49. Plane; movie review

 

PLANE

Cert 15

107 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, threat, language

Well, that was unexpected - a Gerard Butler action movie which had us on the edge of our seats.

Ok, Plane stretches the imagination... but is more plausible than those ludicrous Fallen pictures and Butler's character is more credible.

He plays Brodie Torrance - the captain of an aircraft sent out in heavy weather on New Year's Eve from Singapore to Tokyo.

There are only 14 passengers on board but one of them (Mike Colter) is being extradited for murder and is in the custody of a Canadian police officer.

The plane has barely reached its optimum height when its electrics are fried by a lightning strike and it is literally all downhill from there.

Torrance and his co-pilot, played by Yoson An, pull off a miracle by landing relatively safely on a remote Filipino island.

However, communication with the outside world is impossible and it soon transpires that a ruthless militia group is the only local authority.

Therefore, he has to keep his survivors calm despite having to tell them that a crash landing is only the beginning of their ordeal.

Jean-François Richet's film could easily have turned into a farce of Airplane! proportions but, thankfully, the drama, even though far-fetched, doesn't degenerate into comedy.

And our eyebrows were raised that Colter plays the he-man-in-chief rather than Butler.

The funniest aspect was the cliched macho contribution of Tony Goldwyn at the airline's crisis centre.

Nevertheless, I can only say as I see and Plane did have us gripped, even though I am slightly ashamed to admit it.

Reasons to watch: Tense action thriller

Reasons to avoid: Resolutions too easy

Laughs: None

Jumps: Two

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know?  In February 2005, between 4,000 and 5,000 Philippine troops clashed on Jolo Island with around 800 Islamist militants from the Abu Sayyaf group, along with followers of Nur Misuari. Up to 12,000 people were thought to have fled the fighting. Fighting is still continuing today.

The final word. Gerard Butler: "To actually play Scottish, there's just clearly more of a connection between me and who Brodie Torrance is as a captain. I think there's a lot of Celt in there that really suits that role. Maybe a lot of heart, but not a lot of know-how." Inverse

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