Plane (2023) Review

 "I like this guy."

-Scarsdale

When his plane his struck by lightning, Captain Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) barely manages to land on a remote island in the Philippines.  One of his passengers is a recently captured fugitive wanted on a murder charge and the island is controlled by a violent militia.  Unable to wait for help, Brodie has to find a way to keep his passengers safe and get them off the island.

What Works:

I love stories about people who get stranded on an island.  My favorite TV show and my favorite book are about people who survive a plane crash on a mysterious and dangerous island.  Plane is right up my alley.  It's very straightforward, maybe even too much so for some people, but I like watching people try to survive this kind of situation.  I found this movie to be a lot of fun.

I was expecting the plane crash sequence to be dumb and over-the-top, but it wasn't at all.  It's less of a crash and more of an emergency landing.  They really take their time and methodically take us through each part of the disaster.  There is no rush to get the plane on the island.  It's well directed and very exciting and I appreciate that they used some finesse in this sequence.

One of my favorite survival movies is The Martian because it features a competent character doing smart things.  The same is true with Plane.  Brodie, the fugitive character, Gaspare (Mike Colter), and the mercenary team are all hyper-competent and do what needs to be done.  It isn't easy, even if the mercenaries make it look easy, and they aren't making stupid illogical decisions.  I like watching competent characters, which we don't get enough of in movies like this.

Finally, the 3rd act is an absolute blast.  Up until this point, the movie has been played very straight.  It doesn't get over-the-top at all until the finale.  We get to see the mercenaries use some ridiculously powerful guns, as well as the hilarious death of the villain, and the goofiness of the plane landing at a safe airport.  The film makes you way for the wackiness that you might expect would be prevalent through the entire film, but it's worth the wait. 

What Sucks:

The characters are the biggest problem in the movie.  They are thin and I mean about as thin as characters can be.  The passengers on the plane are the biggest offender.  They get literally nothing to do and we are never given a reason to care about them.  They are basically background extras.

I don't often say this, but I think Plane would have been well served by a longer runtime.  At points it feels a but rushed as we move around the island.  I think the movie could have slowed down and developed the characters and the situation a bit more.  Maybe give Brodie more time to interact with the villain.  

Verdict:

Plane is a very solid movie and balances the action with finesse while still having some stupid bulls**t that we want from it.  It's a fun, if quick, story and the characters may be one-dimensional, but at least the key players are competent and fun to watch.  Plane has definitely got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good