C FOI VL EMR
Gerard Butler Can Be Used
as a Floatation Device
“Plane” Should Be Grounded for Its Complimentary In-flight, Implicit Bigotry by Ryan Syrek
U
ntil you think about it, which nobody recommends, “Plane” is about as mediocre as a generic action film can be. Unless you dig just a little bit, which is contraindicated by most medical professionals, Gerard Butler’s latest Liam Neeson imitation is almost impossibly neutral cinema. Up until you ask the most basic of questions, which should be seen as a cry for help, the whole experience can just fade into you, as Mazzy Star has long begged. But if you do happen to think about how they callously portrayed the primary Black character in the film as a criminal who fled from justice without further explanation … If you dig just a little into how every woman in the film is either killed or cast aside ... If you ask whether, given horrible anti-Asian sentiments that exploded after COVID, it is maybe not the best time to present a nebulous Eastern region as having whole islands full of monstrous murderers … The whole thing comes apart like holiday airline travel plans. Do I think director JeanFrançois Richet woke up and said,
Warning: Turbulence ahead. And to be clear, the turbulence is latent racism. Buckle your seatbelts. IMAGE: A still from the Lionsgate movie “Plane” “I cannot wait to make a bigoted super-dad movie!” Nah. Do I think writers JP Davis and Charles Cumming set out to massively underwrite every character and make armed international mercenaries like Blackwater look cool? I hope not. Do I think “Plane” is so inadequate as to allow for these
problems to arise? You’re cleared for takeoff. Here’s what happens: Brodie Torrance (Butler) is a pilot who has been relegated to crappy assignments after he justifiably choked out an unruly passenger shortly after his wife died. Dead
women and sweaty grappling are two things “Plane” really loves. On New Year’s Eve, while trying to get home to his daughter, Brodie flies into bad weather and crashes on an island near the Philippines that is apparently excontinued on page 34
Other Critic al Voices to ConsideR Siddhant Adlakha at IGN says: “It would be one thing if this were the basis for a farcical, blood-soaked beat-’em-up with ridiculous stylings, but ‘Plane’ stays grounded for the most part, making these racial optics even harder to
32
February 2023
avoid the few times the movie does try to in- Louisa Moore at Screen Zealots says: “I had dulge in gleeful violence.” a great time watching ‘Plane,’ even if it is the Kate Sánchez at But Why Tho? says: “Ab- type of movie that I probably won’t remember surd, loud, and the best parts of ’90s action seeing by the time 2024 rolls around.” films, ‘Plane’ is just a damn good time.”