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| Stealth
Directed By: Rob Cohen Plot
Summary - Review 1 - Review
2 - CURRENT REVIEWS
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| In the near future, the Navy develops a fighter jet piloted by an artificial intelligence computer. The jet is placed on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific to learn combat manuevers from the human pilots aboard. But when the computer develops a mind of its own, it's the humans who are charged with stopping it before it incites a war... [TRAILER] Maybe it’s just the unreasonable expectations of my inner-teenager but “Stealth,” despite its creative premise involving a robotic and intelligent fighter jet which goes bad, is remarkably uncreative in coming up with a story that actually makes use of this cool toy. This is the kind of story that young boys dream about. Just imagine: A super-secret, super-powerful jet that can’t be detected by radar and can think for itself – it’s a fantasy of perfect dimensions, sprinkling in a bit of science fiction along with action and fantasy. But, wait, it gets better: This jet gets struck by lightening and his circuits get re-wired. Now he’s out on his own, with his own mission, weapons payload and irrational logic. Can you see that boy, sitting in his bedroom, drawing a picture of this futuristic super-weapon, or sitting in front of his computer screen, trying to think of different things this jet could do with its advanced technology and super-intelligence? If only director Rob Cohen (“XXX,” “Fast and the Furious”) could have found such a creative boy to help with the script, “Stealth” would surely use this jet – named EDI (voiced drolly by Wentworth Miller) – to greater effect and created a story more tightly wrapped around this artificial intelligence, much like Stanley Kubrick did with his interstellar adventure and the menacing peephole of a spaceship computer in “2001.” Instead, “Stealth” is more of a romantic-laced adventure film, focused on Lt. Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas) and Kara Wade (Jessica Biel) and how when Kara gets in trouble, there’s nothing Ben won’t do for her. EDI is not the center of the film, but rather the recurring dues ex machine that conveniently pops up and does whatever’s required to advance this story between these human players. Need a chase sequences? Then have EDI turn on Ben, Kara and their team member Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx). Want to question the ethical implications of having machines fight wars? Then have EDI exercise bad judgment and kill innocent civilians. Need to give Ben an ally so that he can emerge victorious against overwhelming odds? Well, heck, then just have EDI turn from a bad guy into a good guy, pair up with Ben, and go get Kara from behind the North Korean border. Ironically, “Stealth’s” story is not liberated by this computerized craft, but rendered arbitrary and meaningless. It doesn’t open up the possibilities of this action film, but limits them. All due to a government conspiracy, “Stealth” is the story of how three human pilots – among the best the Navy has to offer – get paired up with an experimental droid aircraft that their superiors hail as the future of warfare. Their first, disastrous mission together starts the film’s crisis, which propel the remainder of the plot. What’s fascinating is how uninteresting EDI ends up being – how small this summer blockbuster’s imagination is in making the most out of its subject matter. Essentially, screenwriter W.D. Richter conceives of two standoffs between robot and man, and then abandons EDI to focus instead on Kara’s plight as a stranded soldier. Which is fine – movies like that can be quite exhilarating. But here, if the story is going to start with the promise of a surreal weapon of destruction going haywire, then the film should probably follow that line of thinking. If not, it’s just serves as a distraction, reminding us of how unrealistic this bigger story really is. Cohen can’t have it both ways, as both a far-fetched story of ethical implications and then as a run-of-the-mill rescue operation. The two just don’t mix – any creative boy could tell you that. It’s a bummer, and a letdown, for a movie that could have been a silly and badly-needed distraction from a real war – fought by real humans – that keeps making headlines.
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