Travis Leamons // Film Critic
If I were a betting man, I don’t think PLANE would be proper in-flight entertainment for air travelers. But for those not airborne, this disaster film turned rescue mission is a fun palate cleanser with good action and grounded characters.
Hollywood would churn out movies like these by the dozens in the 1980s before DIE HARD changed the action landscape. Then, the action movie pitch had to be, “It’s like DIE HARD but….” Becoming an action subgenre unto itself with settings on a ship (UNDER SIEGE), a bus (SPEED), and multiple times on a plane (AIR FORCE ONE, CON AIR, and EXECUTIVE DECISION, among others). Eventually, attendance numbers dropped, and audience interest cooled.
Yet, the likes of Gerard Butler and Liam Neeson have revived the mid-level action movie. During COVID, Butler’s HAS FALLEN films (OLYMPUS, LONDON, and ANGEL) were comfortable viewing for Robert Downey Jr., who, in low-key fashion, complimented him and asked Butler to make more low-stakes/high-return actioners.
PLANE is neither ambitious nor high concept. The movie is an anachronistic throwback to a simpler time when the goal wasn’t to save the planet or humanity from extinction. Sometimes it’s just about saving others to get to those you love.
After making an emergency landing and with no working communications or cell phone reception, Captain Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) searches for a phone. Joining him is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an international fugitive on the flight who was being extradited back to the States on a murder rap. Their circumstances change once it becomes apparent they landed on an island controlled by paramilitary guerillas. Granted, the narrative refrains from addressing the fact Torrance’s last-minute heroics to land was the instigating action leading to passengers becoming hostages to wrest sizable ransoms. Why focus on the negatives when it is better to exploit the positives – like Gaspare making good use of a sledgehammer in sneaking up on guard-duty baddies?
The surviving passengers have less to do and could have easily been red shirts on the Starship Enterprise, but at least PLANE gives us Tony Goldwyn assembling a rescue team at the airline’s main headquarters. Goldwyn brings what I call “GSD energy” to the proceedings. He shows up and gets stuff done. Boardroom swagger to Butler’s blue-collar everyman.
The villains are led by Datu (Evan Dane Taylor), and under his charge, we get, as is standard, some tense cat-and-mouse moments before unloading an explosive run-and-gun set piece before capping things off with a last-ditch effort to get the plane airborne again.
Despite its flimsy narrative and basic setup, I admire Gerard Butler’s workmanship in setting out to make the type of movie he would have a blast watching if he was paid customer. Cinephiles get an added bonus in knowing director Jean-François Richet (responsible for the French gangster saga MESRINE: KILLER INSTINCT and MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1) is the one shooting some quality sequences.
PLANE’s 4K UHD offers an impressive 2160p transfer, particularly the cool blues of the plane’s interior and the brightly lit outdoor scenes. The surrounding audio is subtle and mundane at the start, but side and rear channels are amped up when the aircraft enters a violent lightning storm. As a result, channel surround activity has a nice consistency and discrete placement during bone-crunching action and firefights.
The collection of featurettes can be found on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs in this package:
– This Is Your Captain (14:18) – the cast and crew compliment working with Gerard Butler.
– Plane Clothes (6:51) – highlights costume designer Erinn Knight.
– Brace for Turbulence (19:14) – overviews some of the set pieces, including how shooting the plane turbulence sequence resulted in Butler hitting his head causing blood to stream.
– Theatrical Trailer (2:29)
Have no fear Iron Man; you will be pleased with Butler’s latest offering. PLANE is a preposterous, plain little thriller that achieves what it sets out to do: be exciting. A grounded hero teamed with an unshackled felon with a “very particular set of skills” who could ask for anything more? This bumpy ride is better than it has any right to be.
Grade: B-
