7500 (Germany/United States, 2019)
June 18, 2020
Even though 7500 is not a long movie, shaving about a
half-hour off the running time might have transformed it into a superior
thriller. For roughly 60 minutes, this is a tense, nail-biting experience,
fraught with danger and unfolding in a claustrophobic environment. Unfortunately,
following a key narrative inflection point, the suspense starts to leak out
like the air from a slightly punctured balloon as the screenplay stumbles
through minefield of hostage movie clichés on its way to a predictable and
moderately unsatisfying conclusion.
The entirety of 7500 transpires in real time within
the confines of an Airbus A319 cockpit. To add to the verisimilitude, there is
no musical score. Lighting is sparse (the flight is at night) and the only time
we get a view outside of the small area where the pilot and co-pilot sit is
when the camera focuses on the grainy black-and-white monitor that provides an
image of what’s happening directly on the passenger side of the cockpit door.
The film’s title refers to the emergency code for a plane
hijacking, so there’s no mystery about the core plot point. In the cockpit are
German pilot Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger) and American co-pilot Tobias
Ellis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), getting ready for a routine short-range flight
across Europe (Berlin to Paris). One of the flight attendants is Tobias’
half-German/half-Turkish girlfriend (and the mother of his young son), Gokce
(Aylin Tezel). About 20 minutes into the movie, shortly after the plane has
sailed through a bout of turbulence and reached cruising altitude, there is a
cockpit breach. A small group of generic Middle Eastern terrorists, brandishing
crude weapons fashioned out of broken glass bottles, storm the cockpit while refreshments
are being served. Only one gets inside before Tobais is able to slam shut and
lock the door. But, although Tobais is able to knock out the intruder with the
help of a fire extinguisher, he suffers a serious wound to his arm. Michael,
who has been stabbed several times, is in worse shape. The terrorists, intent
on taking control of the plane but unable to penetrate the reinforced door,
start threatening to execute hostages if they aren’t granted admittance.
First-time German director Patrick Vollrath orchestrates the
film’s early moments with quiet confidence. The setup effectively establishes
the normal rhythms of a flight from the perspective of those at the controls,
although ominous undercurrents result from our foreknowledge that something bad
is going to happen. When it does, the struggle is short and brutal and the
ensuing cat-and-mouse game between Tobais (on one side of the door) and the duo
of Vedat (Omid Memar) and Daniel (Paul Wollin) (on the other side) is elevated
by the continuous ratcheting up of the tension.
7500 is not able to maintain the altitude it achieves
during its early scenes. The last-act interaction between Tobais and Vedat feels
artificial; the dialogue is as unconvincing as the terrorists’ motivations
(they are taking revenge on the West for anti-Muslim acts). The more the production
veers into the realm of melodrama, the less interesting it becomes. The
real-time conceit becomes a trap in that Vollrath is unable to effectively
develop any of the characters or circumstances. Even Tobais, who is on-screen
for nearly every second of the 92-minute running time, is mostly a blank slate.
We know very little about him and even less about the pilot, his girlfriend, or
the terrorists.
The film’s technical acumen, which includes an accurate recreation of an airplane cockpit, gives the movie a sense of realism that doesn’t extend to all aspects of the screenplay. As a theatrical release, this would have been a disappointment. As a home video offering (it’s available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers), it’s more palatable. This one isn’t a bad high-concept thriller but, as is often the case with movies hampered by undercooked storylines, there’s a feeling that something better could have resulted from the same basic plot points.
7500 (Germany/United States, 2019)
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Carlo Kitzlinger, Aylin Tezel, Omid Memar, Paul Wollin, Murathan Muslu
Screenplay: Patrick Vollrath & Senad Halilbasic
Cinematography: Sebastian Thaler
Music:
U.S. Distributor: Amazon Studios
U.S. Release Date: 2020-06-19
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Thriller
Subtitles: none
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- (There are no more better movies of Carlo Kitzlinger)
- (There are no more worst movies of Carlo Kitzlinger)
- (There are no more better movies of Aylin Tezel)
- (There are no more worst movies of Aylin Tezel)
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