“Stealth” is the kind of film where things just sort of happen. The characters get involved with one situation, and then it is resolved.  Then another crisis pops up, and is taken care of as well. There doesn’t seem to be an overriding motivation that carries the picture all the way through, which ultimately leaves the movie feeling disjointed and unsatisfying.

The film centers on the Talon Squadron, a slightly futuristic trio of ace Navy Fighter Pilots who combat terrorist threats.  They fly really neat looking planes and trade pithy one-liners, and generally look cool in a Rob Cohen-meets-“Top Gun” sort of way.  How a Fighter Jet is a more effective anti-terrorist tool than, say, a standard bomber or a cruise missle is a bit beyond me; I also fail to see (from what we are shown in the film) how the super-planes are that much better than the average F-16, besides the fact that they’re shinier. In addition, they are not all that stealthy; they are actually quite loud and noticeable (at least to the artillery guys and other planes who keep shooting at them).

As for the fighter pilots themselves, I also can’t fathom how they are any better than any other characters that might’ve been used in the movie.  For instance, if I told you that this movie featured Jamie “I just won an Oscar” Foxx, Jessica “Thank God I’ve escaped ‘7th Heaven’” Biel, and some other guy, who would you assume was the lead? If you answered some other guy, you’re one up on me.

Other Guy, AKA Josh Lucas, plays Ben Gannon, the “hot-shot, plays by his own rules, but deep down really cares” leader of the squadron.  Biel is Kara Wade, an ambitious, brainy, resourceful pilot who is- get this- actually really attractive!  Foxx is Henry Purcell, who is sort of the spiritual center of the squad- the guy who just wants to make it home once the missions are done.  Based on those brief descriptions, you should be able to figure out at least one of the sub-plots, several key events, and most of the decisions made by the characters during the course of the film.

As for the plot, it focuses on the squad’s relationship with EDI (pronounced “Eddie”), an Artificially Intelligent plane that they are Beta Testing for the military (think “Flight of the Intruder” meets “Flight of the Navigator”).  On the one hand, EDI can do things no human pilot could, or should, physically do.  It’s lightning quick, and flies flawlessly. 

Of course, the flipside is that EDI, as an artificial being, has no moral guidance or judgment; it only follows orders, no matter what the consequences.  Some of the more interesting stops on the “Stealth” commuter flight circuit are scenes dealing with the ethical dilemma of using a machine like EDI to perform tasks usually delegated to human pilots.  Sadly these layovers are brief- just long enough to gas up the plane before heading off to the next pointless action sequence with the Maverick 9000.

I do give writer W. D. Richter credit for those brief glimpses of intelligence amongst all the artificial nonsense in the rest of the film.  After all, he has “Big Trouble In Little China” on his resume- he can’t be all that bad.  I can’t be so lenient with director Rob Cohen though, who has made yet another big, loud, dumb action film in the vein of “XXX” and “The Fast and the Furious.”  On the whole, “Stealth” is one film to keep under your Radar.