Stealth

Testosterone AI!

Main Cast: Joshua Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard

Director: Rob Cohen

A computer-controlled jet fighter joins the three best Navy pilots in the “near future”, righting wrongs and blowing up terrorists (I guess they never go away). If you think that the plot rises above my one sentence summary, think again. Better yet, don’t think. This is a visual treat only. Not bad, but certainly nothing exceptional.

Lucas, Biel, and Foxx are the three pilots. Lucas has a smirking, maverick-yet-honorable way about him, Biel is the buff and dedicated female combat pilot, and Foxx is the man-about-town hip sidekick. (Foxx essentially phoned in this part, as evidenced by his striking, deep performance as Ray Charles in another film, but I can hardly blame him. I just hope he had fun on location and picked up a sizeable paycheck.)

Explosions, planes flying super-fast over blurred terrain, AA guns blazing bullets, streaking missiles, and cart-wheeling planes all figure prominently on screen. Don’t try to figure this out, nor try to swallow the idea of our military really letting a computer-controlled plane actually have live ammo (not in this world. and, come to think of it, I don’t see a female combat pilot in the “near future” either). Just sit back and enjoy the pretty colors.

Is it a bad film? Not really. The acting is competent (enough for what it is) and the special effects are fantastic. The plot? Well, you can see it coming a mile away. All predictable. But it isn’t a terrible film. Just one of many anonymous action flicks.