Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) is a former Army Ranger who, while defending his pregnant wife outside a bar, accidentally kills a man and is sentenced to ten years in prison. Upon parole, Poe is placed on a U.S. Marshall plane that just happens to be transporting a group of the country's most dangerous criminals. While in flight, two criminals, Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones (Ving Rhames) and Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovitch), hijack the flight. Poe goes along with the hijacking only to watch over the lives of another criminal, "Baby O", and a female U.S. Marshall, Sarah.
On the ground, a DEA Agent Malloy (Colm Meaney) decides that the only way to resolve the problem is to blow it out of the sky. This brings him to odds with Marshall Larkin (John Cusack), who believes that Poe is trying stop Grissom. Malloy disagrees and sends a helicopter to destroy the plane, adding to the laundry list of problems Poe is facing aboard the plane.
What Con Air lacks in substance it makes up with fast-paced action and explosions. Perhaps too much, since everything about the film seems just a little too overboard at times, adding bloat to some parts of the movie. Many of the action sequences run on a "bigger is better" attitude, which isn't always the case. The action sequences are fun; but the ones in the beginning are so over-the-top that the later ones have to go to ridiculously extreme levels to top them - so there is a bit of a pacing issue.
Story is kept relatively simple; most of the emphasis is on action sequences and other flash while things like character development are tossed aside. The cast of villains feels like it was culled from a list of Batman villains (minus the cool powers and gadgets, of course) and Poe feels a bit generic; the only interesting element is Cyrus's growing suspicion of Poe. I would have gladly traded one or two action sequences for a little more development of Poe and Cyrus. At the very least, some unexpected twist on the formula would have helped.
Compared to the DVD release, the Blu-ray version shines when it comes to extras, mostly because it has extras. When compared to other Blu-ray releases, however, it is a disappointment. Aside from the original trailer, the main extra, "Destruction of Las Vegas" details one of the film's more impressive scenes.
Though a flawed movie, Con Air is still an enjoyable Saturday evening "popcorn flick" that works best if you are the type of viewer who can turn their brain off and appreciates the not-so-subtle beauty of a hi-definition, surround sound backed explosion.
