Joseph Gordon-Levitt can’t save thriller ‘7500’
When it comes to suspense cinema, many movies have tried the plot line that “7500” employs.
The thriller streams on Amazon Prime beginning Friday, June 19, and the film follows the hero’s point of view as a group of extremists hijack a mode of transportation and cause chaos —comparable to the plots of movies like “NonStop,” or “Captain Phillips.”
Except “7500” isn’t nearly as good as the many highjacking-themed films that precede it.
The film begins with airport surveillance footage of passengers boarding their flight, and the raw footage creates an eerie sense of realism.
However, that ceases when the film cuts to Tobias (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a soft-spoken American co-pilot, running through a pre-flight checklist with the plane’s German pilot (Carlo Kitzlinger) before the flight takes off
from Berlin to Paris.
Tobias’ flight attendant girlfriend (Aylin Tezel) then chats with him about their son’s preschool placement, indicating her significant relationship to the co-pilot.
The film lulls through a seemingly routine takeoff in a drawn-out scene with ominous dark-blue lighting. Finally, the action commences when hijackers force their way into the plane’s cockpit armed with makeshift knives fashioned from broken glass.
The struggle between the pilots and hijackers leaves the pilot subdued from a knife wound. When the situation simmers down and Tobias is able to re-close the cockpit door, he channels air traffic control while hijackers pound the cockpit door behind him.
The situation escalates further when the hijackers begin taking hostages, threatening to kill them if Tobias doesn’t open the cockpit door.
This is certainly a suspenseful plot line. But it’s one we’ve seen before: The bad guy using hostages as leverage. The reserved protagonist forced into an impossible situation, the wellbeing of passengers and a loved one on the line.
But without much originality, the tropes just feel tired.
And considering almost the entirety of “7500” takes place in the confines of a small cockpit, its interesting visuals are restrained by the film’s setting.
While the movie does have some of the twists and turns audience members want in a thriller, they’re all sluggishly drawn out.
While the film isn’t necessary captivating, Gordon-Levitt carries the suspense and emotion of the film with the compelling acting he’s known for in films like “Inception” and “Don Jon.”
Otherwise, this is just another version of the classic dark thriller we’ve seen time and time again. Besides Gordon-Levitt’s performance, the only real reason to watch “7500” is if you’re desperate for a quarantine time-filler.