Flightplan-Not Without My Daughter on an Airplane-GTTMS
Flightplan. Uh, what exactly was the plan? Flightplan is one of those flicks that leaves you scratching your head. To a certain extent I understand that we can expect a few films that center upon fear on airplanes, Red Eye is another, the cinematic masterpiece that is Snakes on a Plane, and there will be more. Personally, it’s a little tacky to exploit this fear of flying that we all now have in some deep part of our brains after 9/11. But that’s what Hollywood does.
Flightplan is amazingly straight forward and a little absurd. Jody Foster, plays an aeronautical engineer who misplaces her kid on a airplane, yes I am serious, and no one is sure if she had the kid with her or not, or in other words, maybe she is crazy. Yeah, there is more to it than that, but it doesn’t really matter as Flightplan is really just an excuse to have few sets and few locations. We’ve all seen that particular flick before, such as Phone Booth.
In terms of direction German director Robert Schwentke puts on the big boy cap for really the first time, before Flightplan he was mostly directing television. I have no idea how he got the job, but there he is, almost as if by magic. But Robert, and I am going to call him Robert because I don’t feel like typing out Schwentke over and over, does a good job, very effective and punctual directing to be sure, but a wee bit devoid of spirit, soul and life. While technically proficient, the direction and cinematography lacks, well passion to use cliched film reviewer/critic language.
The film suffers from a sort of disease that many recent films suffer from–Going Through The Motions Snydrome (GTTMS). This is where really inferior scripts get penned by really lazy writers (Charlie’s Angels, etc), actors put forth just enough effort to get back to their drugs or beating their LA lackeys or whatever turns them on, and studio executives make safe decisions that if need be they can explain or pawn off on others. This isn’t how one builds up a business, this is how one destroys a business. While movies like Flightplan make money (and I will get to that in a moment) they do so in a cannibalistic fashion. Disappoint the audience enough and eventually, no matter how dumb you think they are, they will stop watching. Instead, they will stay at home and be bored on the internet or internets if you prefer.
The money. First, the ridiculous $45-$50 plus million dollar budget does not translate onto the screen. Let’s put it into perspective watch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow which had a budget of around $65-$70 million and Shrek which had budget of around $50-$60 million and you’ll see that this flick should not of had a $45-$50 million dollar budget. Period. Secondly, how did Robert get to direct this film. Why was this guy with so little experience turned loose with that kind of cash. What did he bring to the table that warranted that kind of faith. Whatever it was, it was not displayed in the directorial choices, which were very safe overall.
This movie isn’t horrible. It just that Flightplan isn’t all that entertaining and its not really that original. Basically, its Not Without My Daughter on an Airplane. Seriously, I expected Leslie Nielsen to come out of the bathroom and make a fart joke. Flightplan made over $200 million worldwide, which should never have happened, yet I will reiterate, this cash may very well be coming at the expense of future earnings as movie-goers say enough of this GTTS.
Story C
Acting C
Visuals C+
Originality/Innovation D
Enjoyability Grade C
Home Theater/HD Factor C
Overall Grade C
 |
