Passenger 57

There was a time long ago, before he decided against paying taxes, that Wesley Snipes was one of the biggest action stars working in films. When you see an actor like that suddenly sink into the almost inescapable realm of direct-to-video films, you cannot help but feel a little sad. Wesley Snipes is a better actor than many give him credit for. Before he decided against paying his taxes, he was a big action star who wowed us in movies like "New Jack City" and the "Blade" movies among others. But in between all that, he starred in some crap that he usually proved to be the most watchable thing in. "Passenger 57" is one of those movies. It is by no means great, but it is certainly never boring to say the least.

Wesley Snipes stars as John Cutter, a security specialist for an airline corporation who is taking a flight to Los Angeles to take a new job. He is the kind of character you might see in Sylvester Stallone movies like "Cliffhanger;" a man who has suffered a terrible tragedy and is now heading on to the road of redemption. Cutter watched his wife get shot to death in front of him during a convenience store robbery, so you can understand why he doesn't smile a lot. Along with him on the plane is "flight attendant" (not stewardess) Marti Slayton, played by Alex Datcher. John just got through a training session with her where he chewed her out for improvising a move where she succeeded in disarming a terrorist. Now Cutter is trying to make it up to her, but she is not making it easy for him. Ironically, the thing that Cutter chewed Marti about becomes their only option for survival.

Unbeknownst to John Cutter, aboard the plane is terrorist Charles Rane (Bruce Payne) who is being shipped under the guard of the FBI to await trial where he will most certainly be found guilty. Bruce plays the villain of the piece with a seething glare that you can find in any Stanley Kubrick film. It is a one-note performance, even if he has the excuse of feeling no pain. At the same time, he does create a threatening enough presence as a villain that has us desperately wanting him to experience the most intense pain humanly possible.