Con Air is a good action film and several things keep it alive. One is acting. John Malkovich is good as Cyrus "the Virus" Grissom, who claims he's killed more people than cancer. John Cusack is in good form as U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin, who owns the plane the criminals take over, named "the Jailbird". Nicolas Cage delivers one of his best performances as Cameron Poe, a decorated military hero who is catching a ride home after being in prison for 8 years for defending his wife in a bar fight. Other good performances were by Steve Buscemi as serial killer Garland Greene and Ving Rhames (Mission:Impossible) as Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones.

The musical score was very good. There are a few plotholes but hey, there aren't too many movies that don't have a few plotholes here and there. Another good thing is action. Most of the action on board the plane is hand-to-hand combat. Probably the best action scene in the movie is where the criminals stop to get a new plane. U.S. troops attack them in a long and great gunfight.
The other action sequence is when Cusack and Cage chase Cyrus on motorcycles through a tunnel in Las Vegas. It is very humorous when the plane is crashing and Garland Greene is singing "He's got the whole world in His hands".
At the Academy Awards Con Air was nominated for two things:Best Sound and Best Original Song. It did not win either. Con Air wins hands down against films such as Crimson Tide, The Rock, and Air Force One, it's a great action film