Plane

It’s a tough life for an action hero; Gerry Butler has stayed the course better than most, with his G-Base production company working hard to make sure that he’s always more than just muscle for hire. Instead, he’s had a run of successful movies that even the pandemic couldn’t throw a spoke into; Greenland and Copshop were two of his best since Den of Thieves. Keeping that quality control working for Butler is clearly important, and Plane has already doubled its budget at the box office, with some way to go; it’s still playing in several of his local Scottish picture-houses in the same week it arrives in our homes on premium digital.

I’d somehow missed Butler’s Plane on the big screen, but watching it on blu-ray gave me a chance to absorb what all the social media fuss was about; Plane is a straight-up, no-nonsense, gritty action flick that delivers plentiful thrills and spills. Glasgow legend Butler brings all his blue-collar vulnerability to the role of pilot Brodie Torrance, a Scottish RAF pilot who is tasked with getting a commercial airliner from Singapore to Honolulu via Tokyo. Hit by a bolt of lightning, Torrance manages to successfully crash land a plane full of panicking passengers on a remote island in the Philippines, but the authorities are slow to respond to the crisis. That comms lag proves important, because fugitive homicide suspect Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) is also on the plane, and various forces are converging on the wreckage of the airliner to see what if anything is left of their prey…

Plane plays engagingly with whether Gaspare might be a baddie or not, but it hardly matters when Butler makes such a great old-school, deep blue hero; not only can he fly the titular plane like, erm, Denzel Washington in Flight, but he’s able to fight (and kill) the mercenaries who seek to take his passengers hostage as if he’s been training for this specific event since the 2014 Commonwealth Games ended. Director Jean-François Richet did a pro job on the Mesrine films, and proves equally adept with a slow burning, tense first hour, but also breaks out the guns and ammo to good effect for the climax.

To give it the compliment it deserves, Plane harks back to one of the very best action movies; Die Hard, in that the main character is a put upon, ordinary everyman who just happens to be good with machines and guns, and who has to fight his way out of an impossible situation to save the innocent if somewhat snivelling people he’s responsible for. That formula might sound easy to achieve, but many have tried and failed; a sequel featuring Colter’s character and entitled Boat has been mooted since Plane made land financially. And while there have been complaints that Plane has a negative portrayal of the Philippines, it would probably be more accurate to say that it offers a very positive view of Scotsmen; wily and resourceful, they take responsibility, are cool in a crisis, and don’t take any smash from nobody. So next time you fly, make sure you’ve got a Scot piloting your plane, because when it comes to sticking a tricky landing, gallus Gerry Butler is yer man.

Lionsgate UK presents Plane on premium digital 13 March 2023. Thanks for access.