Even though he’s taken over from Liam Neeson as Hollywood’s action film master – Gerard Butler’s trademark stereotypical movies are always serviceable fare.
Only arguably Jason Statham churns out anywhere near a similar slew of kick-ass flicks nowadays – and Plane is slightly above average when it comes to the genre.
When a commercial flight that Butler’s pilot Brodie Torrance is flying – which is also carrying Mike Colter’s (Luke Cage from Netflix’s Marvel series) homicide suspect fugitive Louis Gaspare – gets struck by lightning and is forced to land on a lawless Philippines island, he has to try and safeguard the passengers.
So when rebel leader Datu Junmar (Evan Dane Taylor) and his fighters descend on the out-of-commission plane, former RAF pilot Torrance and ex-French Foreign Legion soldier Gaspare must join forces to formulate a plan – with Tony Goldwyn’s Special Forces officer Scarsdale trying to get a team of mercenaries to their location for a rescue mission extraction.
What ensues is pretty much ‘by the numbers’ stuff, but done with a touch more refinement than usual – with Butler providing some of the best piloting since Denzel Washington in 2012’s Flight.
Which leads to Plane ascending, more than it actually descends, throughout its solidly watchable duration.
ESP Rating: 3/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Remi Adeleke, Evan Dane Taylor & Tony Goldwyn
Running Time: 1 Hr 47 Mins
Director: Jean-Francois Richet
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