 8 delightfully ruthless maniacs out of 10, making it the second best Nicolas Cage action flick of 1997.

Noble Army ranger and reformed parolee Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage is extremely likeable full-blown macho man mode) finds himself stuck on a plane with a bunch of dangerous criminals led by the notorious Cyrus the Virus (adroitly played with lick-smacking evil gusto by John Malkovich).

Director Simon West keeps the delightfully outrageous story hurtling along at a breathless breakneck pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and stages the wild and exciting action set pieces with tremendous go-for-broke brawny brio. Scott Rosenberg's witty script boasts a lot of snappy one-liners along with a wickedly funny sense of self-mocking sardonic humor.

This film further benefits from a colorful and entertaining array of deliciously detestable villains: Ving Rhames as black militant Diamond Dog, Steve Buscemi as flaky and philosophical psycho Garland Greene, Nick Chinlund as the surly Billy Bedlam, M.C Gainey as easygoing good ol' boy pilot Swamp Thing, and Dave Chappelle as wisecracking lackey Pinball. Moreover, there are sound contributions from John Cusack as eccentric smartaleck US Marshalls agent Vince Larkin, Colm Meaney as bullheaded DEA agent Duncan Malloy, Mykelti Williamson as Poe's affable buddy Baby-O, Rachel Ticotin as sassy guard Sally Bishop, and Steve Eastin as sarcastic guard Falzon. The roaring and rattling score by Mark Mancina and Trevor Rabin does the rousing trick. David Tattersall's glossy widescreen cinematography likewise hits the impressive polished spot. However, it's this movie's giddy willingness to go totally over the top and then some that makes it such a gloriously gonzo blast to behold.

"Con Air" is just one of those action movies that was great back in the day when it was first out and still holds its own today. And that is even despite the fact that it is a Nicolas Cage movie.

The story is quite straight forward, a plane transporting the most dangerous and deadly of criminals gets hijacked by the very same prisoners it was supposed to transport. Amongst the prisoners is Cameron Poe who is on his way home to his family and tries his best to see to it that it happens.

There is a lot of action in the movie, almost from start to end, and it nicely choreographed and executed. But there is also a lot of really interesting and detailed characters in the movie.

But even more impressively is the ensemble of cast which is nothing short of amazing. And "Con Air" holds some impressive performances by John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi in particular.

"Con Air" has a lot of one-liners, of course, throughout the movie. You can't have a proper action movie without those. And then there is Nicolas Cage's hair, are you kidding me? "Con Air" is well-worth a place in any movie fan's or collector's collection.

I will end my review here, before the bunny gets it...