By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Plane was never supposed to be a hit, after all, it’s a generic movie with a generic title and a generic premise starring Gerard Butler, the currently reigning King of B-movies, and yet, it was a success. In a world with blockbuster budgets soaring past $250 million, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a $35 million film turn a profit and become a beloved action hit. A movie doesn’t have to push the envelope to find an audience, instead, it can cram in 40 years of action movie tropes and be the best movie of the 70s released in 2023.
Two Men Against An Army
Gerard Butler stars in Plane as former RAF (Royal Air Force) pilot Brodie Torrance, flying a plane from Singapore to Tokyo, when it’s struck by lightning and goes down on Jolo Island, a real island that for the sake of the movie is a contested territory between the Philippines government and a group of rebels. It doesn’t take long for the rebels to take the crash survivors hostage, and it’s up to Brodie and alleged killer Louis Gaspare (Luke Cage himself, Mike Colter) to work together and save the day. That’s not a spoiler because you know from the get-go that the film won’t be throwing any curveballs at you, but when it gets the basics right, there’s no need to trick the audience.
The exposition in Plane mostly comes from Crisis Manager David Scarsdale (Tony Goldwyn), stuck in the United States and trying to coordinate a rescue operation from the island that no government wants to touch, or otherwise there’d be no movie. Brodie’s phone call to his daughter and his constant fighting to see her again provide half the emotional beats, while Gaspare’s desire to prove everyone wrong about who he really is is the other half. There are explosions and copious amounts of gunfire, and the main villain dies in one of the most satisfying methods possible; what more do you need in an action movie?
From Joke To Start Of A Franchise
When the first Plane trailer arrived, it was memed to death on social media, but then once the movie hit theaters, it quickly became a small hit thanks to word of mouth. As evidence that those who saw the film fell in love with it, on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 79 percent fresh rating from critics, which is amazing for an action film, but the fan score of 94 percent is all the proof you need that this is a film for old-school action junkies. It’s no wonder that Lionsgate, the studio responsible for most of the worst movies in 2024, has already greenlit a sequel, imaginatively titled Ship, starring Mike Colter.
Gerard Butler, patron saint of B-movies, recently starred in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, and he has another sequel, Greenland: Migration, coming later this year, while also reprising his role of Stoick in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake. While Butler won’t be part of Ship in 2026, his fans have plenty to look forward to in 2025. Plane, the best action movie this decade for those who love old-school action movies, is currently streaming on Peacock.
