Review of Passenger 57 (1992) by Martin D — 25 Apr 2010

Awesome action whit wesley snipes..Snipes stars as security expert John Cutter. He's a specialist trainer who has just taken on a role as the airlines head of Security and is travelling to the annual shareholders meeting. The FBI meanwhile have decided they need to transport a passenger of there own on this flight. The man in questionis a known terrorist, Charles Rane (Bruce Payne) a man who has a history of attacks on planes, downing 4 of them in the past. The bad news for the passengers of flight 163 is that he's about to try and make it his fifth. Thankfully there is one man onboard who will try and stop Rane and his gang from destroying the plane. Cutter sat in seat 57 is a nervous flier but soon he's going to have to do all he can to save the Passengers.

What Passenger 57 offers that a lot of modern action films don't, is that it's quite simplistic. It's an hour and a half of exactly what it says on the tin, Action. It's only an hour and a half and is certainly one of those films that are ideal for a Friday or Saturday night. It plays to all the action cliques and doesn't ever try to be something it's not and that's what makes it so enjoyable. It's not overly violent and again I think this is something that really works in its favour and widens its appeal to a much wider audience.

It's one of the earlier films from director Kevin Hooks who has gone on to make more of a name for himself in Tele. His style is quite straight forward and he doesn't use too many weird and wonderful camera angles. Obviously the plot isn't one of the best ever written but that doesn't matter and Hooks seems to have realised that this is of little importance. The film is quite fast paced and that's what holds the interest and makes it so easy to watch again and again. It is packed full of every clique of the action genre you could imagine but it works.

The script is easy flowing and at no point does it try to be anything other than simple. The same goes for all the special effects. They do exactly what they need to and make it into a thoroughly decent action film but never really excel. This isn't a film that would win awards and it certainly isn't an Oscar contender but its purely easy going fun.

I think that is also reflected in the cast and more importantly the actors performances. I have always thought that Snipes was the perfect choice to play Cutter. He looks like he's taking it quite seriously but has an air about him that makes you realise he's just having fun. He's a good actor who perhaps a little typecast always puts in a decent performance in this type of film. He's taken to the character well and his dry sense of humour really shines through with sharp little one liners that add a comical element to the movie.

The rest of the cast put in decent performances. I thought that Bruce Payne was perfect in his role as the smarmy evil British terrorist. He's perfect for the role and really adds a slightly different spin on the usual Bad guy performance. The other real stand out performance came from Alex Datcher who plays a stewardess who catches Cutter's eye early on. There is a spark between them and both Snipes and Datcher look comfortable on screen together, with little sparks of attraction between them through out the film.

Overall it is a film that will help to wile away a few hours on a Friday night. It's not a film that requires a lot of thought or that will even impress you visually. It is however an action film by numbers and that's the main reason it works. For a night in with a few beers, a take away and a movie it is the ideal choice. It doesn't pretend to be something it isn't and there isn't even a sign of it trying. The only disappointment I had were the lack of extra's on the DVD. With only scene selection and language choices the extras on the DVD let down what is otherwise a superb movie. Action film by numbers perhaps, but enjoyable all the same.