In this unobjectionably hokey remake of the 1965 popcorn flick of the same name, mysterious nerd Elliott (Giovanni Ribisi) convinces his fellow plane crash survivors that the only way to avoid death in the scorching Gobi desert is to rebuild their tattered aircraft and fly, fly away. Dennis Quaid stars as Frank Towns, a world-weary fly-boy who rediscovers his mojo when the chips or, in this case plane, is down. The crew of misfits includes the very pretty Tyrese Gibson (“2 Fast, 2 Furious”) as a cocky young co-pilot, the even pret-tier Miranda Otto (“The Lord of the Rings”) as – no kid-ding – a hard-bitten oil rig roustabout, and Hugh Laurie (from the Fox series “House”) as a shifty corporate bootlicker. As far as plot and character development, there are few, if any, surprises in “Flight of the Phoenix.” This one’s all about the action, and the actors have grasped that and have fun with it. Director John Moore (“Behind Enemy Lines”), while remaining remarkably faithful to the spirit of the original, incorporates newfangled special effects to generate several impressive sequences. The conspicuous lack of conflict and true peril prevents us from investing much energy worrying about the fate of our heroes. If there’s ever a doubt where this one’s headed, one need only recall the film’s title. (Rated PG-13 for language, action and violence.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.