Gerard Butler new film Plane is a big dumb action movie
Amidst all the complicated emotions of Oscar season, it’s a nice change of pace to see something as straightforward as Plane, starring Gerard Butler, on the release slate.
The all-action Scot plays Brodie Torrance, a pilot in charge of a routine flight that’s forced to crash land on an island near the Philippines. While Plane is a bit more than Die Hard in the air, director Jean-François Richet (2008’s Mesrine) doesn’t reinvent the wheel.
The film unfolds as you would expect, with Butler quickly turning into a killing machine. There are non-descript foreign baddies and a government specialist (Tony Goldwyn) shouting down a phone in a crisis room. It’s a straight-to-streaming action flick with a slightly higher budget, reminiscent of Michael Bay’s guilty pleasure Ambulance from last year.
The dreadful dialogue is somewhat rescued by Butler’s intense delivery. Brodie spends longer discussing the Scotland-England rivalry than he does his dead wife, and growls things like “we’re a stick o’dynamite!” during the elaborate crash sequence.
Mike Colter, best known as Marvel’s Luke Cage, offers charismatic support as the ally who Brodie has no choice but to trust as bullets spray and the passengers scream in terror.
Plane does exactly what it says on the boarding pass. Gerard Butler is the king of big dumb action, getting the tone just right for those in search of uncomplicated thrills.