Jean-François Richet (director)
(studio)
15 (certificate)
117 (length)
27 January 2023 (released)
26 January 2023
Plane is a Gerard Butler vehicle sensitively portraying the life of Joseph of Nazareth as a carpenter before being forced by Herod to journey to Bethlehem with Mary.
Maybe one day but this Plane is a Gerard Butler vehicle no-nonsense actioner that has very little depth but plenty of guns and violence, which shifts along at Mach 12 from start to end.
It’s a hoary old story that has Gerrard as Captain Brodie Torrance on the line to his daughter, promising her he’ll be home for Christmas. That is until the plane is caught in an electrical storm and forced to land in a remote area of the Philippines archipelago that is full of rebel fighters who take their fashion tips from the Foo Fighters and where the government has given up any sort of law enforcement.
The accident cues up a panic room in New York headed by project manager Scarsdale (Tony Goldwyn) all snappy suit, sweary, sharp dialogue and quick decisions. Things are slightly complicated by the presence of fugitive Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) whose guard is killed when the plane ditches.
The plane ditching sequence at the start is excellent with director Jean-François Richet creating some very real tension on board the plane with the panicking passengers and the crew trying to keep things together. The use of sound and lighting is superb. This is matched by the sequence towards the end of the film and during a most unlikely escape.
Between these bits it coasts along fairly predictably with the passengers being the usual stereotypical mix of potential shreddies (including the now statutory English geezer, bloke type) though the non-villain death count is relatively low; just enough to let the viewer know that they are thoroughly evil.
Thrown into the mix are a bunch of mercenaries sent in by Scarsdale leading to lots of firefights, blood squibs and horrid deaths against the rebels.
Yet for all that there’s a nagging feeling of unfulfillment about it as an action film as it runs from one calculated hollow cliché to another.