Idris Elba boards an ill-fated flight in the real-time thriller ‘Hijack’

Review by Brian Lowry, CNN

(CNN) — Idris Elba is another right guy in the wrong place in “Hijack,” a tense real-time thriller in the mode of “24,” which follows a hijacked plane from the perspectives of its passengers, their captors and authorities on the ground. Crisp and tense, the seven-episode Apple TV+ series overcomes its slightly claustrophobic premise in a show unlikely to ever be offered as in-flight entertainment.

Elba’s Sam Nelson has just boarded a seven-hour flight (presumably the title “7” didn’t clear legal) from Dubai back home to London when hijackers seize control, threatening an attendant in order to gain access to the cockpit. Where they’re going, and why, remains a source of mystery, and of less concern to Nelson – an experienced business negotiator brought in to close major deals – than ensuring that he, and everyone else, gets home safely.

Airline officials, meanwhile, gradually begin to suspect something’s up, despite coerced assurances from the flight crew that everything’s fine. The challenge becomes controlling the passengers, from hotheads eager to mount a defiant stand to funneling information among the cooler heads trying to plan a strategy, none cooler than Elba’s unflappable hero.

The situation invites obvious comparisons to several artifacts from the late 1980s and ’90s, from “Die Hard” to “Passenger 57,” in which Wesley Snipes was a security pro on a hijacked flight. The hostage factor also evokes a touch of “The Negotiator,” a late-’90s showcase for Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey.

Created by writer George Kay (“Lupin”) and director Jim Field Smith, this British production adopts a lower-key, less action-hero-styled tone than those predecessors, while assembling a strong cast on land and in the air – oscillating between them in a way that smartly escapes the confined plane set – that includes Archie Panjabi (“The Good Wife”), Christine Adams, Eve Myles and Ben Miles.

Happily, it’s a worthy vehicle for Elba, who, despite his considerable appeal hasn’t been particularly well served by his last few star turns, including the latest addition to the “Luther” franchise and the rogue-lion thriller “Beast.”

Apple made six of the seven episodes available in advance, so whether the show sticks the landing remains up in the air, and the real-time premise means getting fully on board occasionally requires checking your brain as well as your luggage. Those disclaimers aside, “Hijack” cruises along at a pretty high altitude, the kind that should be enough to keep viewers glued to their seats.

“Hijack” premieres June 28 on Apple TV+. (Disclosure: Lowry’s wife works for a division of Apple.)

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