Time: 107 Minutes
Cast:
Gerard Butler as Brodie Torrance
Mike Colter as Louis Gaspare
Yoson An as Samuel Dele
Tony Goldwyn as Scarsdale
Director: Jean-François Richet

Pilot Brodie Torrance saves passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island — only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When dangerous rebels take most of the passengers hostage, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare, an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI.

Plane looked like another Gerard Butler action flick, yet the aspect that gathered the most attention was its weirdly simple title. However, there were some people who were pleasantly surprised by it, and that was my reaction when I checked it out. Not that it’s anything great, but it’s a lot of fun and works well for what it is.

Plane is a very straightforward action thriller. Despite its title, it’s only really the first act that involves a plane. Most of it is a hostage situation on an island, as Gerard Butler and Mike Colter try to rescue hostages and survive. Sometimes it cuts to a government group attempting to rescue them, but it actually works as it raises the tension and isn’t a boring subplot like it is in other action movies. Plane has a fairly predictable and generic plot, there are plenty of cliché moments and lines, and there’s not much depth to the movie. However, it was very easy to watch. It doesn’t take itself too seriously (as you can expect with the movie being called Plane) and isn’t very realistic, and its better for that. From beginning to end, it is entertaining and suspenseful. It’s nicely paced and breezes through its runtime.

The cast play their parts well. Gerard Butler has helmed many of these types of movies and as expected gives a similar action movie performance, but he does it well. He’s a solid lead and even gets some dramatic moments. Mike Colter was also really good, probably the standout character of the movie. Despite being the second major character, I wish there was more of him. I know that there’s deliberately an air of mystery around him, but I wished we got to learn more about him. There’s some great chemistry between the Butler and Colter, there isn’t much depth given to their characters, but they do a lot with the limited material and were a likable duo. Other supporting actors played their parts well. Part of what makes the government scenes not boring is Tony Goldwyn, who is a lot of fun in his role. The main villains are very generic and forgettable, but work well enough for the movie.

Jean-Francois Richet directed this well, and was part of a key reason why it worked, elevating it above most straight to streaming action thrillers. The action is entertaining, with some riveting, tense, and great sequences. Plane isn’t as action heavy as you’d expect but that just makes it’s action scenes stand out a lot more. The CGI has some glaring issues, but for a mid budget flick, the visual effects were serviceable enough.

Plane is a straightforward and familiar yet very entertaining action thriller with very little surprises. However the simplicity of it along with the duo of Butler and Colter and the entertaining action sequences made it quite a fun ride. Worth a watch.