Shadows on the Wall

Plane

dir Jean-Francois Richet
scr Charles Cumming, JP Davis
prd Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, Marc Butan, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel
with Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, Tony Goldwyn, Daniella Pineda, Evan Dane Taylor, Lilly Krug, Kelly Gale, Remi Adeleke, Paul Ben-Victor, Joey Slotnick, Quinn McPherson
release US 13.Jan.23,
UK 27.Jan.23
23/US Lionsgate 1h47

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A bracing whiff of absurdity makes this preposterous action thriller surprisingly entertaining, albeit in a guilty pleasure sort of way. As usual, Gerard Butler storms through the film, manfully juggling violent heroics with personal crises, which helps him remain likeable if never quite believable. And French director Jean-Francois Richet adds a startlingly gritty edge to the mayhem, while managing to keep his tongue planted firmly in his cheek.

Trying to get from Singapore to Hawaii to celebrate the New Year with his daughter, airline pilot Brodie (Butler) captains a flight with copilot Dele (An), crew chief Bonnie (Pineda) and just 14 passengers. Then a lightning strike forces them to make an emergency landing on a remote island in the Philippines ruled by brutal gang leader Datu (Taylor), who has a penchant for kidnapping foreigners. This forces Brodie to team up with burly prisoner passenger Gaspare (Colter) to keep the others safe until the airline's crisis management chief (Goldwyn) locates them in the jungle.

Plot details continually boggle the mind, from the airline's inability to find the plane to the Filipino government's refusal to help these stranded foreigners. If their army is afraid of these militants, how can two middle-aged men so ably take them on? This isn't a movie that holds up to scrutiny, so it's best to just sit back and enjoy the dodgy effects and rampant gunfire, punctuated by random character quirks from the ensemble cast. Although Brodie and Dele's motivation amounts to little more than family photos crumpled in their pockets.

A better actor than this, Butler clearly enjoys the beefy, "I'm to old for this" nonsense. Surely as producer he could have titled this Plane Has Fallen. Although this movie is actually more fun than that franchise, as Brodie's lack of self-importance makes him endearing. He has terrific chemistry with both the impossibly muscly Colter and the sparky, resourceful An. Other passengers get to provide emotions and laughs, as does Goldwyn in an amusingly tetchy role.

At no moment does this movie comment on its political context. And the script also resists surprising the audience with a twist or two along the way. Instead, it remains rather refreshingly straightforward as action beats accelerate into a couple of climactic confrontations that offer several points at which the audience is encouraged to cheer for heroes who have rather impossible odds stacked against them. Not that we doubt their for a second where this is headed.

themes, language, violence 23.Jan.23

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