Review of Passenger 57 (1992) by John E — 07 Feb 2012

It's Die Hard! On a plane! With Wesley Snipes! Hurrah!

Actually, it's more of a hurroo. Passenger 57 is another one of those one man army in a confined location taking on terrorists action movies that invariably try to ape the Bruce Willis' skyscraper escapade but more often than not end up coming up a bit short.

Wesley Snipes is inserted into the hero mould for this one as a grieving airline security expert who just happens to find himself on the same plane as a dangerous, European (naturally) terrorist being transported to prison, who just happens to have filled the craft with his own minions to thwart the authorities plans to detain him. And only one man can stop him.

Passenger 57 gets almost every thing wrong from the get go. Bruce Payne makes for a very monotone villain while Snipes is just too excitable for the whole film. It doesn't help that he's being directed with a really terrible script. The one liners are there but they all seem so unnatural that they provoke a grimace rather than a wry smile from the viewer. I sh*t you not, at one point Snipes ask Payne is he plays roulette before informing him to "always bet on the black" while the camera dramatically zooms in for a close up.

The film tries to make us feel some empathy with Snipes by throwing in a sub plot about his deceased wife. Unfortunately it crushes this flat by seemingly proving that all Wesley needed to overcome the untimely demise of his loved one was to kill a few dudes and meet a bland stewardess.

Passenger 57 only mildly redeems itself with a couple of entertaining performances from two of it's supporting cast. Tom Sizemore is likeable as Snipes wise cracking chum on the ground while a young Elizabeth Hurley shows some promise as one of the gun toting terrorists.

What the film really lacks though is action. An action movie can get away with a lot if you've got a few decent action sequences and some stuff blowing up. Given it's setting, P57's action is largely confined to a few bouts of fisticuffs in the aisles of economy class. It's not nearly enough.

Snipes went on to better action movies than this, notably the Blade franchise, so it's hard to blame him for the movies disappointment. Passenger 57 is a film which seems content to just amble along, not really making much effort to be what it's dressed up for. It's an action film which doesn't even want to try.