Credits

Director: Brandon Nutt Starring: Randy Couture, Dominic Purcell, Tiffany Dupont, Holt McCallany, Craig Fairbrass Screenplay: Brandon Nutt, Declan O'Brien, Scoop Wasserstein Country: USA

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Couture stars as CIA agent Paul Ross. With the help of MI6 counterpart Ballard (Vinnie Jones) Ross has devoted the last ten years of his life to the pursuit of a mysterious international crime syndicate known as 'The Tribe', but with little to no evidence of the groups existence their bosses are preparing to pull the plug on the investigation - that is until a tip-off sends the pair to a warehouse where Ballard is killed and Ross uncovers intelligence suggesting a luxurious private 747 owned by British industrialist Bruce Lieb (Craig Fairbrass) could be The Tribe's next target. With Lieb preparing to board his aircraft for a transatlantic flight Ross does the gentlemanly thing and warns the Billionaire of the impending danger, but Lieb is a man with matters to attend to and a burly Aussie bodyguard (Dominic Purcell) watching his back, so he insists the flight will go ahead on schedule. When Ross discovers his leggy ex-fiancée (Tiffany Dupont) is also on board as part of Lieb's business entourage he agrees to tag along, and as the title so ominously foreshadows a trio of trigger happy bandits led by Rostow Pawlak (Holt McCallany) assumes control of the plane not long after take-off, demanding billions to be placated and threatening to kill everyone on board if they are not. Can Ross unleash his inner John McClane and save the passengers while rekindling the flames of passion with his ex?

Considering Randy Couture's mixed martial arts pedigree you'd think the makers of Hijacked would have him beat people up for most of the movie, right? Well you would, but sadly they didn't. After a clumsily staged gun battle in the opening minutes there's an extended bridge between action scenes, and even when he eventually does get to flex his muscles Couture's fight scenes are brief and filmed in claustrophobia inducing close-ups that do little to highlight his ability to brutalise an opponent.

With its star given limited opportunities to throw around the fists that made him a three time world champion much of Hijacked's success or failure hinges on his ability to deliver the written word, and sadly in that area Couture still needs some training. In The Expendables he seemed to tap into that likeable swagger possessed by most competitive fighters but here he plays the stoic, world weary hero and comes across as wooden and unbelievable. Others are on hand to share the load but don't make much of an impression (particularly Vinnie Jones, who doesn't survive to the end of Act 1), though Dominic Purcell's character is a likeable Aussie bloke who sports a bushy 70s fast bowler moustache and uses the word "mate" a lot to re-enforce his heritage.

Slow pacing and a frustrating lack of action scenes are Hijack's biggest issues though. The hijacking doesn't occur until the 45 minute mark, and the characters are constantly forced to make baffling decisions to stretch a basic premise to feature length. At one point the movie becomes a tedious game of hide-and-seek as the hostages scatter around the aircraft, and with only three hijackers on hand there's little chance of a high body count. Later in the film the scriptwriters recycle their bad guys in an unimaginative manner by having them subdued, then allowed to escape (because no one bothers keeping an eye on them!) so they can be subdued again. Seeing how the hero conducts himself in the face of insurmountable odds is one of the elements that makes action movies so entertaining, but with Purcell acting as Couture's sidekick Hijacked pits two heroes against three villains. That's hardly an unwinnable fight!