Stealth (2005)

Review by All Movie Guide
Rob Cohen brings his patented brand of flashy action to the skies with Stealth, an aerial assault on the senses that both wows with its explosions and bores with its plodding plot. This is definitely the type of summer flick that could have done well to snip a few million from its 100-million-dollar budget, as there's simply too much on the screen to fully take in in one sitting. From the overdone-already Fast and the Furious camera trickery that speeds through the jet's electric systems to the gimmicky crane shots that pull from the engines into the cockpit one too many times, it's obvious that Cohen went a bit too wild on his visual flair with this one. Despite this, there are moments that truly pay off, such as Jessica Biel's exhilarating free-fall sequence or almost any scene that ends in a massive explosion sure to rock you out of your chair. Not surprisingly, the acting is what you'd expect, with Josh Lucas being charming when he needs to be, but wooden when the times get tense. Biel mainly survives unscathed (save for her gratuitous bikini scene), though poor Jamie Foxx sounds like he's still caught in Ray Charles-mode as he wraps his head around dialogue that's not quite cocky, serious, or even vaguely interesting for that matter. When it comes down to it, inflatable dummies could have headlined the pick, and it'd still been a good ride if not for the script by Buckaroo Banzai director W.D. Richter, who slathers on the layers to a point where the movie unjustly becomes longer than it need be. Still, adrenaline-rushers could do a whole lot worse than Stealth, as evidenced by the dreadful Cohen-produced sequel of the same year, XXX: State of the Union. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide