7500 (2019) Movie Review

 Released in 2019 for Germany, and in 2020 for most of the world, 7500 is a thriller set in a Berlin-Paris flight. Our leading character Tobias Ellis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the co-pilot of the flight which then became a subject to a terrorist attack. The terrorist group without any guns, but with knives made out of broken glass, tries to seize control of the plane on air. The terrorist group do all that to "show what it's like to lose someone" to the western world, according to their own words. They are just a bunch of brainwashed pawn in the field, trying to "revenge" the deaths in middle east. One of this terrorists, is a guy named Vedat, who is only 18 and is the only one in his group who speaks at least a bit of english. In the movie, we witness the frightening hours on this doomed flight. Throughout the movie, we can hear 4 different languages being spoken; Turkish, Arabic, German, and English. With a 93 minutes lenght, the 7500 is for sure was an insteresting title on the home page for your Prime Video. Our hero, Tobias, is just a workaholic. He's a 31 year old guy who spent 10 years on air, flying. So we could say he knows his way arround those little tiny buttons. So when the terrorist attack occurs, he follows the protocols strictly, but with so many lives at stake, he struggles to remain calm.

Just as I imagined, Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines bright, like a diamond in this short but effective thriller. He manages to keep the viewers attention on the screen for all the 93 minutes. Seriously, his act in the final scenes are so intense that it makes you wanna sit and wait through the credits. His character though, this Tobias guy, seems a bit confused about life, in general. Even when the terrorists threaten to kill him right away, pointing their knives on him, his tie is strictly proper, and his uniform is all buttoned up to neck. Just... how? Anyways, speaking of characters, it's safe to say that this movie sure looks like a Joseph Gordon- Levitt solo project. Even though it mostly is a solo project for him, the movie lacks the character development for all the other characters expect Tobias. The viewer knows a little to nothing about the pilot of the flight. Tobias' girlfriend, one of the flight attendants, Gökce, is a mystery. Vedat is developing a little through the movie, opening up about his past, and present, but it's surely not enough. The viewer still can't see the motive behind his action. On the phone to his mom, he says "I trusted them mama" in Turkish, but that's it, nothing more. Don't get me wrong, I love leaving webs on the air to let the viewer fill them, but it's just stereotyping if you leave it like that. For a movie trying to get beyond the stereotypes, cultures and languages to show the real nature of every human, the movie is missing the true perspective.

It's a low budget project, but they actually spent 5 million dollars on it, which makes just how expensive it is to rent an actual plane. In most of the screentime, we just see the cockpit. We also see the cabin, but that's through a camera on cockpit, so still cockpit, doesn't count. So for a project with a single platform and 5 million dollars budget, I would like to see more creativity from the movie, rather then creating a turbulance illusion for the air. But still, the movie is not likely about the clouds and birds, so we can just say... whatever.

Scenery is a pro for the title. The aircraft cockpit looks valid. Well at least it looks valid to me, a general viewer who knows not more than a tiny bit about planes. Though, I heard they had advisors for those, and you can tell that the cast trained well for the scenes with actual.. flying things. The movie is not supported with background soundtracks except for the ending credits, which is just normal, wouldn't like to hear an elevator jingle in the middle of the hostage crisis, do we? For a thriller, it's just always okay if you can keep the adrenaline up, and attention locked. The movie seems to be on a solid track all the time, even though there were some repetitive scenes. I liked the acting for the leading roles, but it's just not even close to be enough for the side roles. 

After all, 7500 costs you 93 minutes, that you don't regret spending. Even though it's not a miracle in cinema, since it's not that free minded in account of stereotyping, it's still worth a watch for the idea behind it. 

Cinemortals Rating : 7/10

Reviewed By : Batuhan