Plane

We've seen many 'disaster' films through the years where the plane either has a malfunction or one of the passengers are or become psychotic or maybe there are hidden terrorists on board. Well, "Plane" does the disaster perspective where the plane crash lands but, apparently, that is just the beginnings of their problems.

In this white-knuckle action movie, pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making an emergency risky landing on a war-torn island--only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels headed up by Junmar (Evan Dane Taylor), the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an accused murderer who is being transported by the FBI. In order to rescue the passengers, Torrance will need Gaspare's help, and will learn there's more to Gaspare than meets the eye. 

Others to round out the cast are Tony Goldwyn as David Scarsdale, Daniella Pineda as Bonnie, Lilly Krug as Brie, Yosan An as co-pilot, Dele, Joey Slotnick as Matt Sinclair, Oliver Trevena as Carver, Remi Adeleke as Shellback, Paul Ben-Victor as Hampton, Tara Westwood as Sydney and Kelly Gale as Katie.

This was directed with incredible intensity and grit by Jean-Francois Richet ("Etat des lieux" '95, "Ma 6-T va crack-8" '97, "De l'amour" '01, "Assault on Precinct 13" '05, "Mesrine: Killer Instinct" '08, "Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1" '08, "One Wild Moment" '15, "Blood Father" '16, "The Emperor of Paris" '18) This filmmaker certainly knows the definition of white-knuckle flight. Whatever fear anyone might have connected with flying, this director covered it. The actors simply exuded that intense element of frenetic feel and this was clearly the directing. I especially liked the way Richet collaborated with Brendan Galvin, isc, the cinematographer in angling certain frames of film in order to reach that out-of-control feel. If this director impresses you, his "Twice" is in development. It was written with incredible intensity by Charles Cumming ("A Spy by Nature" in pre production) and J.P. Davis ("Fighting Tommy Riley" '04, "The Neighbor" '07, "The Contractor" '22) plus TV, based on a story by Charles Cumming. I have to believe that with Davis having the lion's share of experience here, it was mostly written by him. Since the story came out of Cumming's head, he undoubtedly received top billing for the writing. Surely Cumming's input was pivotal, but it was clearly Davis' vehicle, especially considering how concise, taught, cohesive and thrilling this script was. The sequencing was spot on as well as the staging and pacing. 

Certainly if you're a Butler fan, you'll revel with this. He does play a military or ex-military thrusted in a dangerous situation. He simply plays an everyday commercial airline pilot with no military background. So it was a little different for this actor. It was so intense and gritty that it had you on the proverbial edge of your seat most of the time. Talk about a film you can escape into.  It's a real nail-biter for sure!

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                        Rated: R                                                  107mins.