Title – Plane (2023) 

Director – Jean-François Richet (Blood Father) 

Cast – Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Tony Goldwyn 

Plot – Pilot Brodie Torrance (Butler) and convicted felon Louis Gaspare (Colter) must fight for their lives after the plane they are on crashes into a war zone after a violent storm impacted their commercial flight. 

“If you have New Year’s Eve Plans, I just canceled them”

Review by Eddie on 07/08/2023

Directed by Assault on Precinct 13 remake helmer Jean-François Richet, arguably the man with the coolest name in Hollywood, the one time exclusively bound for VOD action/thriller Plane quickly became one of 2023’s early success/surprisingly positive success stories as the Gerard Butler starring genre offering managed to gain some nods of approval from critics and audiences along its way to making close to $50 million dollars at the worldwide box office. 

The exact type of film that has become synonymous with the Gerard Butler brand that seemed to start taking effect a little over a decade ago when the Scottish actor decided who he wanted to be and focused on creating mainly direct to video like action flicks that would’ve been the bread and butter of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Plane never once even threatens to become anything more than a rulebook abiding effort but there’s a time and a place for such affairs, making Richet’s film an adequate way to pass a Friday/Saturday night on the couch. 

Wasting little time on trying to do anything that might have made Plane a deeper or more unique experience, Richet takes off early on as we follow Butler’s kindly and experienced pilot Brodie Torrance, who on New Years Eve sets out for a seemingly quiet flight that turns into something else entirely when Mike Colter’s convicted criminal Louis Gaspare board the plane and a violent storm downs Torrance’s aircraft in the middle of a warzone that quickly comes to them. 

Where Plane heads from here on out is entirely and utterly predictable but Butler and Colter make for an enjoyable enough duo as they decide to take matters into their own hands and fight back against the forces that are trying to make their day a living hell and while Richet tries to add a few narrative details into the plot to keep you guessing this is the very definition of a switch your brain off and watch type film that is not worthy of an extra minute of thought once the credits begin to roll. 

What would’ve made the film more than passable would’ve been if Richet had managed to embed his action with some creativity and smarts but sadly the bullets that fly and punches that are thrown are all done so in a mostly pedestrian fashion, while the script is very much in the serious vein of things, which seems to matter little to the powers that be as Plane already has a greenlit sequel, brilliantly titled Boat coming to a screen near you in the near future!

Final Say – 

Providing an experience that is exactly as promised for better and worse, Plane is a mid-tier action/thriller that is at least far more tolerable than some of Gerard Butler’s other lifeless recent efforts. 

2 1/2 family photos out of 5