Plane Parent Guide

Commercial pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) is hustling to get from Singapore to Hawaii in time to spend New Year’s Eve with his daughter, Daniela (Haleigh Hekking). With one stop in Tokyo, he should have plenty of time – even when an intimidating looking police officer boards at the last minute with Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a man facing extradition back to the U.S. on murder charges.

Passengers and crew are put at risk when the airline instructs Brodie to fly through a dangerous electrical storm to save fuel. The plane’s electronics blow out, and Brodie and his co-pilot, Dele (Yoson An) are forced to make a hard landing on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Based on their last known heading, Brodie and Dele calculate that they’re on the remote Jolo Islands in the Philippines, a chain of islands beyond the reach of the government in Manila, and peopled almost exclusively by violent militias. The situation is dangerous, but it looks like they might have an expert in dangerous situations aboard. The catch? He’s in handcuffs. Louis Gaspare, before his arrest, served for years as a paratrooper with the French Foreign Legion. If Brodie can trust him enough to take the cuffs off, Gaspare might be their best hope of getting out of Jolo alive.

I was genuinely baffled by how much I enjoyed this movie. That’s not to say that I loved it, but after watching the trailer trailer I expected to be irritated by the time the opening credits had finished rolling. The fact that I actually had a reasonably good time is remarkable. I think it’s mostly owed to the ripping fast pace at which the film sprints across the screen. There’s always a problem to be solved, and the movie wastes no time agonizing over the characters’ decisions. I checked my watch at what I assumed to be 45 minutes into the film, only to discover that there were only 30 minutes left. In this job, that’s about as pleasant as surprises get.

Now, Plane is still a violent action thriller intended for adult audiences. There are repeated on-screen deaths, with a healthy side serving of 32 f-bombs. Family entertainment this ain’t – although there are no depictions of drug use or sexual content, which is somewhat remarkable in and of itself.

While neither the unoriginal story nor the uninspiring title have much to offer, Plane manages to maintain a constant level of tension and excitement. As big, dumb action movies go, this is smaller and smarter than some, and quicker than most. There isn’t a lot of fat on this storyline. It’s one predicament after another for the unfortunate characters, but it makes for a fun turn-your-brain-off kind of flick, and I’ve always got time for movies like that.