Directed by: Jean-Francois Richet
Written by: Charles Cumming and J.P. Davis
Starring: Gerald Butler, Mike Colter, Daniella Pineda, Yoson An, Tony Goldwyn, Paul Ben-Victor, and Joey Slotnick
Runtime: 107 minutes
‘Plane’ doesn’t soar, but this action flick hovers, entertains, and sticks the landing
“These planes are pretty much indestructible.” – Flight commander Brodie Torrance (Gerald Butler)
Oh, famous last words.
Commander Torrance will pilot Trailblazer Flight 119 – a 6-hour 30-minute flight - from Singapore to Tokyo, and he delivers the above decree with the utmost confidence to a few of his passengers while standing in the aisle. If you’ve ever experienced flying over an ocean, this fluttering thought has probably crossed your mind: “I hope this airplane is in tip-top, because there’s a whole lot of water between here and there.”
Yes, our hero’s reassuring words are appreciated, but this feature film stars Gerald Butler, so don’t expect an uneventful trip on this commercial aircraft.
Director Jean-Francois Richet (“Assault on Precinct 13” (2005), “Blood Father” (2016)) helms a disaster movie, “Plane”, but one that isn’t a catastrophe.
The primary plot fulcrums play out quite unexpectedly, but – admittedly - the second and third acts bend into familiar B action movie tropes. Still, this flick – according to Google - carries a budget of 50 million dollars, so Richet, writers Charles Cumming and J.P. Davis, Butler, and the cast and crew didn’t seem to wing this film and make it on the fly.
First of all, the movie establishes Brodie as a likable lead. He treats the flight attendants – like Bonnie (Daniella Pineda) - and his co-pilot, Samuel Dele (Yoson An) - with professional respect and personal courtesy and even lands a joke over the intercom before takeoff that garnered pleasant laughs from the movie audience and this critic during the preview screening.
Torrance and Dele also chat about their families, so we know that loved ones are waiting for them. It’s New Year’s Eve, and Brodie speaks to his college-aged daughter – who sits in Hawaii - over the phone, which immediately triggers memories of Liam Neeson’s “Taken” flicks. Will she be kidnapped while Flight 119 is in the air?
Thankfully, no.
Brodie never utters, “I will look for you. I will find you, and I will kill you once I land this plane.”
Promise!
The danger appears dramatically closer to Singapore as a law-enforcement type brings a prisoner, Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), on board. The detainee-in-transport committed homicide 15 years ago, and Torrance has no say in the procedural matter. Gaspare – an intimidating 6’ 3” presence – sports handcuffs and sits in the back of the sparsely populated airliner. Other passengers range from an agreeable couple, a couple of coeds, and two businessmen jerks, including a whiny, entitled American (Joey Slotnick), and you know – from the get-go – that someone will slap him around a bit before the 107-minute movie ends.
Anyways, the Trailblazer flight takes off, but trouble soon arises. What kind of distress? Well, it won’t be mentioned in this review, but rest assured, this plane, the pilots, flight attendants, and passengers find themselves in a dilemma. Richet and cinematographer Brendan Galvin ramp up the tension at 30,000 feet with some compelling aerobatics, while our brand-new aviation friends stress out in cramped quarters. We don’t exactly know the passengers yet, and all moviegoers’ eyes are fixated on the triad of natural leaders: Brodie, Samuel, and Bonnie.
That’s when the theatrical surprises begin, and “Plane” feels like two different movies, which works to the film’s advantage. Then again, this action flick falls into routines, with an array of nameless villains, plenty of gunplay, and some outlandish stuff.
Still, the picture succeeds with a couple of additional key aspects. Butler and Colter’s general machismo, and their characters find bravado creativities. Butler’s Brodie pulls some nifty MacGyver moves, plus he can handle himself in a fight, which makes one wonder about his backstory. Colter’s Louis is an imposing force who dives into treacherous imagination with weapons, leading the audience into a collective gasp.
Although more campy scenes would be welcome, the movie takes itself – by and large - enormously seriously. This fact helps the thrills feel genuine, even though Richet throws some hazardous lunacy at the screen, especially during two tent-pole sequences. Although, “Plane” isn’t a “Fast & Furious” flick, as the drivers who double as secret agents (or something) – in that series - frequently wink and nod at the camera. Didn’t a car become a rocket in “F9: The Fast Saga” (2021)?
Here, the cinematic mettle is pure, like many throwback action pictures from the 1980s. That doesn’t mean that “Plane” has other issues not mentioned quite yet. For instance, Brodie’s daughter recites the sappiest confessional in recent movie memory, and the airline’s tiger team meets in a dark bunker that resembles a military-style safe house, not a corporate boardroom.
Mostly, the “bunker” minutes are a waste of time, but Tony Goldwyn delivers some lively lines as a black-ops bureaucrat whose moral compass doesn’t point north. It twists more than a Cirque du Solei performance during a tornado watch.
Maybe “Plane” is also a throwback to the 1970s, because when reading this movie’s title, “Fantasy Island” (1977-1984) was the first thought that arrived in this critic’s mind, as memories of Tattoo (Herve Villechaize) declaring, “De plane! De plane!” No, no one reprises Ricardo Montalban’s and Villechaize’s roles, but this ABC staple – that felt like a mashup of “The Love Boat” (1977-1987) meets “The Twilight Zone” (1959-1964) – was an odd and surprising series, and hey, “Plane” – as a singular film – is too.
You might not walk out of the theatre and announce, “’Plane!’ ‘Plane!’”
Still, you might proclaim, “’Plane’. It sticks the landing.”
Jeff’s ranking
2.5/4 stars
