Directed by Jean-François Richet, best known for his 2005 remake of Assault on Precinct 13, Plane stars Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Daniella Pineda, Yoson An, Remi Adeleke, Haleigh Hekking, Lilly Krug, Joey Slotnick, Oliver Trevena, and Kelly Gale.
Plane is a fantastic movie if a sweaty palm inducing action thriller is what you are after. It starts with a swift introduction to our captain, passengers, and flight crew. Our captain is Gerrard Butler, who also helped produce this movie. It was a nice touch to allow him to use his natural accent and have his character come from Scotland. This removes any risk of poor accents ruining what was a fun and exciting film. The introduction to the movie is the right length that keeps you intrigued about the preflight ritual of a takeoff and the passengers that board the plane. You feel comfortable, but know that something bad is going to happen.
Once things go wrong, your palms sweat and that doesn’t top until the end of the movie. After an unfortunate lightening strike, they crash land on an island that is free of law and order and, after an unpleasant greeting from the locals, Gerard Butler and Mike Colter make an engaging pair of heroes and attempt to rescue hostages from the armed militants. The tempo remains throughout and does not let off until the end, which I thought was great. There was no cheesy news report to tie up the story. We know it was the ending, and that is enough. If you are a fan of No Escape, then you will certainly enjoy this. If you have not seen No Escape with Owen Wilson and Perice Brosnan, then you really should.
Plane is available on the big screen on January 27th in the UK, and has been available in the US since January 13th.
The WCCS Movie Room gives Plane a big, solid 7.5 out of 10.