Forgetting for a moment that the conviction of Nic Cage's character was based on a legal myth—which invalidates the film's entire premise of a paroled ex-ranger being "in the wrong place at the wrong time" during a coordinated escape attempt—there's still a _lot_ of crap in this movie to write up. I'm not even going to nitpick; it's just too easy.

Maybe this is what I get for plopping movies onto my watchlist based on a passing mention in someone's tangentially related YouTube video (about the _real_ "con air" service that shuttles prisoners around the United States) and a glance at the cast list. As excited as I was to see him in something else, Colm Meaney's role wasn't really big enough to make the whole thing worth watching.

This also gave me a nice glimpse into why I see so many jokes about Nic Cage's acting. Cameron Poe is absolutely the most generic player on screen for the entire almost-two hours. Steve Buscemi, Dave Chappelle, Nick Chinlund, John Cusack, Steve Eastin, M.C. Gainey, John Malkovich, and even Renoly Santiago (who barely had any screen time or dialogue) _all_ managed to be play interesting characters than our hero. It's especially funny in Malkovich's case, as he was allegedly quite unhappy during production due to constant rewrites making it impossible for him to get a real grip on his role.

I could point out _many_ mistakes in continuity, geography, physics, and other areas—but I promised not to nitpick. Suffice it to say, by halfway through the climax I was trying very hard not to roll my eyeballs all the way around. Are we _absolutely sure_ that Michael Bay wasn't involved in this film's effects work? _Jaysus_ (love you, Colm), every object that so much as _tapped_ another seemed to explode in a ball of sparks and flames…

Enough said. These old, over-the-top action flicks are definitely not my thing. Someday I'll learn not to watch things just because an actor I like is listed as part of the cast.