Review: Idris Elba's 'Hijack' is the high-altitude cure for summer sleepiness

Got the summer doldrums? Don't worry, Idris Elba is here to slap you out of your warm weather stupor with “Hijack.”

The easy-to-love actor is the perfect anchor for Apple TV+’s new easy-to-watch thriller, which is both refreshingly new and just familiar enough to be comfortable. "Hijack" (streaming Wednesdays, ★★★ out of four), a “real-time” series set over seven hours on a hijacked plane, is the kind of old-school TV action show we don't get to see much anymore.

It's an "event series" (usually a soulless marketing label) that actually feels like an event. It's got a movie star, flashy plot twists, pulse-quickening action and a figurative ticking clock. It’s a nice little reminder that TV can be thrilling.

Elba plays Sam Nelson, a bigwig corporate negotiator who is used to getting what he wants, when he wants it, no matter how many people he has to go through. In other words, he’s just the kind of guy you want riding in first class when a plane from Dubai to London is hijacked by criminals.

The series, which mimics the real passage of time like Kiefer Sutherland’s Fox series “24," gets to the point very quickly, as Sam’s flight is taken over by a group of British nationals with big guns and not a lot of patience. Led by the twitchy Stuart (Neil Maskell), the hijackers’ intentions aren’t clear, and Sam does his best to dismantle their hold on the plane, bit by bit. Meanwhile, the British government slowly realizes the plane has been taken hostage, and scrambles to respond. It's led by a group of sketchily defined bureaucrats, the most prominent of which is played by Archie Panjabi (“The Good Wife”).

“Hijack” is ceaseless in its action and drama, a heart-racing watch from start to finish. Elba is magnetic, a real accomplishment considering his character is less than likable for much of the seven-hour flight (and seven-episode series). He is helped by a sharp script from co-creator George Kay, who made Netflix’s similarly heart-racing “Lupin.” Scenes toggle between the plane and the ground, which helps give the audience relief from the tension, but the series is at its best when it is unrelenting in its action, violence and chaos. Kay and co-creator Jim Field Smith deploy legitimately shocking twists and hair-raising cliffhangers.

“Hijack” is not without its flaws. Sam’s ex-wife and son pop in and out of the narrative but don’t add much, other than helping communicate to officials that something is wrong with the flight. There are some pretty big logical leaps required for some silly moments, particularly the governmental response to the hijacking, which vacillates from head-scratching to totally ludicrous. The hijackers' motivations are absurd and the reveal of the big villains pulling the strings is a letdown.

But those underwhelming moments are scattered among scenes of tension and genuine fright. When the camera returns to the plane, the sweaty, claustrophobic, strained atmosphere envelops the audience. Every decision could be a life-or-death call. So many series on TV right now are overlong, overserious, overcomplicated and overly dull. “Hijack” is no more or less than it needs to be. It jolts you awake and takes the passivity out of TV-watching. It captures your attention.

No ? it hijacks it.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Hijack' review: Idris Elba thriller is the cure for summer sleepiness