Plane

But Plane is stifled by just how ordinary it is, and how closely it hews to the standard tropes of action films with longer, more descriptive -- yet less ridiculous -- titles.

Even by Butler’s B-list standards, this is borderline inept.

It may be big, brawling and somewhat inelegant in approach, but this Gerard Butler vehicle is an aviation fuel-powered good time.

It would be easy to nitpick action-thriller Plane for its plot holes, old-school machismo and paint-roller-broad characterisation of Asian villains. But it’s also an adrenaline-pumping banger, skilfully executed by Jean-François Richet

Plane plays things resolutely old school, from the electronic score zee-yowing away in the background to the script’s pub quiz sprinklings of pilot jargon, and above all the cartoonish brutality of its violent set-pieces.

Gerard Butler is a treat – the runtime seems to fly by.

Plane makes it clear that it isn’t reaching for new heights but it doesn’t wing it either, delivering perfectly acceptable entertainment.



Part Con Air, part Lost, this is the ultimate Gerard Butler blockbuster - and despite being a disaster movie, it is soothingly unscary.

But those who are willing to overlook these missteps in favour of the themes on redemption and perseverance, as well as the confident filmmaking on display, will find themselves greatly rewarded by the film.

It’s just a solid throwback action thriller that feels like a relic from a bygone era, for all its flaws.