cottish Captain Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler, not having to worry about altering his accent) pilots Trailblazer airline’s Flight 119 to Tokyo for what should be an uneventful, 6-hour flight. With a couple of layovers scheduled, his ultimate destination is Hawaii, where his daughter waits for him to celebrate the new year (this is a very timely theatrical release date). With the help of copilot Samuel Dele (Yoson An) and attendant Bonnie (Daniella Pineda), the practically empty flight – with a mere 14 passengers – will probably arrive ahead of schedule, as long as they get ahead of some storms near the South China Sea. At the last minute, the crew is also informed of a special traveler, Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a handcuffed man being extradited on murder charges (perhaps nodding at “Con Air”).

With an eclectic mix of passengers, there are a lot of formalities and commonplace introductions to be established, especially when it comes to the anticipated harassment of staff, annoying behaviors, youthful chatter, and the eventual panic and fear when bad weather wipes out the avionics. Here, a welcome glimmer of realism invades the premise as a crash landing on an unknown island generates tension, destruction, injuries, and plenty of looming dangers – quite possibly even from the people aboard the aircraft. It’s a decent setup for adventure, especially when the crew’s routines appear as an earnest reaction to the genuinely scary scenario of computer malfunctions and considerable turbulence.

Unfortunately, despite the simplicity of the story (occasionally too plain, which perfectly fits the embarrassingly succinct title), extraneous sequences emerge, notable when the Trailblazer Headquarters team bristles with the news of a downed jet, scrambling to get ahead of the press and to minimize casualties. Problem-solver Scarsdale (Tony Goldwyn) barks orders, never loses his cool, and takes charge like Glenn Close’s Vice President in “Air Force One” – or like Tommy Lee Jones’ U.S. Marshal in “The Fugitive,” had he never actually been deployed in the field. Curiously, these airline executives don’t do much for Torrance, save for spoiling to the audience whether or not help is on the way. Similarly, shots with the captain’s daughter are completely unnecessary; he isn’t striving to get back to his family as much as he’s bound by the duties of a Hollywood hero. “They’re my passengers and my responsibility!”

As a survivalist thriller that steadily pushes its way into the realm of a Rambo episode, “Plane” manages a few striking scenes – one of which is a lengthy hand-to-hand skirmish that boasts no specific martial arts, instead relying on a surprising level of realism in grappling, grabbing, and wrestling across a room (with minimal camera cuts), going so far as to demonstrate discernible fatigue from both combatants. Later action sequences, while devolving into the typical stuff of movies, manage dependable suspense and excitement – as well as shootouts (one of which resembles something from “The Expendables”). The brutality of the violence and the severity of the eventual hostage concepts are reminiscent of the equally heavy-hitting “No Escape” (2015), which featured a comparable plot with an unlikely rescuer as it navigated through hostile territories.

What “Plane” does well, it does very well – primarily with the thrills of helpless victims finding hope in a dedicated savior (Butler isn’t usually as convincing of a protagonist as he is here; perhaps his profession lends a certain sensibility, even when he soon knows his way around a machine gun far too well, thanks to a convenient military background). But many of the developments grow predictable, not only due to the updates from Trailblazer Headquarters, but also because of the relatively straightforward predicament. And though the pacing isn’t bad and the climax is rambunctious (again abandoning believable ordeals for over-the-top action, which clashes with the ripped-from-the-headlines ghastliness of the villains), the denouement is conspicuously drawn out and generic, wrapping things up in such an unnaturally tidy way that it concludes frivolously rather than with gusto.

– Mike Massie