Stealth Movie Review:


Let’s say that Stanley Kubrick’s HAL from the classic “2001: A Space Odyssey” starred in the 1986 cheese-ball actioner “Iron Eagle” then you might have an idea to what “Stealth” actually is.

Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx and Jessica Biel are the best and brightest pilots the Navy has ever known. But during a routine mission, their commanding officer (Sam Sheperd) says there will be a change in their flight plan. They will be getting a fourth wingman.

The catch is that this fourth wingman is actually a highly experimental deep combat aircraft (EDI) that uses artificial intelligence to navigate and control the plane.

Are naval pilots eventually going to be replaced by machines?

Everything seems to be going that way until a freak lightning storm strikes the EDI and the hunt is on to bring down this aircraft before it is discovered by the enemy and destroys human life.

“Stealth” is what I commonly refer to as a “paycheck” flick. Basically everyone involved is on auto-pilot and just go through the motions. Everything is timed to the last second including an actor’s emotions. It feels so routine that the film feels like it was created by a HAL like computer. It is soulless and hollow.

The action sequences and amazing dogfights are fun to watch but the story is just so ludicrous we never really care even if they are nose-bleedingly real and perfectly executed.

I kind of liked Josh Lucas as a leading man and would like to see more of him in the action genre but please give this guy a decent script next time. Jamie Foxx is on auto-pilot as he spits out one-liners like some Arnold Schwarzenegger clone. Then there’s Jessica Biel, well I won’t go there. I kind of liked seeing Sam Sheperd playing some corrupt guy since he always seems like such a gentle man but I never really felt he was threatening.

Director Rob Cohen knows how to make action films and how to sculpt great action sequences but I really do feel the poor man got really bored when making this flick. I can see why he made this opposed to the XXX sequel though. It is marginally better than that film.

“Stealth” is a flash in the pan and if you blink you will miss the substance.

So Says the Soothsayer



Dean Kish

Set in "the near future", this rip-roaring action movie is great fun if you don't engage your brain. After The Fast and the Furious and XXX, Cohen is becoming an expert at mindless moviemaking; nobody replaces a provocative idea with sniggering subtext like he does.

Gannon, Wade and Purcell (Lucas, Biel and Foxx) are the top Top Guns, Navy pilots assigned to the highest of high-tech fighter planes. Then their bullish commander (Shepard) adds a fourth plane to their tight team, a pilotless stealth fighter called EDI, for Extreme Deep Invader, created by a rock star-like Seattle computer whiz (Roxburgh). But a lightning strike gives EDI a god complex, and now the team has to tame their new partner before it sparks Armageddon.

This sets up the potential to examine artificial intelligence in an entertaining way, while commenting on the US military's "prosecute with precision" mentality. But while Richter's script toys with important themes, Cohen does his best to distract us with sheer movie spectacular--he's like a boy with new toys, increasing the explosions, stunts and effects until the film is a virtual videogame. He doesn't seem to mind that this requires the addition of jarring plot shifts (such as the Thai Tourist Board interlude, seemingly included so he can zoom in on Biel in a bikini) and increasingly ludicrous set pieces, from an astonishing attack on downtown Rangoon (no collateral damage, yeah right) to a horrific-then-forgotten nuclear disaster in Tajikistan to a Team America-style torch-everything rescue in North Korea (which looks like a cheesy planet set from the 1960s Star Trek series).

The acting is solid, although the characters are wafer thin and the casting is more than a little disturbing--with the blond blue-eyed male, babe-a-licious female and cocky black guy all fitting into narrative stereotypes. As does Shepard's increasingly bull-headed warmonger. Fortunately, Cohen saves himself by not taking anything seriously; despite the carnage, this is just a goofy summer blockbuster, and as such it's diverting and extremely enjoyable, with rousing action sequences, superb cinematography and extravagant effects. Laugh and you'll love it. Think at your peril.

Rich Cline

The near future. An elite trio of pilots have been selected to fly three of the most advanced stealth fighter jets in the world. Kara Wade (Biel), Henry Purcell (Foxx) and Lt. Ben Gannon (Lucas) are those pilots and they are the best the US Navy has and their new frontline force in the continuing fight against terrorists. As they are deployed to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, their commanding officer Capt. George Cummings (Shepard) informs them that a fourth wingman is joining the team but this is no ordinary pilot, it is the first plane controlled by its own artificial intelligence.

The premise of artificial intelligence becoming self-aware is a common theme in science fiction but can ‘Stealth’ bring anything new to the genre? No but it is entertaining all the same.

Whenever you see director Rob Cohen’s name attached to a movie you know what you are going to get. The man behind hits like ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and ‘xXx’ can guarantee you that he will deliver action but you can also be assured that there won’t be much in the way of character development or story. ‘Stealth’ is no different. With the main story been an amalgamation of ‘Top Gun’, ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ and ‘Short Circuit’, the sections between the action sequences do little other push you to the next budget eating shot and have little time for much character or plot development other than to put the characters in more jeopardy or give you a little insight into their lives outside of the cockpit.

The cast do their best with what they have but they deserve much more. Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and especially Jamie Foxx are good actors who can easily cope with drama and added character development. Instead we have clichéd characters that don’t really engage you as much as they should. Josh Lucas’s Lt. Ben Gannon is you stereotypical elite flyer, full of self-confidence and not afraid to disobey orders to complete the mission. Kara Wade sees Jessica Biel as the intelligent beauty, who wants to get the same recognition in a male oriented environment. Jamie Foxx is the overly confident ladies man Henry Purcell who isn’t afraid of telling any woman what he does for a living, if it will get them into bed. All of these characters we have met before is some kind of connotation and the script does little to make them standout from the rest.

The shortcoming of the story and characters are off shot by some exhilarating flying sequences. When the trio get into their planes, this is when the movie really takes off. Some stunning computer generated effects create thrilling sequences that take you into the cockpit and really convey that feeling of speed and flight. Aerial dogfights, flying under the radar and amazing bombing runs combine to make ‘Stealth’ a visual treat for special effects fans.

‘Stealth’ is a no brainer action flick that, despite its character and story deficiencies is still an entertaining romp. Director Rob Cohen can always be relied upon to deliver in the action department and this movie is no different but it looks like we are going to have to wait for him to be able to get the balance of action and story right. This aside, you should make ‘Stealth’ visible on your film-going radar.

Jamie Kelwick

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