Be sure to buckle up for ‘Plane’
By Lauryn Kapiloff
“Plane” is anything but plain. It’s packed with action, suspense and unrealistically attractive actors (I’ve never been on a plane flown by a jacked Scottish pilot, but, hey, maybe that’s just me). After watching, I made a promise to never again ignore the safety spiel given by flight attendants. While it’s not my biggest takeaway from the new Gerard Butler film, it’s certainly up there.
The 2023 film, directed by Jean-François Richet, follows Captain Brodie Torrence (Butler), who, like everyone else, would rather be at home than work and doesn’t enjoy being inconvenienced by the weather. However, the movie is nearly two hours long, so naturally, something has to go gravely wrong.
When Torrence, the crew and 14 passengers enter a nasty storm at 36,000 feet, the nightmare ensues. The plane loses an engine as well as all navigation and communication technology, and Torrence is forced to crash-land on an unknown island. In the descent, a passenger and crew member are violently killed as a result of the passenger’s inability to follow the lighted seatbelt sign (again, letting this serve as a personal reminder).
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When they land, Torrence and the crew debrief the passengers on their situation, informing them they don’t know how long they’ll be on the jungle-y island. Immediately, the passengers begin to complain and bicker with one another as if some of them were more inconvenienced by this disaster than others. Little do they know, it’s about to get so much worse.
Eventually, Torrence and his co-pilot, Samuel (Yoson An), realize the island they’ve landed on is controlled by a lawless militia of savages who make their living kidnapping foreigners and holding them for ransom. Torrence’s flight is no exception because that would be boring.
“Plane” is straight to the point. Nothing is left to the imagination, for better or for worse, as all of the violent action takes place in short, tight frames. You won’t leave the theater wondering, “Hey, what ever happened to that guy?” It’s simple. He was beheaded, shot or forgot his seatbelt.
Overall, “Plane” is completely unrealistic but fun to watch. It delivers everything you’d expect from a classic action film. It starts with the depiction of a somewhat mundane person’s life, then conflict comes about. There’s lots of fighting, everyone gets dirty somehow, there’s a scary-looking bad guy and he kills off some background characters. Finally, the mundane person from earlier ends up being awesome and saves the day.
The creativity that is lacking in the film’s title is made up for in its storyline and constant plot twists. If you go see “Plane” in theaters, make sure to buckle up; you’ll be flying off the edge of your seat.
I give “Plane” four stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
