Idris Elba Thriller ‘Hijack’ Struggles to Stay Airborne: TV Review
variety.comDaniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic It’s been more than 20 years since “24” first aired on Fox; its real-time conceit, with a relentless ticking clock moving characters toward collision, made it the kind of hit that’s difficult to duplicate. “Hijack,” a new drama on Apple TV+, doesn’t precisely aim for the sort of thrills and chills “24” generated, but it is indeed another real-time drama about a terrorist plot.
Unfortunately, the central device doesn’t quite work, and “Hijack” ends up feeling like a flight to nowhere in particular. Here, Idris Elba plays Sam Nelson, a corporate type who finds himself at the center of international drama when his return flight from Dubai to London on the fictional Kingdom Air gets taken over by a group of armed criminals.
They eventually gain control of the cockpit through blackmailing the pilot, proving their craftiness and the extent of their preparation; it falls to Sam to play quick-thinking action hero.
The show isn’t much to look at, and few characters other than Sam really pop, a missed opportunity to draw out the various types who might intersect on a plane. (One family in particular is broadly drawn as a sort of loony comic relief, rubbing awkwardly against the kind of tension “Hijack” is meant to generate.
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