I’m not going to lie, I was tempted to start this review with a line like, “Plane is anything but plain,” or something of that ilk. Thinking about it now, though, I realize that in addition to being kind of corny, that statement is also not completely true. By many creative standards, Plane is a bit plain, like so many other Gerard Butler star vehicles. But you know what most Butler films also are? They’re fun, in an old school, undemanding sort of way. Plane is no different, except that it adds the always magnetic Mike Colter to the mix.

Butler stars as airline pilot Brodie Torrance (lousy name for a hero), who’s tasked with captaining a flight from Singapore to Tokyo in the middle of the night and through a powerful storm. On his flight are the aircrew and just over a dozen passengers, one of whom is Louis Gaspare (Colter), an ex-legionnaire who’s being extradited for murder. Flying through the storm proves more than the plane can handle, forcing Brodie to land on an island in the Philippines. This is where Plane first exhilarated me, as the emergency landing sequence is right up there with the best I’ve ever seen in film (though maybe not quite as good as Flight’s). The director, Jean-François Richet, also made the shrewd decision here to leave the camera on the pilots and passengers as much as possible, boosting the nerve-wrack factor. In addition to being shrewd in terms of tension-building, it also meant that the movie’s somewhat shoddy CGI (only a $25 million budget) didn’t distract and detract from this sequence.

Now confident that I was watching something skillfully crafted, I much looked forward to the rest of Plane. Now marooned on some island, Brodie realizes he needs to find a radio (lightning fried the plane’s) while also determining what island he and his passengers are on. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of an action film if the island were desolate, so some of the dialogue during these scenes feels pretty obligatory. Long story short, Brodie brings Louis with him, they discover the island (Jolo) is controlled by merciless militants, and a bunch of violence ensues. Eventually, the airline sends a team of mercenaries to help out, and a prolonged gunfight caps off this mostly riveting action thriller. I’ll put it this way: if you think you’d enjoy seeing a .50 caliber sniper rifle punch big holes through an SUV and the bad guys cowering behind it, then Plane might be the movie for you.

In between the moments of mayhem, there are some requisite action movie scenes that often bog down the proceedings more than I’d like. There’s a small subplot involving Brodie’s daughter that adds virtually nothing to the story or Brodie, who’s already convincing and likable enough thanks to Butler’s charisma and the selfless nature of his character. Furthermore, there are a handful of underwrought scenes showing how the airline is handling the crisis, but those are at least somewhat watchable thanks to supporting actors Tony Goldwyn and Paul Ben-Victor. At the end of the day, I would’ve focused less on those side characters and more on the villains, who are extremely evil, but that’s about it. I was honestly surprised by how little they were characterized, since in so doing, Plane ran the risk of being labeled xenophobic. That said, given how troubled that part of the world is in real life, I personally don’t think the filmmakers crossed that line.

If I had to guess, a few of you who read this will already have a decent idea of what to expect with Plane, and I can confirm those expectations. Butler, Colter, Richet, and Co. have delivered a competent and diverting action flick that would’ve been right at home back in the 80s or 90s. Plane might not be quite as awesome as action thrillers from those past decades, but it certainly keeps the genre soaring forward. Maybe don’t watch it as your in-flight movie, though.

If I had to score it, I’d give Plane a 7/10.