It’s always an interesting surprise when a film takes an unexpected turn. or heads off in a different direction.  Sometimes it’s a good thing (Changeling, 2008), sometimes it’s a bad thing (Changeling, 2008) — depending on your point of view.  Most suspense / horror / action films nowadays feature pretzelized plotting, twists that one isn’t supposed to see coming, and concluding acts that stretch believability, sometimes past the point of no return.  None of that is the case with Plane — it is exactly what it purports to be, and I find that very refreshing.

Jean-Francois Richet’s story follows a commercial flight from Singapore heading northwest, but that flight loses avionic power in a severe storm and crash-lands in a remote Philippine island where governmental agencies cannot approach safely.  The pilot (Gerald Butler) and most of his crew of four and fourteen passengers survive the landing (as does the plane, which becomes important), but a brutal warlord (Evan Dane Taylor) takes most of the group hostage, planning to ransom them.  The airline commissions a small group of commandos to attempt to extricate the passengers and crew while they still have the best chance to do so.  And there’s a wild card: an athletic convict (Mike Colter) being extradited out of Singapore is on the plane, hand-cuffed but desperately ready for an escape attempt.

With this much action and turmoil, the only surprise in this tale is that it takes only 107 minutes to tell it.  The film actually feels a bit abrupt at points.  There are certainly slow spots, and then the story jolts into action, and then slows down again.  The constant is the suspense, which doesn’t let up at all.  The storm sequence makes me not want to fly again, perhaps ever, while the situation in the Philippine island jungle is even more dangerous.  The pilot and the convict team up — of course — to try to rescue the passengers and crew members and it is all told in very believable, convincing terms.  If one is going to tell this kind of high concept story, this is certainly the way to do it.

Some aspects of the story could have benefitted from more substance, particularly the airline’s response to the crisis.  I would have liked to know more about its chief troubleshooter (Tony Goldwyn) and how he reaches his drastic decisions . . . but it works.  The whole story works because it is tightly told, with an eye for aviation detail and good character development among the leads.  In fact, more of that might have made this a mini-classic.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  12 February 2023.