Flight of the Phoenix
20th Century Fox
Availability: Now
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Giovanni Ribisi and Miranda Otta
The Verdict: “Phoenix” starts with a crash and burn, but never seems to take off again.
Movie: 1 1/2 stars out of 5 stars
Extras: 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars
Preposterous events and fizzless acting fire up the engine of “Flight of the Phoenix,” but there’s a reason you should watch it at least once: the plane crash.
“Flight” lifts off with an oil rig team picked up by two pilots, Frank Towns (Dennis Quaid) and A.J. (Tyrese Gibson). The pilots must fly the team across the Mongolian Desert, but a nasty sandstorm hits them on the way. While the co-pilot and Elliot (Giovanni Ribisi), a mysterious passenger, warn against flying into the storm, the main pilot, Towns, believes they can make it. Well, they don’t, and the team is stranded in the Gobi with limited water and food, a few inhospitable nomad, and a seemingly irreparable plane. But Elliot catches everyone’s attention when he says the plane can be rebuilt, and predictably, Towns and Elliot ram heads over who’s in charge for the rest of the movie.
On a positive note, the plane crash scene whips out nifty special effects and generates excitement. Sure, it’s mainly Hollywood fluff, but it makes for an impressive opener. As the storm becomes incredibly violent, the engines falter, and the plane dives through a sandy hell with Olympic velocity. The body of the metallic bird sheds steel and flames, and the turbulence reduces the passengers to mere rag dolls. When the plane nears the desert floor, it crashes through several dunes, kicking up a wild flurry of sand. And when this scene ends, “Flight” should have ended.
Again, Dennis Quaid reminds us he’s still a lesser version of Harrison Ford. Although Quaid definitely contributes more than the other pitiable actors, nothing in his performance jogs the memory like a good leading role should.
But blame the other cast members for most of the fumbling, particularly Ribisi. His oddball plane designer could have been a fascinating conundrum, but sadly, forced eccentricity sums up his disappointing performance. And just as a quick thought, the shouting matches between Ribisi and Quaid never seemed like a worthy conflict.
And the remaining players follow suit. Gibson never gets your attention, and as the only woman in the film, Miranda Otto shows off her vast thespian skills: nauseatingly whiny to nauseatingly cheerful. She gets into it with Quaid in a few scenes, but no sexual tension or even remote chemistry blips through this farce. Moreover, the other supporting characters are various stick figures of past caricatures. It’s like “Ocean’s Eleven” in a desert with no canteen.
Expect to feel like Nostradamus after watching “Flight,” for any surprise in the film is a mirage. This remake never feels dangerous. Time after time plot twists appear long before they occur, and the cast performs all the formulaic duties. As the characters discuss the myth of the phoenix, one can only twitch from supreme irritation. Like nobody saw that dialogue coming.
Yet hand it to the screenwriters, nobody could have predicted the scene in which the rugged men of the Phoenix bob their heads and dance to Outkast. Oh, and the dialogue gets really hip when a character refers to water as “H2O.” Disgusting.
However, perhaps the greatest fault of “Flight” lies with the endless philosophical yammering. Speech after speech relates to clinging to hopes and dreams, yet I recommend clinging to the skip scene button.
“Flight” starts off soaring but quickly reduces itself to a hang glider. Despite the likable Quaid and an excellent crash scene, this big budget endeavor strands the viewer in director John Moore’s version of reality television. Unfortunately, there’s no backstabbing or sexuality to speak of, and this remake only sounds like an unrealistic dirge. Too bad. They could’ve made Jimmy Stewart proud.
Extras start with a commentary track with Moore, producers John Davis and Wyck Godfried and production designer Patrick Lamb. Surprisingly enough, their commentary provides helpful facts and appealing detail about the film. “The Phoenix Diaries” allows the actors and director to show the making of “Flight” in a personal way; genuinely, it’s not a bad extra, but I doubt you’ll care about it after watching the movie. The extended scenes are ho-hum trumpery, yet the first deleted scene would have added a little atmosphere to “Flight” if the director had left it in the mix.