Plane (2023)
Plane is an action thriller starring Gerard Butler as a commercial airline pilot, who has to save his crew and passengers after he’s forced to land in dangerous territory.
At the age of 53, Gerard Butler seems born to play roles like this. Rugged, determined and very honorable. He is the consummate movie star for people who like meat-and-potatoes movies. He is also the logical successor to Liam Neeson as the dad who kicks ass.
This time out he plays Brodie Torrance, who is flying his plane to Tokyo, which will give him the chance to visit his daughter, who is living in Japan.
On board are his co-pilot, three stewardesses, fifteen passengers, an FBI-agent and with that last persoon comes… a convicted criminal. Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) is being flown to Japan to stand trial. It’s no real spoiler to say there is more to him than meets the eye and that Torrance and Gaspare share some important scenes later on in the movie. The poster already suggests as much.
The set-up of the movie feels a little predictable, so I wasn’t immediately hooked. However, after the flight is struck by lightning, Brodie has to make a risky landing on a war-torn island in the Philippines.
This is where the movie becomes interesting. Brodie has to find help, while at the same time local separatists appear who want to take the crew and passengers hostage. Soon, carnage ensues.
Director Jean-Francois Richet creates a lot of tension and films the action scenes with a lot of verve. At times, the violence is surprisingly tough, in a way that a lot of nineties action movies used to be.
I’m not saying Plane is great, but Butler and Colter work well together, and the movie gets the job done.
I'm also happy to report that the fifty million dollar production budget is mostly on the screen. Unfortunately, the movie is tracking pretty poorly, so there is a good chance that it will flop and will have to make that budget back in post-theatrical.
If you would like Hollywood to keep making these kind of real world action movies you could consider watching Plane in cinemas this weekend. Then again, it’s not my money they are spending, so if you wanna wait to catch it on streaming, that is your prerogative too.