Action movies as a whole don't tend to be very original. Most of them borrow from the previous hits and that's usually okay as long as they have their own spin to things and a solid cast, a kick ass hero, and bad ass villain. But there is the danger if you release an action flick in the ocean of action movies and it bares just too much resemblance to the some of the others, perhaps superior ones that are out there and I think that might be the one faux pas that befalls Executive Decision. The movie has a solid story, a decent cast, decent action, decent villain, decent hero...but that's just it...decent. It doesn't aim to really blow you away in the likes of Die Hard, or Air Force One (which Executive Decision bore some striking resemblance too besides just being on a plane even though Air Force One was released two years later.) It's also up against and comparable to Action hits like Con Air, The Rock, and the aforementioned Die Hard. Still there is plenty of good old fashion action to be had in the movie but they seem to focus very heavily on the "fish out of water" heroes. They also tend to pack a lot of heroes into one movie with a bunch of really great characters that all seem to want to be the one to lead the movie which confuses the viewer away from the main hero. I mean who doesn't watch Lethal Weapon and say "Riggs and Murtaugh are wicked" or Beverly Hills Cop "Axel is the main man" but you watch Executive Decision and say "Wow all those guys are going to save this plane." You can't root for any one guy despite some big names.
Kurt Russell mostly headlines the cast as terrorism expert Dr. Phil. David Grant. Russell's character isn't the field agent type but he inadvertently gets caught up in the action aboard the plane. I like Russell a lot and he's done a lot of great films, some of them amazing action flicks but this performance was a little toned down as his character wasn't supposed to be the hero type but because of that it took away from his role a little bit. John Leguizamo plays a great role as sudden leader of the SWAT team "Captain Rat." His role is unfortunately small considering how many characters they had to juggle because he alone could have been a great action hero and he has never really carried a movie that I've ever seen and this could have been his chance but he's still great and the relationship between his character and Russell's is terrific if not a little under developed. Terrific character actor Oliver Platt plays a good role as another fish out of water as Engineer Dennis Cahill who also happens to end up on board. Platt's character is left mostly under developed as well when it could have been a lot more but he does a solid job. Joe Morton and B.D. Wong round out the team as good strong characters but again under developed. Halle Berry plays the head flight attendant Jean and does a decent job but as the case in so many of Berry's roles she doesn't look REAL. She looks like a barbie doll and even if she gives a half decent performance it never really fits? David Suchet could have been one of those kick ass villains I mentioned previously and he does a good job of being terrifying but is left as under developed...see the pattern. Finally it should be mentioned that action great (I've never cared much for him) Steven Seagal makes a brief appearance as the first leader of the team but is mercifully killed off very early in the movie. I wonder what made him take what is literally a cameo performance.
Although director Stuart Baird was no stranger to action having worked on the crew of greats like Lethal Weapon and Demolition Man this was his first job as director. He does a decent job but as you can probably guess from my previous description of the cast he doesn't capture any personality with the characters and has so much going on with them that it loses something. Under the hands of a much more experienced director and maybe a better re-write and cutting out some of the multiple heroes this could have been a top notch action movie. There certainly isn't plenty of moments of intense thrills and it almost goes for suspense more than action if not for the multiple gun fights and terrorists and an edge of your seat ending. Overall Executive Decision sadly comes across as a little bland and it hurts even more because it could have been something great. Still worth seeing but certainly won't wow you in the action genre. 7.5/10
Kurt Russell mostly headlines the cast as terrorism expert Dr. Phil. David Grant. Russell's character isn't the field agent type but he inadvertently gets caught up in the action aboard the plane. I like Russell a lot and he's done a lot of great films, some of them amazing action flicks but this performance was a little toned down as his character wasn't supposed to be the hero type but because of that it took away from his role a little bit. John Leguizamo plays a great role as sudden leader of the SWAT team "Captain Rat." His role is unfortunately small considering how many characters they had to juggle because he alone could have been a great action hero and he has never really carried a movie that I've ever seen and this could have been his chance but he's still great and the relationship between his character and Russell's is terrific if not a little under developed. Terrific character actor Oliver Platt plays a good role as another fish out of water as Engineer Dennis Cahill who also happens to end up on board. Platt's character is left mostly under developed as well when it could have been a lot more but he does a solid job. Joe Morton and B.D. Wong round out the team as good strong characters but again under developed. Halle Berry plays the head flight attendant Jean and does a decent job but as the case in so many of Berry's roles she doesn't look REAL. She looks like a barbie doll and even if she gives a half decent performance it never really fits? David Suchet could have been one of those kick ass villains I mentioned previously and he does a good job of being terrifying but is left as under developed...see the pattern. Finally it should be mentioned that action great (I've never cared much for him) Steven Seagal makes a brief appearance as the first leader of the team but is mercifully killed off very early in the movie. I wonder what made him take what is literally a cameo performance.
Although director Stuart Baird was no stranger to action having worked on the crew of greats like Lethal Weapon and Demolition Man this was his first job as director. He does a decent job but as you can probably guess from my previous description of the cast he doesn't capture any personality with the characters and has so much going on with them that it loses something. Under the hands of a much more experienced director and maybe a better re-write and cutting out some of the multiple heroes this could have been a top notch action movie. There certainly isn't plenty of moments of intense thrills and it almost goes for suspense more than action if not for the multiple gun fights and terrorists and an edge of your seat ending. Overall Executive Decision sadly comes across as a little bland and it hurts even more because it could have been something great. Still worth seeing but certainly won't wow you in the action genre. 7.5/10