Plane [2023]

February 15, 2023

The only thing you really need to know about the 2023 action movie Plane is that it stars Gerard Butler. That fact alone makes it worth watching as the man is a force of nature. He’s one of the old guard refusing to lay down his arms and go quietly into the night. And he’s got the support of moviegoers from all over the world. It would appear that the general population still craves these simplistic action movies with strong leads, predictable plots, and over-the-top twists. Guilty pleasures they, or should I say we, usually call them. And the movie Plane is exactly that, a guilty pleasure elevated by one man’s strong performance.

Wait, that’s not entirely true, as muscular Mike Colter gave one hell of a performance. His strong on-screen presence and solid delivery balanced the lack of character development. So, you already know what’s going to happen in this movie. We will be following passengers on an airliner who will soon find themselves in a lot of trouble. But don’t worry, one man is going to step up, take charge and deliver them to safety. Pretty standard issue stuff, if I might add. Plane is a solid addition to a series of B-quality action movies starring Mr. Butler we had the pleasure of seeing in the past few years.

I’m talking about movies like Last Seen Alive, Greenland, and Geostorm. Of course, we shouldn’t forget about the “_______ Has Fallen” franchise. Among all of those releases, Den of Thieves stands out as the best movie of the bunch, so you might want to check it out. Unfortunately, it would appear that his movies show signs of increasing sloppiness. And it’s going to take all of Colter’s and Butler’s charms and persona to make up for that. I mean, never before have I seen a pilot leave a cockpit during flight, no matter what’s going on in the back. And as someone who saw almost all of the Mayday episodes, I can tell you that the events that happened on that plane are utterly unrealistic.

Pilot Brodie Torrance is running a bit late for his last flight of this year. However, he manages to get there on time and Trailblazer Airlines Flight 119 starts its journey. A journey that’s going to be soon cut short as trouble appears out of nowhere. Now, it’s going to take all of Brodie’s wits to keep him, the crew, and the passengers alive and in one piece.

With the movie Plane, you get exactly what you paid for: a sleek action movie you don’t have to think about too much. There will be shootouts, explosions, cool chase and action scenes. I especially liked the anti-material rifle (AMR) scenes showing the true power of these deadly weapons that look like snipers. However, there are also some scenes that feel and look painfully contrived and dumb. Our heroes find things that should not be there just to explain what’s going on in the next scene. Or things work in places where there’s no way they would.

At least our two leads had the decency to kill their enemies and not incapacitate them as it’s usually the case in these commercial thrillers. Although Gerard did struggle for a hot second with these morally ambitious kills quickly regaining his composure. So, if you’re a fan of all those old-school eighties and nineties action movies, Plane is going to be a blast!