Air America

Air America is a mix of action comedy and anti-war film with parodic elements. It disappoints all those who go to see stars and wanted to watch this film as a typical action ride of Mel Gibson, because his role is rather secondary and he plays unusually moderately. It is a film that, like the vast majority of movies balancing on the edge of genres, disappoints those who wanted to see a great comedy or a great action film. From each, there is simply a piece, however, this mix actually worked for me. It is not an exceptional affair, but a few absurd scenes, several successful gags and sparkling dialogue, plus a decent dose of character acting, were enough for me to have a 75% overall impression and four stars. (2008.05.19)

Two movie stars, beautiful Laos landscapes, flying pigs and drugs... From a historical perspective it’s an amazing piece, if those two met in a movie today, it would be an event of the year. Downey and Gibson are solid in their roles, but their performances were nothing out of the ordinary. The entire movie has this pleasant old school feel to it, and final text explaining what happens after the end of the movie offers a little bit more than just a boring ending. A part two could easily be made right now, mapping the situation around Thai state lottery jackpot winners. (2011.07.27)

A good, relaxing comedy with some serious moments, which I give 3.5 stars rounded up for the two perfect emergency landing scenes (especially the one with the plane), and for the final hide-and-seek. Gibson and Downey are excellent in their roles, while Spottiswoode does a good job with them and the planes and helicopters... If the screenwriters had added more humor and am bit of poking at the US war policy and left out unnecessary characters (Nancy Travis, Gibson's family), the four stars could have easily been pure. (2010.09.25)

Probably one of Mel Gibson's weakest films. The plot is practically nonexistent, with minimal action, and it doesn't work very well either as a war satire, I would say it's an unnecessary film. And it’s also so unremarkable in all aspects that it's not even nice to look at. The performances are mostly bad and there are very few funny scenes. The action is fairly well shot, but there isn't enough for an action movie. This film is too thematically serious for a pure comedy, it becomes a genre mutant that is best to avoid. Roger Spottiswoode can do much better. (2006.05.07)