Review: Plane (2023)

Currently playing in UK and US cinemas, is the action thriller, Plane. The movie – directed by Jean-François Richet – stars Gerard Butler and Mike Colter, and tells the story of a pilot who teams up with a suspected criminal, to take on hostile forces following a plane crash.

In the movie, it is New Year’s Eve and Brodie Torrance is a no-nonsense commercial pilot, tasked with flying Flight 119 from Singapore to Honolulu, via Tokyo. For Torrance, this is just another day, and another flight, and he doesn’t have any major worries ahead.

However, things take a slight left turn when Torrance discovers that one of his passengers is Louis Gaspare – a suspect in a homicide case. This adds an element of danger to the journey, which Torrance would rather avoid, but unfortunately he has no choice but to continue the flight with Gaspare on board.

As it turns out, Torrance soon has more pressing concerns, when mid-flight the plane is struck by lightning, forcing him to make an emergency landing. This landing takes place on Jolo island in the Philippines, and with the exception of a couple of fatalities, the majority of the crew and passengers walk away unscathed.

But the island is populated by gun-wielding separatists, who do not take kindly to strangers, and the survivors of Flight 119 quickly find themselves encountering another life and death situation. Their only hope for survival lies in Torrance and Gaspare, who both have military training and who might be able to fight off the bad guys until a rescue party arrives.

Derivative, somewhat generic, and certainly not spectacular, Plane is a run-of-the-mill action film, which I guarantee you have seen in some shape or form before. You won’t have seen this specific picture, as it is new out, but you will have seen bits of it here, and bits of it there, in various other action films that have been released in the last 30 years.

I’m suggesting a timeframe of 30 years, because Plane feels very much as if it was written at some point during the 1990s. If I momentarily lost my mind, and forget that I live in 2023, after watching Plane I could easily think it was still 1998.

However, I quite liked 1998, and I quite like Plane too. Sure, at times the movie is ‘plain’ (see what I did there?), with not an ounce of innovation in sight, but this film is surprisingly entertaining, so long as you take it for what it is and nothing more.

This is a Gerard Butler action-er which does EXACTLY what you expect a Gerard Butler action-er to do, and if that’s what you’re after, then you won’t have many complaints. Fists fly, bullets are sprayed with careless abandon, and Butler kicks the crap out of anyone that deserves it.

If you haven’t already guessed, Butler takes on the lead role of bad-ass Brodie Torrance – a man who has the charm and warmth of an Easy Jet pilot, but the grit and super-skills of B. A. Baracus. There’s not much this man can’t do, and if ever you find yourself in an airplane disaster, or in a hostage situation, he’s the person you want on your side.

This is of course Butler playing the sort of role he is known for, and there’s no major acting challenges thrown his way. But he can do this in his sleep, he’s pretty good at what he does, and it works well enough for the movie.

Joining Butler on screen is Mike Colter, who plays the role of Louis Gaspare – another man with a particular set of skills which come in handy for the story. Like Butler’s Torrance, Colter’s Gaspare is handy with a gun, knows his way around a knife, and could probably judo chop someone in half (if required).

However, unlike Butler, Colter’s character is woefully under-written, and this is a complete waste of the actor’s talents. Other than flexing his muscles every once in a while, and looking rather hunky in a vest, there’s not much for him to work with.

Sure, there’s not much for Butler to work with either, but at least he’s got plenty of lines. The same can’t be said for Colter, and this seems like a significant oversight.

While I can forgive Plane for many of its shortcomings, this is one I do take issue with. Colter is a great actor, who deserves more than what he is given here, so I’m not sure why he signed on for this role.

But putting the acting to one side, and taking a more positive stance, Plane moves along at a fairly swift click, it meets its quota for action sequences, and it all looks fine and dandy too. The movie also benefits from a decent finale, which ups the tension during the climax of the picture, and this ensures audiences remain invested until the end.

Once again, not particularly original or imaginative stuff, but Plane is decent enough. What Plane lacks in creativity and pizzazz, it makes up for in entertainment, and that’s (just about) alright with me.

While I won’t tell you to rush to your local cinema to check out Plane (because you should be rushing to see the awesome Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), ultimately, this film is totally fine. Plane offers a steady journey and a smooth ride, and if this is the kind of thing you like, then you can kick back in the knowledge that bar some mild turbulence, Plane gets to its final destination with ease.

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