Plane

Gerard Butler may have found his calling.

Five years after the gritty fun of Den of Thieves, the inconsistent actor ably leads Plane, another solid genre film with a January release date.

The action/survival flick from director Jean-François Richet (he of the Assault on Precinct 13 remake) wastes little time establishing the risks faced by commercial airline Capt. Brodie Torrance (Butler) — flying into a storm; the surprise addition of extradited prisoner Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) onboard — then delivers with 90-plus minutes of nonstop tension.

This being a Gerard Butler movie, Plane also packs plenty of unbelievable twists and turns. No challenge is too difficult for Brodie, a former RAF pilot who’s fallen on hard times, as he lands the circuit-fried plane on the closest Pacific island and — with the help of Gaspare, who naturally has a heart of gold — attempts to signal for help before the local militant separatists murder his crew and passengers.

Take down an attacker? No problem. Patch a phone? Piece of cake, though Brodie’s ability to remember not one but two phone numbers in the Age of Smartphones is perhaps the film’s most unbelievable detail.

Back in New York City as the airline learns of the missing plane, Tony Goldwyn (King Richard) is a blast as professional fixer Scarsdale, sounding confident while taking control and barking orders at company higher-up Hampton (Paul Ben-Victor, The Wire) to get the downed humans back home.

The film’s handling of the threats faced on the ground, however, are fairly problematic. Channeling James Cameron, Richet and screenwriters Charles Cumming and J.P. Davis (The Contractor) other the "bad Filipinos" beyond belief, painting honcho Junmar (Evan Dane Taylor) and his army as bloodthirsty savages solely interested in taking hostages and demanding ransoms.

Butler has a long history of murdering nameless foreigners in his action movies, but at least he doesn't tell an anonymous baddie to "Go back to Headfuckistan" this time. His treating of Gaspare, co-pilot Dele (Yoson An), and his non-white stewardesses as equals is likewise admirable and a big reason why Brody is one of the more likable characters the actor has played.

Though the collateral damage of “the good guys” escaping is unfortunate, the filmmakers’ balancing of commando action and control-room maneuvering with help from believable enough special effects results in a thoroughly entertaining time at the movies. That such a winning combination arrives in the January doldrums makes it all the more valuable.

Grade: B-minus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Kenneth Rexach/Lionsgate)