Tedious and plain (I’ll see myself out), even by B-movie standards. It’s one of the most by the numbers, predictable films I’ve seen in a long time. It feels like one of those ‘90s movies that’s ripping off _Die Hard_, which back in the day was done quite successfully on a few occasions (_Speed, Air Force One_). However, this is so clearly phoned in, nobody gave a shit. I don’t know what’s going on with the cinematography of this film, because the colour and lighting makes it look like it was shot on an iPhone. A recent model for sure, but an iPhone nonetheless. Say what you will about the …. Has Fallen trilogy, I’d argue they’re generally pretty disposable, but at least they looked fine visually. There’s also surprisingly little action here, and most of that stuff is poorly edited and tame, it certainly didn’t need the R-rating. The acting’s passable, it’s a waste of Mike Colter’s talent (as well as Gerard Butler’s, but he’s been typecast in these movies for a while now) and the dialogue didn’t do the actors any favours. Where are the fun, cheesy one-liners? Where is the clever, subversive touch? Why does this get a theatrical release in the year 2023? It’s the kind of content that gets looped endlessly on shitty cable tv channels, the kind of film that’s recommended to my dad when he opens his Netflix account, not something people actually seek out anymore. Throwing 25 million dollars at this seems insane to me.

3/10

Another quality action film from big guns Butler. The plane flying/landing sequences were tense. The fight scenes were well executed. The story was fine. All around an entertaining action flick.

I was pleasantly surprised by Plane. Going into it, I had pretty low expectations as it seemed to be a cheap, action flick that was built for the dad's in our life. But there were some pretty good performances, set pieces, and brutal action that raised this movie from mediocrity.

The plot is incredibly bare bones: a plane gets damaged in a storm and crash lands on a desolate island. We've seen this used in countless films and TV shows throughout the years but, the way this is handled is pretty incredible. We see it from the pilots perspective as he and the stewards are trying to navigate the situation to create the best course of action to survive. It was done in a very believable way, giving us a glimpse at crash landing procedure and how truly indestructible planes are. The entire 30-minutes sequence had me on the edge of my seat even though I knew it was coming from a mile away. The CGI in this section was quite rough though as the plane looked like something rendered in an Xbox 360 game.

The movie does fall into some pretty classic tropes in movies like this. One being that almost all the "good" people are the classic white American men and woman, but the "bad" people (the island combatants and our main prisoner hero) are individuals of color. It is subtle, but something I noticed that slightly rubbed me the wrong way. Also the depiction of how the Philippines refused to assist in their own territory was laughable. But it opened the way for the good men of the American military were there to save the day and kill some island terrorists. It has some minor military propaganda that didn't totally take away from my experience, but worth a mention.

The performances were all pretty good. Gerard Butler played his usual role, I enjoyed his charisma as a pilot but also the gruff and militaristic persona he pulled out from his previous service. Mike Colter was great as the ultimate badass of the movie, killing terrorists with whatever he could get his hands on. This was nothing against his performance, but I hated how they wrote his characters ending in the film. It did not do his character arch any justice and felt out of place. The rest of the cast was decent.

Overall, this movie delivers exactly what it promised in a short concise runtime and I cannot ask any more than that.

Score: 63%
Verdict: Decent

**Plane is a well-done action thriller with a solid lead and good fight sequences. Nothing more. Nothing less.**

Plane is a low-budget action/survival movie that checks all the boxes and provides plenty of gritty Gun fights and brutal melee combat along the way. The film that didn’t spend much time picking a clever name also didn’t waste much time on character development. Instead, the plot is centered on Gerard Butler as he works to secure the safety and survival of a small group of passengers. Unfortunately, the island they crash-landed on is full of a bunch of pirate/terrorist types, so Butler does some shooting and punching, and choking to save the day. Plane won’t win any awards, but it is a solid action movie that I would watch again and recommend renting (probably not a whole $20 purchase to own, though) to any action fan. I’m glad it got a theatrical release so people can trust that it’s a little bigger budget and higher quality than most straight-to-stream action films.

Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler), is a recently widowed dad who looks
forward to completing his nearly empty run from Singapore to Tokyo so he
can take advantage of the time difference and meet up with his daughter in
Hawaii in time to celebrate the new year.

In the new film “Plane” things do not go as planned as the nearly empty
the flight also hosts a prisoner transfer as a dangerous fugitive named Louis
(Mike Colter), is brought onto the flight late.

Forced by a corporate officer to fly through a storm they were told would
be clear by the time they reached it to save time and fuel, the flight
encounters severe issues and soon find themselves without avionics and
forced to make an emergency landing on an island.

Unable to send for help and unsure of their exact location, Brodie learns
that they are on an outer island of the Philippines and that there is only
insurrectionists and militia on the island and that the military or police
are not options.

While attempting to find a way to contact help, Brodie enlists Louis to
help and soon finds that the passengers and crew have been taking hostage
by a brutal local militia. Forced to improvise rescue and wait for
help, the tense and violent situation quickly becomes a living nightmare
as they fight to survive.

The tension level of the film is great as the early segments in the plane
did a great job of showing the routine of a pilot and also ramped up the
tension. I can be a nervous passenger when a plane gets into bad weather
and I found my palms getting sweaty and anxiety creeping in during the
detailed sequences of the flight in peril.

The action of the film was engaging as were the characters as they were
easy to pull for despite not having much in the way of backstory or
character development. The film has plenty of action as was engaging from
start to finish which makes “Plane” a pleasant diversion and one fan of
Butler will not want to miss.

4 stars out of 5