We cannot have enough of Gerard Butler. Period. His on-screen presence is enough to make us sit through any film he is in. And when Butler is thrown into adversity, we yearn to see what he does because he is perhaps the only guy that can take on any adversity, ain’t that right? In “Plane,” we find him taking on the role of a flight commander who has to protect his passengers after his aircraft crashlands on an island in the middle of nowhere. The catch? The island is run by criminals. Will he be able to get his passengers safely back home? “Plane” isn’t that plain and simple.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Plane’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
It is early morning on the first day of the year, and the sun is yet to rise. Flight Commander Brodie Torrance, former Royal Air Force with 20 years of commercial flight experience, is the Captain of Trailblazer Flight 119 from Singapore to Tokyo. His co-pilot is the much younger Samuel Dele. Onboard are 14 passengers, including a criminal, Louis Gaspare (later revealed to be former French Foreign Legion), who is being extradited to Tokyo. But Gaspare isn’t Brodie’s concern, the bad weather that will come in their route over the South China Sea is. However, the Flight Officer believes that it won’t be an issue and negates a detour suggestion by Brodie. The flight attendants are Bonnie (chief attendant), Isabella, and Maria.
The aircraft takes off and unfortunately gets struck by lightning as soon as it reaches the South China Sea. It loses power, and in the turbulence, Isabella and the police officer in charge of Gaspare lose their lives. After losing contact with ground authorities at 5:43 am local time and flying dark for 10 mins, Brodie and Samuel manage to somehow land the plane on an island in the Sulu Sea, somewhere west of the Philippines. But they aren’t out of danger, as the island is, according to Samuel, run by separatists and criminals. To get help as soon as possible, Brodie decides to get help by walking to a facility he saw last night before the flight took a hit. He takes Gaspare along as well to keep him away from the passengers. On the way, Brodie loses Gaspare, who probably escapes. He heads to the facility on his own and manages to find a phone but fails to patch his message through to the emergency operations. After that, he calls his daughter Daniela, who is in Maui, and tells her that he and the other passengers and flight crew are stranded somewhere in the Jolo island cluster in the Sulu Sea. This information reaches the Trailblazer Headquarters in New York, where David Scarsdale, corporate strategy and crisis management specialist, orders a keyhole satellite (used for military reconnaissance) to locate the plane and deploys a team of operatives toward the location. Once they locate the plane, it will take the team 3 hours approx. to reach the area, after which they will parachute down and rescue the people.
Somewhere else in Jolo Island, a militant tells his chief Datu (Filipino for “Chief”) Junmar, about a plane that has landed nearby. Junmar tells his guys to find the plane, and they do. Junmar then decides to get a closer look. Back at the facility, Brodie and Gaspare, who has surprisingly returned, take down a couple of militants and grab their guns. They then discover a kill room with passports on the floor and blood on the walls. There is also a video camera where they find videos of hostages. Will Brodie and Gaspare be able to get back to the passengers before the militants? Or will the passengers be taken hostage?
Trust
When Louis Gaspare, serving time for homicide committed 15 years ago, enters the aircraft along with the police officer, Brodie doesn’t want to risk keeping him near the other passengers and thus tells the officer to keep away from the other passengers. Brodie isn’t particularly afraid or worried about Gaspare but does what he needs to do for the passengers’ safety. Later, Gaspare reveals to Brodie that he is former French Special Forces and was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, which is why he landed in prison. Brodie then reassures himself that Gaspare doesn’t mean harm and thanks him for his help. He knows that he needs someone for support, and Gaspare is just the right kind of support he requires, both having served in the armed forces. Gaspare prevents Brodie from doing something impulsive, like trying to go after the militants when they execute a couple. If Brodie had rushed out in the open, he would have died. That one decision is what helped them survive and find wherever the militants took the passengers. Perhaps, what made Brodie trust Gaspare is the fact that he served in the military just like himself. There always is a sense of camaraderie among soldiers, and it is a good thing that the film shows two soldiers from different countries working together to protect innocents.
Luck
We have to admit that Brodie Torrance was very lucky, especially to have a convict aboard his aircraft. Had it not been for Brodie, there would have been no escape from Junmar and his men. Granted that Brodie does manage to get the better of the militant at the facility, who almost had him at first, he wouldn’t have survived much longer had not Gaspare arrived there with two rifles. Then later, Brodie is almost shot by a militant, Hajan, when he tries to give himself up to Junmar before the operatives shoot Hajan in the head and open fire at the others, making sure not to shoot Brodie, thereby saving him. Lastly, it is luck, if not a miracle, that a handful of operatives, in the absence of a rescue team, which would take at least 24 hours to arrive, by which time they would all be dead, manage to hold the militants off long enough for Brodie to power up the aircraft and take off. So yes, Brodie did have a lot of luck. But then again, if we consider the multiverse to be real, then the same guy almost single-handedly saved the president of the United States twice from being killed by terrorists, as well as made a self-proclaimed godman, to whom everyone bowed in fear, bleed, and reminded him that he is just a human. If you cannot understand the reference, well, bad luck.
‘Plane’ Ending Explained – Do The Flight Crew And The Passengers Escape From Jolo Island?
At the end of the film, Brodie manages to take Flight 119 off Jolo Island, thanks to Samuel, who, while Brodie was away, managed to bring back power to the aircraft while taking fire from the militants. As the flight is about to take off, Brodie notices one of the militants ahead who is about to fire a rocket at the plane. Thankfully, Gaspare again comes to rescue as he shoots the militant in the head, and the rocket misses the plane. Before getting on the plane, Brodie realizes that Gaspare cannot join them on the plane because he is a convict, and no matter where the plane lands, he will be tried again. So, Brodie lets Gaspare escape. Gaspare, too, finds himself lucky, as he is able to take a bag full of cash with him that the operatives had brought with them as ransom in case there was a hostage situation. Finally, Gaspare escapes on foot while Brodie takes off Jolo Island and lands about 50 miles away on Siasi Island, where emergency services arrive immediately.
“Plane” is an entertaining film that keeps us glued to the screen from beginning to end. It doesn’t waste time and sets things into motion right from the beginning. There are deaths that add a certain gravity to the whole scenario. We do not get to know much about the militants but only that they run Jolo Island. While we do not know where Gaspare is headed at the end, we can only imagine that he will find a boat, pay its owner some money, and escape in it. We get an ample amount of action in the film, and we aren’t deprived of watching Gerard Butler fighting off a knife, either. Because let’s face it, he has a love-hate relationship with knives. Overall, a good watch.
“Plane” is a 2023 action thriller film directed by Jean-François Richet.
