Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
From left: Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx in a scene from the movie 'Stealth'. - CONTRIBUTED
IN THE main, this season of box office blockbusters has been rolling out one dud after the other. Stealth is the latest addition to these movies. If it were created in the '80s maybe this movie would have garnered an iota of interest. As is, Kip of Knight Rider makes for way more interesting talking machinery.
Of course, Stealth is based on an amazing concept of science fiction, not that planes can one day fly themselves, but rather that war can be a bloodless affair. Bloodless, at least on the side of the technologically advanced, where no suicide bombers are required to kill millions, but can instead be effected at the touch of a button from a safe distance. The United States media is trying to propagate that bit of fiction on a television near you.
In this case the science fiction in question is a self-manned stealth-bomber, aptly named tin man. Unfortunately, neither he nor the movie has any heart and that is where Stealth fails. A movie needs more than a sci-fi concept and cool stealth bombers to make it interesting, and the makers of Stealth did not seem to realise that until it was almost too late.
What the movie needs is great characters. Top Gun had Tom Cruise, Tom Cruise singing badly and Tom Cruise riding a motorcycle. Add that to the 'need for speed' and what was created was a classic film. Stealth had enough gas but nowhere to go and no one to take you there.
LACKLUSTRE ATTEMPT AT CHEMISTRY
Written by W. D. Richter and directed by Rob Cohen Stealth stars Josh Lucas as Lt. Ben Gannon, Jessica Biel as Kara Wade and Jamie Foxx as Henry Purcell. There is a largely lacklustre attempt at kindling chemistry between Wade and Gannon but the movie is in the main without feeling or interesting characters, plodding along mechanically.
Foxx is largely wasted in this flick, playing a less than interesting stock character. Even so, it may be the best thing that could have happened to Jamie Foxx. Every superstar needs to have at least one dud in their career (if you are John Travolta, you would have had several). Stealth gives Foxx his. Additionally, it comes close enough after Collateral and Ray that his shine can surpass it and he can move on, hopefully to bigger and better things.
Furthermore, neither of Foxx's co-stars help with the human drama, and Lucas, who had the lead, was hardly able to muster interest. It expects you to care simply because a plane got up one day and declared 'I download therefore I am'.
Stealth barely skirts being completely boring with a few cool graphics and some interesting flying. Yet this action movie has run aground and is in desperate need of more than artificial intelligence.
