Despite having the most simplistic, boring, and tacky title of the year, Plane is a highly enjoyable action thriller; a brilliant told throwback to those ’80s and ’90s films we thought they didn’t make anymore, and its star, Gerard Butler, is enjoying every second.
Say want you want about Gerard Butler, the Scottish actor is quietly churning out some decent action fodder- time and time again. Greenland was a lockdown hit that delighted both critics and fans alike upon its Prime Video release a couple of years back, and films Olympus Has Fallen and its sequels, Den Of Thieves, Geostorm and Copshop have been absolute crackers. It’s more of the same, and then some with Plane, a taut, balls-to-the-wall delight with everything genre fans will want – an engrossing story, if somewhat simplistic, good performances, and a rewarding finale.
Minor spoilers follow, though if you’ve seen the trailer and even read the film’s tagline across the bus banners, I’m not spoiling anything.
Butler is Brodie Torrance, a widowed father of a grown-up daughter and airline pilot of a fictional international company who mostly flies short-haul flights in the far east It’s the early hours of New Year’s Day, Torrance on the first flight out of Singapore, and bound for Tokyo some seven hours away. He’s working the flight, but then hoping to jump international time zones to celebrate New Year’s Eve with his daughter in Hawaii. This is possible as Torrance explains rushing to the gate for the flight in the film’s opening scenes. It’s a big plane with just a handful of passengers – 14 to be exact – but one board, rather unexpectedly, is a criminal just picked up in Bali – Mike Coulter’s ‘murderer’ Louis Gaspare. There’s also a rather arrogant Brit, a rude American businessman, and other random sorts – the kind of folk you’d expect to be in a film like this. There’s a new co-pilot in Yoson An’s Samuel Dele, who we learn before take-off that has a wife and young family, and an astute cabin crew in the back.
The plane is bound for heavy weather some time into its journey, but with such a light load and in an attempt to lower costs, an airline manager on the ground in Singapore tells Torrance and his crew to fly on into and above it. They’ll be fine. Wrong, as at the end of act one, the plane crashes, Torrance managing to land it safe and sound on a remote island, somewhere off the coast of the Philippines. A lawless land run by gangs of militia, the passengers and staff are far from safe and have to work together to survive this unknown hostile territory.
That’s the plot in a rough nutshell and it plays out in three very distinct acts. The opening section is strong, setting the scene by introducing us to the characters, while the middle chunk – on the island – very entertaining and yes, very violent indeed, much like the films of a forgone period it is so clearly inspired by. Butler is very much in control and absolutely comfortable as our hero, but he faces stiff competition from Coulter who is excellent as Gaspare, the hardened criminal who might have a bit more to him. Coulter nearly steals the show. Then there’s Tony Goldwyn – Carl in Ghost – showing up as the company’s problem solver, as well as brilliant character actor Paul Ben-Victor showing up as Hampton, owner of the airline, all of their scenes confined to a control room thousands of miles away from the action in New York City.
There’s also a great performance from Remi Adeleke, star of the recent SAS: Who Dares Wins in the UK as mercenary Shellback – a character that badass operator brought in to save the day – and the passengers.
Think Die Hard in the jungle, mixed with a bit of Speed and Rambo thrown in for good measure and you’ll be on the right path. I enjoyed Plane from beginning to end from its one-liners, action set pieces, and the ultimate payoff. It’s a genuine crowd-pleaser that does exactly what it says on the tin and, admittedly, absolutely nothing more. If you have that in mind in terms of expectations, you’ll get as much out of it as I did.
Plane is released in UK cinemas from 27th January 2023.
Plane
Summary
Plane flies high as a throwback to ’80s and ’90s genre films that we don’t see too much of anymore. One of the better action films of recent times, a genuine crowd-pleaser once again showing us that Gerard Butler is the modern-day action hero we’ve been missing of late.
