Stealth (2005) - DVD Review

The idea of mankind’s science turning against him dates back to the earliest days of the movies, with the first interpretation of Frankenstein in 1910 by Thomas Edison. It’s a great story, expressing the ancient theme of mankind’s hubris, and it’s given us some classic sci-fi, from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and James Whale’s Frankenstein movies through to A.I.-gone-awry classics such as Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and James Cameron’s The Terminator.

If you’re hoping that Stealth is going to add to the genre, you’re in for a disappointment. Rewatch any of the aforementioned movies, because, creatively and intellectually, Rob Cohen’s $US130m movie flies under the radar.

Stealth was one of the major flops of 2005 and, while it wasn’t last year’s worst movie, it’s symptomatic of everything that’s wrong with Hollywood at the moment. The straightforward premise – that a “smart” aircraft turns rogue and needs to be taken out – is barely developed further, until, that is, the film lurches ham-fistedly into a military-industrial complex conspiracy thriller for sheer want of anywhere else to go. Stealth’s main concern is ramped-up action and effects sequences, and it delivers these in numbing quantities. Some, such as a parachute escape amid burning debris, are exciting, lifting this above a total waste of time. But the majority are just dizzying, rather than thrilling. Happily, though, the film unleashes unintended hilarity at every turn, which keeps us interested.

That this comes from director Rob Cohen, the explosion fetishist behind xXx and The Fast And The Furious, is scant surprise. What is galling is that this script is from W.D. Richter, who was once able to write the likes of 1978’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and direct 1984’s cult gem The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai. Here, Richter can’t summon a shred of decent characterisation, embarrassing the usually charming Josh Lucas and last year’s Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. Biel’s presence, meanwhile, can be explained by the otherwise pointless 10-minute “bikini break” sequence that takes her and her fellow pilots to Thailand.

Cohen and Richter score no better in the atrocious attempts at making Stealth “relevant”, with the movie coming across as both a celebration and condemnation of so-called smart weaponry. The cavalier treatment of national sovereignty, meanwhile, literally makes this film a live-action equivalent of Team America: World Police.