Air Force One Down

Before we even begin this review, I have to get it off my chest that Air Force One Down starring Katherine McNamara has quite literally escaped my radar and I wasn’t looking forward to this movie at all when I switched on my television. I mean, McNamara has only starred in some rom-coms and TV shows, so I guess it makes sense that McNamara is an actress who isn’t as well known.

However, she’s been in Arrow which is a CW show, and Walker: Independence which I managed to catch some of so I guess in my head it was okay for her to take on an indie action film. And I apologize, my expectations for this movie were practically on the floor, that’s how low they were.

Well, I admit that I am putting my foot in my mouth because of the content of this article and I understand that my opinion will not be shared by every one of you. Nevertheless, after watching the movie Air Force One Down, I’m pleased to say that I liked it a lot and that Mrs. McNamara has the potential to outdo many of her female action counterparts if she does more high octane films. This time out, James Bamford directed a short but sweet action in the form of a 86 plus minutes film where our girl really had her inner John wick during the beautifully edited and shot fight scenes that had a remarkable level of substance in them.

In a rather unsolicited manner, we are presented with Miss Allison Miles in the very opening of the movie. In the opening scene we see that Allison Miles is really a strong willed armored core and apart from being fierce, she appears quite eloquent and viciously brutal in the hand-to-hand combat training exercise conducted with the other male Marines.

Her uncle Sam Waitman, cast by the amazing Anthony Michael Hall, who is the boss of the Secret Service appears soon after and recruits her as she appears to be the one who is most qualified for the position. I do not even need to tell you since Hall plays an actual Uncle Sam which right away is brilliant.

As expected of someone beginning their new role, there are shoes to fill and new uniforms to wear which in her case means Miles now has to perform donut detail which involves shit like fetching her colleagues coffee or taking the orders for tea and cakes and then serving them. But there was no need to worry because due to unforeseen circumstances changing someone from Waitman’s detail means they cannot complete the task, which means Miles is now assigned to the President on the only one Air Force One.

Miles, however, does not much appreciate the President since she is played by Ian Bohen in the film, nevertheless when given such an opportunity as being one of his protectors she does not refuse since such an opportunity only appears very few times in a person’s life.

Didn’t I tell you that on the plane that’s about to take off, it is almost instantly highjacked by terrorists who wish to spoil the President’s new oil and energy deal with the country of Askovia. Every and all agents are quickly dispatched of leaving only Allison and Sam left to save the day and thus commences a battle campaign to rescue the President and neutralize the terrorist threat before the deal is off.

As much as Air Force One Down has its moments, there is a shift in pace in the mid section that appears to drag with the inclusion of some overused clichés in the plot line and some clumsy acting display, but that has more than been compensated for with some mean beatdowns and an epic finish that sees Allison McNamara run through a hail of automatic gunfire, knives, hammers and her own fists and feet to defeat the terrorist combatants. Most of the action that is really great involves Michalina McNamara pretending to sell this movie because she looks pretty good doing it; she sells it pretty well.

It is also good that she had to work a lot on the physical part of the story, and she has impressed in the many action sequences of the film where she has put great effort into emulating action icons Spielberg and Schwarzenneger. Considering that she weighs roughly a third of those two action icons, it’s impressive. You can tell that it is really her when the action lands and the audience is left wanting more from her, something that she can definitely get into if she wishes to.

It’s not only McNamara’s believability as a tough character that is credible, but she is also able to portray the attitude that has to come with the role and this sells her performance even further. In other words, she does not just talk the talk, she walks the walk. As one of the more memorable scenes, in one of the shots, a rather large antagonist is about to take a very big blade. As she draws it, she whispers, “Hi” and then says, “Nice Knife.” Okay, I’ll be the first to admit I’m likely going to be in the minority, but that made me smile. And I mean, in a good way. She is also very good looking…… there is nothing wrong with being a woman and kicking some ass on camera. Hot!

In McNamara’s company is Ian Bohen in the role of President Dallas Edwards (yes, indeed, Dallas!) and he is not a typical head of state with a few interesting traits that I found quite appealing. If we ever needed a certain type of president, it would be this guy as he gets into the mix as well, not only thanking everybody but also putting on his boxing gloves and shooting with an AK-47.

It’s a bit like he is playing the role of Harrison Ford in Air Force One. Well, with a first name like Dallas, I suppose you have got to know how to throw down a little bit. It is also a good thing that he has good chemistry with our heroine and in fact, there is even some steam between the two, but as much as I would like to never give them credit, they do keep it professional.

Anthony Michael Hall has always held a special place as one of my favorite actors, and it has been pretty nice to witness how he has evolved from that teenage actor who starred in a host of 80’s comedy films. Hall has definitely now gone over that type-casting butt him as over the years he has done all kinds of different projects and genres and as usual shows why he is still around the game after all these years.

Here as Allison’s Uncle Sam (I seriously love that) he is able to add some grit and validity to the movie and plays an important role to the proceedings and setting the direction of the plot. It’s an unfortunate situation for him as he plays the character for less time than many would want. He goes a long way to advance the story and in his own brief fight scene he gets his hands dirty.

What should be highlighted is the fact that in the trailer of the film, it was shown to be like yet another irresponsible Die Hard knockoff but on an aircraft, and while it does have some truth to it, the action is limited to a brief exchange of time which is covered in the latter third of the movie. While onboard, there is quite an impressive fight between Miles and one of the terrorists, where I certainly didn’t expect it to go, and after the scene, it had me quite captivated. If anything, I would have wanted to see a touch more action and perhaps another scuffle while on the plane, but the climax does compensate for it.

The action picks up again only after the two main characters, Miles and President Edwards, escape the aircraft. I understand that such changes will not allow viewers to feel exhausted by action alone. The filmmakers wanted to take a break from the pace and tension of the plot for the audience to develop an attachment to the two characters who have found themselves in unfamiliar territory, but I think it was still a bit counterproductive to the energy that was originally created. It was hoped that Air Force One was under attack for a little while longer. Still, I appreciated how they changed the location. It made the movie less cramped, which was the case for the majority.

The climactic moment of the invasion is where McNamara really gets my praises, because that moment is reminiscent of a different film, that had none other than Scott Adkin. McNamara Miles manages to escape from the clutches of her pursuers, and begins to eliminate her foes, and as Miles is told to ‘kill ’em all’ she immediately struck a familiar chord as I recall Adkins dominating his enemies in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which was a true fan-favorite.

Unlocking that killer sequence and fusing it into a scene that featured an epic shootout, McNamara just went above and beyond the call of duty and is breathtaking in how she handles herself and kills in various cinematic forms.

Holy shit I did not want to forget about how unblievably awesome stunt coordinator and fight choreographer Dmytro Rudyi and Pavel Avilov were for providing such graphic violence that was almost poetic. McNamara is a badass. She literally looks like she is enjoying every single moment of filming this and completely put her body through so much work.

To be honest, I went back and replayed the scene just to confirm that my eyes were not deceiving me.

On a general note, Air Force One Down has more cliches than anyone would want, and a twist about Sami betraying his own people that you would have seen coming from a mile away but I let that all pass as this was a movie for better than it should have been. My expectations were on the floor but what amazed me was a sleeper hit in my books with Katherine McNamara all primed to take on the hive as the top female action star.

Jones starts off the bat by explaining which types of action montages will appeal to McNamara and he accompanied it with action which was better than a lot of what Hollywood has to offer. It is sad that such a film shall be missed by people who take their fandom seriously like I almost did but if you give it a chance like I did then you might be able to enjoy the memories of the hyper kinetic chaos with no regrets. The choreography is reminiscent of San Andreas’ principles but what sets it apart is the fact that they are the best in the industry. Well done Ms. McNamara. You have my undivided attention.

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