In the near future, when American super-aircraft fly into any country in the world and blow things up on a regular basis, three TOPGUNs, Lt. Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas), Lt. Kara Wade (Jessica Biel), and Lt. Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx) are joined by a cutting-edge, computerized, drone plane. On the way back from blowing up some terrorists in the middle of Burma, lightening strikes the A.I. craft, causing it to think, and therefore, go rogue. This makes it a death match between machine and humans (in machines). That is until the script goes as nuts as the plane, causing conspiracies to appear, the officer in charge of the A.I. (Sam Shepard) to behave as if he’s in a spy thriller, a strange scientist (Richard Roxburgh) to enter and exit the movie with little explanation, and Wade to fight North Koreans on the ground.
Losing close to a hundred million dollars, Stealth was one of the biggest flops of all time. It didn’t deserve to be. It didn’t deserve to be a big hit either. It’s an odd movie and I’m not sure what to think of it. The PR people at Columbia Pictures had the same problem. They sold it as a gung-ho, Rambo-style, pro-military, sci-fi pic where star Jamie Fox takes on an evil computer and makes the world safe for democracy. But it isn’t any of those things. Fox isn’t the star (fifth banana, after Lucas, the special effects, Biel, and Shepard), the computer isn’t exactly a bad guy, there’s no science, and the flick shows distinct signs of psychosis with its views on the military.
On the plus side, the air combat is as exciting as Columbia claimed it would be. If you like cool planes, missiles, and big explosions, you’ll be very happy. The ignition of a huge ring of fuel at high altitude and a crazed parachute drop with flaming wreckage all around should bring a smile to even the most jaded action fan. And there’s some charming actors, with their charm dialed to eleven, accompanying all those pretty effects. I’m not calling what they do here great acting; perhaps great “movie starmanship” is a better term (hey, I think I’ll copyright that phrase). Lucas carries the film effortlessly, and everyone else is fun to watch.
Additionally, this isn’t a retread of Colossus: The Forbin Project or Top Gun. There are lots of surprises. But that’s not clearly a good thing. You won’t know what’s coming next because the filmmakers didn’t know what kind of film they were making. It starts as a pro-individualism, testosterone-laced shoot’em up, but that doesn’t last. The early plot (humans fighting computer) is wrapped up halfway through the movie, spawning multiple threads, only some of which go anywhere. Important characters (a politician, a scientist, a technician, and a Korean soldier) are underwritten, and in several cases, forgotten. It all ties together in a general way, but there are enormous plot holes, insane coincidences, and a random feeling about the last half.
Call Stealth the first Red-State/Blue State movie intended to appeal to everyone. Now that would normally mean that the film acknowledges the different views held by people in the U.S., and attempts to find common ground. Not here. It completely ignores the middle and goes for both ends. It’s an anti-war film, where it’s a good thing that America polices the world (I couldn’t get Team America: World Police out of my mind.) It objects strongly to the killing of innocent townspeople, but than revels in the deaths of Russian pilots who are in the right. It suggests that anyone outside of the America can’t be trusted and there are terrorists everywhere, but also that our government and military are filled with evil men and paramilitary companies (read: Haliburton) are destroying our liberties. It’s as if four scripts were independently written, two by liberals and two by conservatives, and the shooting script was made by randomly choosing pages from the others.
For all its flaws, Stealth is an enjoyable romp. Silly, inconsistent, and politically confused, but enjoyable.