The Mosley Review: Plane
Is it just me or has it been a long time since we’ve had an action thriller or comedy set in or around a plane? I remember growing up we had a variety of airplane films that are now classics like Air Force One, Passenger 57, Hot Shots and Six Days Seven Nights. I guess nowadays it seems less likely a chance for us to get more films like those because of the tragedy of 9/11 which is fair. I just miss those type of 90's films that were just fun and the last film I can think of that actually scratched that itch was the greatly underrated film Non-Stop. Now comes this film which wasn't looking to reinvent or revolutionise the genre of aviation films. Instead, it wanted to give you the same type of thrills and action of the aforementioned films and it delivered on that promise.
Gerard Butler has always been a great leading man and in this film he shows why he is still great to watch as Captain Brodie Torrance. He was so charismatic and I genuinely was rooting for him to succeed in protecting his passengers and surviving this ordeal. He may have truly gotten lucky in a number of scenes, but he handled himself so well and you feel the pain and stress after his first major and awesome fight scene. Yoson An was great as his co-pilot Samuel Dele and I loved their chemistry. Samuel was a young and eager pilot and I loved that he found his courage throughout the film. Daniella Pineda was good as the head flight attendant Bonnie. She was strong in the film and didn't panic nearly as much as past versions of the character type. All three of them truly felt like a team and I loved their dynamic. Mike Colter was fun as the international criminal Louis Gaspare. His past is touched on just enough to not be overly explained and enough to explain why he is the most qualified to be the "action hero" of the film. He was awesome in so many scenes and even though he was always out for himself, he still had a decent moral compass. Brodie and Louis had the most to do together throughout the film and it was great to see them work together.
The score by Marco Beltrami and Marcus Trumpp was serviceable and kept you on the edge of your seat in the best way in the latter half of the film. The action was surprisingly great and the first major fight scene was realistic, brutal and well shot. I appreciated that this film kept the camera steady where most would shake the hell out of it. In the end, there were so many things that could've gone wrong with over stretching the pace or trying to be more than what this film was and I'm glad they didn't try to do any of that. This was a perfect popcorn fueled thriller that harkens back to the 90's aviation thrillers that I love and the very definition of pure entertainment. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
