Plane
Plane
Starring Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Tony Goldywn
Directed by Jean-Francois Richet
Starring Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Tony Goldywn
Directed by Jean-Francois Richet
You can smell this franchise coming from a mile away..."In 2023, Gerard Butler is a train conductor who must save his passengers from an incoming herd of cows in...'Train.'" "Also in 2023, Gerard Butler is a school bus driver who must save the children riding in his bus from the tedious continual song 'The Wheels on the Bus' in...'School Bus.'" "Yet also in 2023, Gerard Butler is a submarine captain who must save his crew from an army of angry dolphins in...'Submarine.'" By naming a film after its main means of transportation, it doesn't wreak of desperation - just lack of creativity. That's what "Plane" delivers: a complete lack of creativity in this by-the-numbers 80s-throwback action film that'll have you grabbing the parachutes.
Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) is a commercial pilot who also has training with the RAF who takes a New Year's Eve flight from Singapore to Japan, before heading back home to be with his daughter. The flight is small with only fourteen passengers, but one of them is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a captured prisoner charged with homicide. While in the air the plane is struck by lightning and Brodie is forced to land on an isolated island, but the crash landing is only the start of their problems: the island they landed on is run by a ruthless militia who delight in taking innocents prisoners, demanding money, and then killing said prisoners. Brodie unites with Louis - who also has military training - to free the passengers and make it off the island.
"Plane" isn't inherently bad, but just uninspired. It's a film that would've been direct-to-streaming if it was starring Bruce Willis or Nicolas Cage, but since it was Gerard Butler at the helm it got a major film release, but without him it would've been entirely bargain-bin quality. Again, it's not bad, just not that special. Much like the title, there's no spark of creativity to the project, just the bare bones script of: a pilot (who just by happenstance also has military training) is forced to bring his plane down and then work with a convicted murderer (who also has military training) to free the hostages and get everyone home safe. Nothing more, nothing less, and no room at all for any sort of character development for anyone involved.
Gerard Butler's Brodie is the same at the end as the start, as a man who just wants to get home to his daughter and wants to protect his passengers at all cost. There is no bright shining denouement of self-discovery, but rather just Butler doing what he does best - being the last true action star in Hollywood who hasn't sold his soul to the Marvel or DC machines...yet. Here, it's all well and good, because the script doesn't really warrant such expositional dialogue or development, so Butler is completely in his wheelhouse here. I'm fully convinced the original plot was going to be a fourth film in his "___ Has Fallen" franchise called "Air Force One Has Fallen" where he has to protect the President after Air Force One goes down, but then they tweaked it a bit to make it totally less interesting.
Likewise Mike Colter (who many will know him as the indestructible Luke Cage in the titular Netflix series) doesn't have much to work with either. We don't fully get why he's arrested besides the fact that he killed someone(s) but he's not your typical bad guy - he wants to do right, because...um...
So if you're in the mood for an action film that speeds forward faster than a supersonic jet where they forego any sense of creativity by jumping from one dull action scene to the next (seriously, these militia are the most inept militia in the history of militias), and if you're looking for that little something to fill the void before the next eventual "___ Has Fallen" film, grab a ticket, fasten your seat belts, keep your trays in the upright positions, and enjoy the pre-planned trajectory that "Plane" has to offer - just don't expect to remember it after you've disembarked.
The Score: B
Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) is a commercial pilot who also has training with the RAF who takes a New Year's Eve flight from Singapore to Japan, before heading back home to be with his daughter. The flight is small with only fourteen passengers, but one of them is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a captured prisoner charged with homicide. While in the air the plane is struck by lightning and Brodie is forced to land on an isolated island, but the crash landing is only the start of their problems: the island they landed on is run by a ruthless militia who delight in taking innocents prisoners, demanding money, and then killing said prisoners. Brodie unites with Louis - who also has military training - to free the passengers and make it off the island.
"Plane" isn't inherently bad, but just uninspired. It's a film that would've been direct-to-streaming if it was starring Bruce Willis or Nicolas Cage, but since it was Gerard Butler at the helm it got a major film release, but without him it would've been entirely bargain-bin quality. Again, it's not bad, just not that special. Much like the title, there's no spark of creativity to the project, just the bare bones script of: a pilot (who just by happenstance also has military training) is forced to bring his plane down and then work with a convicted murderer (who also has military training) to free the hostages and get everyone home safe. Nothing more, nothing less, and no room at all for any sort of character development for anyone involved.
Gerard Butler's Brodie is the same at the end as the start, as a man who just wants to get home to his daughter and wants to protect his passengers at all cost. There is no bright shining denouement of self-discovery, but rather just Butler doing what he does best - being the last true action star in Hollywood who hasn't sold his soul to the Marvel or DC machines...yet. Here, it's all well and good, because the script doesn't really warrant such expositional dialogue or development, so Butler is completely in his wheelhouse here. I'm fully convinced the original plot was going to be a fourth film in his "___ Has Fallen" franchise called "Air Force One Has Fallen" where he has to protect the President after Air Force One goes down, but then they tweaked it a bit to make it totally less interesting.
Likewise Mike Colter (who many will know him as the indestructible Luke Cage in the titular Netflix series) doesn't have much to work with either. We don't fully get why he's arrested besides the fact that he killed someone(s) but he's not your typical bad guy - he wants to do right, because...um...
So if you're in the mood for an action film that speeds forward faster than a supersonic jet where they forego any sense of creativity by jumping from one dull action scene to the next (seriously, these militia are the most inept militia in the history of militias), and if you're looking for that little something to fill the void before the next eventual "___ Has Fallen" film, grab a ticket, fasten your seat belts, keep your trays in the upright positions, and enjoy the pre-planned trajectory that "Plane" has to offer - just don't expect to remember it after you've disembarked.
The Score: B
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