Amazon Prime's thriller German film "7500" wastes no time with getting to the meat of the story. After about 15 minutes of exposition, the action kicks into high gear.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt easily carries the film with his superb acting, but it's barely enough to save the movie from losing viewers' attention.
Tobias Ellis (Gordon-Levitt) is an American pilot flying a commercial plane with his flight-attendant girlfriend Gökce (Aylin Tezel) and captain Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger) onboard. He has a tender moment with Gökce while they're talking about their young son before Michael teases him and joins him in the cockpit. Shortly after taking off, three men try to storm the cockpit with glass shards fashioned into knives when a flight attendant delivers food to Tobias and Michael. One hijacker is knocked out in the cockpit with a gravely injured Michael and a shaken Tobias, who has a gash in his arm. As the other two hijackers threaten the lives of the passengers and crew members, Tobias is forced into every pilot's worst nightmare.
7500 Trailer #1 (2020) | Movieclips Trailerswww.youtube.com
Movie-goers have seen their fair share of airline terrorism films, but what's interesting about "7500" is that the entire movie takes place in the cockpit. It's a clever way to put people in Tobias' place with only a small screen connecting them to those outside, building more anxiety and fear.
But all that action that launches the movie in the first half falls flat by the end of the film. It's a shame because it started out strong and had potential, but the pacing feels stagnant and unsatisfying.
Directed by Patrick Vollrath, Gordon-Levitt is the sole reason that Amazon Prime members should see this movie. At the climax of the movie, his acting is so phenomenal. It's easy to feel his pain, terror and numbness.
Even if the pacing feels off, Gordon-Levitt deserves the recognition.
Score: 7/10.
"7500" (92 minutes) is available exclusively on Amazon Prime on Thursday, June 18.
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