Plane review

PLANE: 

LATEST GERARD BUTLER ACTION FILM IS A BUMPY BUT VERY ENTERTAINING FLIGHT THAT FULLY EMBRACES ITS STUPIDITY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

LIONSGATE

Gerard Butler and Mike Colter in Plane

 

            Gerard Butler (300, Has Fallen trilogy, Greenland) stars as a pilot who teams up with a prisoner to save his passengers from a hostile territory they landed in for an emergency landing after an intense plane crash in the new action movie, Plane. The film is directed by Jean-François-Richet (Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), Blood Father, The Emperor of Paris) and produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who is no stranger to action films as he had produced the Transformers and G.I. Joe movies, Salt, and both RED films. 

            These kinds of movies are usually hit-or-miss to me especially during an era that brought some of the most game-changing action films of all times like the John Wick franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, Top Gun: Maverick, and the recent installments of the Mission: Impossible series. But there’s been plenty of mindless action movies in recent years that I had a good time with like XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Moonfall, and Michael Bay’s Ambulance, so I have my fair share of action movies that are incredibly stupid that I enjoyed. 

            That’s where Plane comes in which I knew what I was getting into when I first saw the trailer, but whether it was going to be stupid fun or just stupid was hard to tell. Gerard Butler as an action star is an interesting one because for every 300, Olympus Has Fallen, and Greenland, there’s also a Geostorm, Gods of Egypt, or London/Angel Has Fallen. 

            It seems the secret to having Butler in an action film is knowing how to utilize him correctly, otherwise you’d get sh*t like Lockout, but I digress. I was curious to see if Plane was going to end up being one of his hits or misfires that went down faster than the titular plane itself, it’s a hit! 

            Plane is the kind of film that knows it’s silly and stupid and just has fun with it, the plot is very standard, and the film itself doesn’t even try to take this type of formula to new heights (No pun intended). Instead, it’s a dumb, fun throwback to macho action movies from the 1980s like Rambo, Predator, and Commando where the big guy with the gun makes an unlikely partnership with another character (a criminal in this film’s case) to rescue hostages from bad guys. 

            If you’re going into this expecting high art or something that will challenge you (I have no idea why you would in the first place!), you’re not going to get that. But if you’re looking for a fun action movie to watch with your friends, have a few drinks, and turn your brain off for then you will have a great time on this flight. 

            The film follows Brodie Torrance (Butler), a commercial pilot tasked of transporting a man accused of murder known as Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter-The Good Wife, Halo franchise, Luke Cage) by the FBI. But when the plane sustains critical damage during a storm and Torrance makes an emergency landing on a war-torn island, the passengers are suddenly captured and held hostage by a group of anti-government militias. 

            This results in Torrance doing the unthinkable, teaming up with the accused murderer to rescue his passengers and escape from the island. 

            The film also stars Yoson An (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Mortal Engines, Mulan (2020)) as Samuel Dele, Tony Goldwyn (Nixon, Tarzan, Oppenheimer) as Scarsdale, Daniella Pineda (The Originals, Cowboy Bebop (2021), Jurassic World 2 and 3) as Bonnie, Lilly Krug (Every Breath You Take, Heart of Champions, Zero Contact) as Brie, Joey Slotnick (Twister, Family Guy, Hollow Man) as Sinclair, and Paul Ben-Victor (The Wire, Entourage, The Irishman) as Hampton. 

            Overall, Plane is a perfect example of a dumb popcorn movie done right with plenty of intense action sequences, corny dialogue, and charismatic performances from Butler and Colter. One of the greatest action movies of all time? Absolutely not, but I don’t think even the movie would call itself that. 

            It’s essentially a silly action movie that’s very reminiscent of films of the genre from the 80s and 90s and it does the job. This could easily fit as a late-80s or early-90s action movie and just swap Gerard Butler and Mike Coulter out with Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone as the pilot and Wesley Snipes as the accused murderer and have the VHS release advertised like crazy at a Blockbuster Video store. 

            You know how audiences called the first Venom movie and Morbius throwbacks to movies released in the 90s and 2000s? Well, here’s one that fully embraces the nostalgia of an 80s or 90s movie and is actually good at what it does. 

            This film does not take a beloved IP or character and turn them into a complete joke, instead it’s like the director watched a lot of action movies on VHS growing up and thought “I want to make one of those someday!” so he obtained this 30-year-old script, got Gerard Butler and Mike Colter onboard, and made something fun and entertaining that people who grew up with films released in that time period will have a blast from the past while watching it. 

            Gerard Butler and Mike Colter are excellent leads for a film like this, Butler in a more reserved performance than usual as this pilot who just wants to ensure the safety of his passengers and visit his daughter while Colter is the covert-ops guy who handles most of the firepower and on a quest for redemption. Both do a great job working off each other and you enjoy seeing them interact with one another or simply blowing down the villains. 

            I don’t know what more I can say, Plane gave me what I was expecting, and it went all out in delivering exactly that. If you’re looking for a fun stupid movie to turn your brain off for and enjoy Gerard Butler and Mike Colter kicking ass, then you’ve got a flight to catch.