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Film Review
Tinashe Kusema
IT is almost easy to forget how good an actor Gerard Butler really is, especially when you consider some tired and one-dimensional roles the Scottish actor has taken up since the 2006 smash hit “300”.
As Leonidas, in the Warner Brothers’ epic, Butler earned rave reviews and a cult following as his performance was both breath-taking and captivating.
However, the 53-year-old has not been consistent since then.
He is blowing hot and cold.
His turn as Mike Banning in the “Olympus has Fallen” movies and their subsequent sequels is by far the worst of the mess.
But Butler has once again turned a page, hopefully for the last time, in the new action thriller “Plane”.
The film follows Butler’s Brodie Torrance, a commercial pilot flying a small group of passengers from Singapore to Honolulu via Tokyo on New Year’s Eve.
Unfortunately, the weather forecast warns of a storm ahead, which Torrance is forced by his superiors to fly through as a means to save on fuel.
The flight gets hit by a bolt of lightning.
Torrance miraculously lands the plane safely at what turns out to be Jolo Island in the Philippines.
Unfortunately, the island is run by a group of separatists and militia, who kidnap the passengers so that they can either sell them or hold them for ransom.
It is then up to Torrance and another passenger, Louis Gaspare (Mike Coulter) — only on the plane because he was being extradited back to Canada as he is facing murder charges — to launch a rescue mission.
The two have a strong military background, which they stealthily use to maul their way through the rebels.
It is a simple plot enhanced by great performances by the leads Butler and Coulter.
Director Jean-François Richet adds something special.
Normally, I would have a gripe with how the supporting cast did not really get time to shine or the lack of character development.
However, the chemistry between Coulter and Butler is so great that anything else could have ruined the film.
Their own backstories are equally interesting, as we find out that Butler is a former Royal Air Force pilot in the United Kingdom, which probably explains his grasp of weaponry and combat.
We are even given a short illustration of this when a clip of the captain choking out an unruly passenger is shown.
This is a pivotal scene as it explains both how he comes in handy in the fight against the rebels and why a man of his record and distinction is flying such an aircraft.
I totally hate it when unlikely heroes in movies suddenly and inexplicably become gun-savvy.
There is also the question of circumstances surrounding Coulter’s murder case.
Special mention should go to the actors who play the rebels, as it takes a lot of talent to exhibit so much menace with little dialogue and character development.
Kudos to them.
Twitter: @nashaar
Online Reporter