Con Air

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “Con Air, a summer blast of a movie, teaches us many things: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer never met an explosion, a car crash or 20 tough guys talking trash he didn't like. Nicolas Cage is one of our most enjoyable screen heroes. As long as you're funny, you can literally get away with murder in a movie.”

  Desson Thomson, Washington Post · 80

• “Director Simon West hits just the right note between self-conscious silliness and real dramatic intensity in this 1997 action thriller, which uses typecast actors to make the characters' one-liners and predictable behavior resonate.”

  Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader · 80

• “Yes, disbelief is required not so much to be suspended as removed altogether, but it barely matters as this is an adrenaline blast of the highest order.”

  Caroline Westbrook, Empire · 80

• “Preposterous, predictable, but excessively entertaining, this frenzied thriller draws both story and characters from such action classics as "The Fugitive," "Die Hard," "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Silence of the Lambs."”

  Rita Kempley, Washington Post · 80

• “This is a movie that knows it is absurd, and does little to deny it.”

  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times · 75