Plane is the perfect January movie. Everyone is still coming down from the busy holiday season, and now awards season is starting to take off. We’re not looking for the next Oscar contender just yet. All we need is something easy and palatable. Something to provide some fun thrills in a reasonable runtime. And Plane easily hits all those marks. There could have been a much worse version of this movie starring Liam Neeson, who has made his living in his twilight years making subpar (to be kind, very kind) action thrillers.
But thankfully Plane features Gerard Butler, in his full Scottish glory. He stars as airplane pilot Capt. Brodie Torrance, flying a New Year’s Eve flight from Singapore to Tokyo. During the standard pre-flight checks, Torrance notes their flight path has them headed directly into a major storm. No matter, says an executive for Trailblazer Airlines (profits over people and all that), as the storm should be cleared from their path by the time the plane gets there.
So of course that doesn’t happen, and the plane goes right through the storm. Flying above the storm doesn’t work either, and the plane gets hit by lighting, forcing Torrance to make an emergency landing on a small Filipino island. Torrance miraculously lands the plane safely, and their focus can shift to their rescue. Unfortunately, the plane lost all communications, so Trailblazer has its hands full even determining the plane’s location. Further complicating matters is the specific island they landed on. Co-pilot Samuel Dele (Yoson An) knows certain islands in this area have no official government, and are run by separatist and militia groups. If their island happens to be one of those, they’re in big trouble (spoiler alert: they’re on one of those islands). And as the late, great Billy Mays would say, “But wait, there’s more!”
Traveling on the flight was convicted murderer Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter). Sadly, the U.S. Marshal tasked with his transport died during the flight after he unbuckled his seatbelt to retrieve his cell phone and was thrown into the ceiling by the turbulence. Now Torrance also has to decide what to do with the violent criminal.
But luckily for Torrance, Gaspare is one of those “there’s more to the story” criminals who also just so happens to be a former member of the French Foreign Legion. This comes in handy when the two find themselves in a two-man fight against the island’s militia, who have taken the rest of the passengers hostage.
If this sounds like another completely predictable Gerard Butler action thriller, well, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But predictable doesn’t have to equal bad. And there’s a reason those movies keep getting made. They know what they and fans know what they’re getting. These movies are simple, but fun. The action isn’t breathtaking, but it’s far better than the more-cuts-than-you-can-believe action sequences Liam Neeson has been giving us lately (I love the guy, but he hasn’t been able to cut it for a while now).
Plane shows a surprising amount of restraint, which is a welcome change to this type of movie. What Torrance and Gaspare are able to accomplish maybe isn’t entirely believable, but it’s believable enough. Sure it’s convenient that they both have military experience, but at least gives the audience a basic baseline for their skills. Some of these movies would have made one, if not both, of these characters completely normal civilians, and have them still pull off the same military-level maneuvers. It may sacrifice a bit of entertainment value with this more grounded approach, but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff.
The plot is straightforward too. It would have been all too easy to slip in some larger conspiracy plotline, governmental, corporate, or otherwise. But thankfully, no. What you see is what you get. Not every story needs layers upon layers, with the audience waiting for the next twist to appear. Sometimes a basic story is all you need.
And you need to give all the credit to Butler and Colter. The supporting cast is fine, but they’re each just there to serve one specific purpose or another. It’s these two who are responsible for all the heavy lifting, and the pair of broad shoulders are more than up to the task. Though the quality of the movies vary, Butler has become one of the more bankable action stars working today. He’s got the look, he’s got the tough guy charm, and he can handle the dramatic parts when needed.
While Plane fares better than other movies of the same ilk, it also has a low ceiling. To be fair, it reaches that ceiling with ease. With what is usually expected of January movies these days, it’s a solid A. On the full spectrum, though, it peaks as an average, perfectly serviceable action thrill ride. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll take that any time of the year, not just in January.
Score: 71/100
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