Plane 2023 Movie Review: Panic on New Year’s Eve

If there is an actor who has become the current archetype of action hero, it is Gerard Butler. The Scottish actor has managed to transcend beyond the ‘Objective’ saga and, in recent years, has managed to be one of the stars that has brought success to the genre at the box office, with films such as ‘Greenland: The Last Refuge’ or ‘Game of murderers’. Now He has the challenge of showing a different facet, by embodying an improvised hero in ‘Plane’.

‘Plane’ is set on the last day of the year, in which Brodie Torrance, a pilot for Trailblazer Airlines, must make the trip from Singapore to Honolulu, stopping in Tokyo. What seemed like a routine flight, in which there are hardly any passengers, being New Year’s Eve, turns into hell when lightning strikes the plane and are forced to land on a Philippine island, which is dominated by mercenaries and rebels, who take the passengers as prisoners.

The film has a certain spirit of classic films about flights with too much turbulence, as in the case of the classic ‘Airport’, which was the first to bring a story about emergency landings, terrorists in the air and atmospheric problems. Nevertheless, ‘Plane’, as it is raised, is more reminiscent of the first installments of ‘Die Hard’especially the second tape, set on a Christmas Eve and with the plane hijacking as a reference.

Classic scented action tape. Gerard Butler is fabulous as an impromptu hero

And it is this spirit that Jean-François Richet knows how to exploit. The French director has proven to be very eclectic in his filmography, from comedies like ‘A Week in Corsica’ to period and adventure productions like ‘The Emperor of Paris’. In this case, ‘Plane is more like ‘Blood Father’, in which he also turned Mel Gibson into an impromptu hero. Richet, who directs from a script by Charles Cumming and JP Davis, shows that he knows how to dose the moments of action, the sequences closest to the thriller, guiding the public in this adventure full of adrenaline.

The innovative thing is to see Gerard Butler turned into a pilot whose sense of responsibility leads him to want to save the passengers, but who lacks the tools to do so. The public used to seeing him wield weapons, to survive impossible situations, viewers will be surprised when they see a mundane Butler, who needs the help of a convict, accused of murder and strategically introduced into the story. Interpreted by Mike Colter, the iconic Luke Cage from Marvel, this has the most conventional roles of the tough guy from action movies and serves as a counterpoint to Butler.

Added to a subplot in which there is some criticism of the way airlines act and how armies and police are forced to collaborate with soldiers of fortune, ‘Plane’ does not invent anything, but he knows how to offer the public a good dose of action, adrenaline and a story that he knows how to engage. Thanks to that classic spirit of the 90s action films, ‘Plane’ manages to conquer, with the addition of seeing Gerard Butler out of his comfort zone in a genre that he masters magnificently. The ideal proposal to enjoy pure and hard and quality action on the big screen.

Note: 7

The best: His classic action tape spirit.

Worst: The introduction of some characters seems forced, especially since they make the story predictable.