Plane: A suspenseful flight

Plane (2023) • View trailer

3.5 stars (out of five). Rated R, for profanity and considerable violence

Available via: Movie theaters

By Derrick Bang

The new year’s first action-oriented release is one helluva ride.

 

Gerard Butler has been ill-served by some of his recent thrillers, the low point being 2016’s London Has Fallen. Happily, director Jean-François Richet’s high-octane roller coaster is a lean and mean cut above, thanks in great part to Charles Cumming and J.P. Davis’ sharply crafted script.

 

Having just realized that they've crash-landed on a remote island ruled by murderous
extremists, commercial pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler, left) and mysterious
companion Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) check out the opposition ... which is
overwhelming.

Their edge-of-the-seat storyline beings with a nail-biting first act, detours into an unexpectedly scary second act, and then pulls out all the stops for an exciting, crowd-pleasing finale. The package also gets plenty of pizzazz from Butler’s charismatic presence and hard-charging grit.

Sacramento’s sold-out Tuesday evening preview audience — full houses being a rare sight, these days — applauded as the end credits began to roll. 

 

No surprise.

 

Events begin during final pre-flight check at the Singapore terminal of Trailblazer Airlines, a low-budget carrier taking off for Tokyo, and then Hawaii, under the command of Captain Brodie Torrance (Butler, his Scottish accent in full glory) and co-pilot Samuel Dele (Yoson An). It’s a quiet New Year’s Eve flight, with only 14 passengers … until the last minute arrival of a shackled Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter, well remembered as TV’s Luke Cage), being shepherded to the States by an FBI handler.

 

They sit in the far rear.

 

Torrance is dismayed when a Trailblazer bean-counter insists that he pilot through a storm en route to Tokyo, rather than take a slightly longer route around it, in order to save a modest amount of fuel. But he’s a company man, and does as instructed.

 

But all hell breaks loose when they hit the storm.

 

The subsequent 15 minutes are apt to put you off flying for good: a terrifying, persuasive depiction of helpless passengers buffeted and tossed about after the plane is crippled by a lightning strike. (Well … persuasive during all interior shots, anyway; the exterior model and/or CGI shots leave something to be desired.)

 

The white-knuckle anxiety is enhanced by the deftly sketched relationships that have developed between the veteran Torrance and younger Dele, and head flight attendant Bonnie (Daniella Pineda). A few passengers also stand out: boorish, entitled businessman Sinclair (Oliver Trevena, immediately loathsome); the mildly confrontational Carver (Oliver Trevena); and giggly, under-dressed social media influencers Katie (Kelly Gale) and Brie (Lilly Krug).

 

Thanks to skill and dollops of luck, Torrance manages a miraculous landing on a stretch of road somewhere within one of the Philippines' many island clusters. The crew and passengers don’t actually know this yet, since the plane’s avionics were fried, and there’s no cell service. (Constant Companion sagely wondered why commercial flight crews wouldn’t be equipped with satellite phones, but that would have ruined this story’s suspense.)

King Richard: Game, set and match!

King Richard (2021) • View trailer

Five stars (out of five). Rated PG-13, for violence, brief profanity, sexual candor and fleeting drug references

Available via: Movie theaters and (until December 19) HBO Max

By Derrick Bang

Truth isn’t merely stranger than fiction; sometimes it’s also more inspiring.

 

Director Reinaldo Marcus Green’s King Richard is many things: an amazing underdog story, a touching family drama, a gently powerful indictment of institutional racism, and — most of all — the inspiring study of one man’s determination to doggedly persevere, despite being repeatedly knocked down … in some cases, literally.

 

Serena (Demi Singleton, left) and Venus (Saniyya Sidney) listen intently as their father,
Richard (Will Smith) emphasizes the need to give equal weight to training body,
mind and soul.

In a stunning screenwriter debut, Zach Baylin’s sensitivity to this true-life saga is sublime; he has a keen ear for husband/wife and parent/child dynamics, and an acute awareness of how to play us viewers. At various moments, we laugh, cry, wince or hold our breath in nervous anticipation.

Given that Serena and Venus Williams serve as co-executive producers, there’s no doubt they’ve intended this film as a valentine to their father, and an acknowledgment of the miracle that he wrought. That said, there’s no false sentimentality here; the emotions are credible and authentic, the journey never contrived or sensationalized.

 

Actually, there’s no need; the truth is astonishing enough on its own.

 

Nor is this a hearts-and-flowers depiction of the man who molded two of the world’s greatest tennis stars. Will Smith’s starring performance — certain to earn an Oscar nomination — is prickly at times: frequently admirable, but often unlikable. By all accounts (including his own), Richard Williams was very difficult to live or work with: stubborn, demanding and often unreasonable, answering solely to his own (frequently bewildering) logic and carefully crafted vision.

 

He’s the epitome of “my way or the highway.” As it happens, though, his way usually proves successful.

 

Smith’s portrayal is all these things, along with nobler aspects: devotion to his wife and daughters; fierce protectiveness, to the point of personal peril; a stickler for family values and a solid work ethic; a shrewd judge of character; and a pragmatic awareness of the limitations society places on its Black citizens … along with a feisty desire to circumvent such restrictions, whenever possible.

 

He’s also the man of a thousand maxims. The film’s best running gag is the relish with which Smith delivers these pearls of wisdom, with a slight, totally endearing mangling of the King’s English: dead-on accurate to the actual Richard’s cadence … as is the unhurried, gently swaying manner with which he walks.

 

The performance is fascinating … as is the man himself.

Divergent: Solid sci-fi teen melodrama

Divergent (2014) • View trailer 
3.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for action, violence, dramatic intensity and mild sensuality
By Derrick Bang

Veronica Roth’s fans should be pleased.

Scripters Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor have done an impressive job, condensing the author’s debut novel for its big-screen adaptation; it’s not easy fitting 487 pages into a 139-minute film. Director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) also deserves credit for guiding a solid cast through a deft blend of character angst and action set-pieces.

As a night of capture-the-flag war games commences, Tris (Shailene Woodley) climbs
an abandoned Ferris wheel in order to secure a superior vantage point, while Four
(Theo James) trails behind. Tris has a lot to prove, having disobeyed orders to join
this late-evening exercise.

Divergent is a polished, well-executed sci-fi melodrama that should have no trouble tapping into the fan base that has devoured the adventures of Harry Potter, Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen.

Indeed, I deem this first cinematic installment of Roth’s trilogy noticeably superior to the first big-screen chapters of the Twilight and Hunger Games series; Daugherty and Taylor are far better at establishing back-story, and laying the groundwork for the gradually building suspense. By the same token, Roth’s cynical, cautionary take on human nature seems more probable than the gladiatorial nonsense at the heart of Hunger Games, which I’ve always found a rather unlikely pill to swallow.

But the dissolution of a so-called utopian society, due to the greed of one faction? Goodness, we know that to be psychologically sound, and it’s even happening today, in this country; we need look no further than the unchecked avarice of our current one percent.

Casting also plays a significant role, of course, and Divergent also satisfies in that respect. The core young actors are well suited to their respective roles, with star-on-the-rise Shailene Woodley admirably anchoring the narrative.

The story is set in an unspecified future, following some sort of war or cataclysm that has rendered much of the United States uninhabitable (so we’re told). What’s left of the city of Chicago has been re-built into a working civilization that is divided into five factions: Abnegation, for kind, selfless souls who place society above their own interests; Amity, for the peaceful farmers who work the land; Candor, occupied by those who value honesty above all else; Dauntless, the warrior caste that maintains peace and defends the city’s perimeter; and Erudite, for the intelligent researchers who develop and maintain all technological advances.

Upon reaching their 16th birthday, all children take an unusual “aptitude” test, to determine which faction best suits them. Those results aside, they’re allowed to select any faction during the subsequent “Choosing Day.” While most children adhere to the faction of their birth, Choosing Day always delivers a few surprises.

And, once having made this decision, it’s irrevocable. Even if young adults decide that they’re unsuited to their enclave of choice, they cannot change; at best, they can become “factionless” (i.e. homeless street-dwellers).

If this sounds a bit like Harry Potter’s sorting hat and Hogwarts’ four houses ... well, yes, that’s obvious. But Roth’s take on this process is far more intriguing from a psychological standpoint, since it revolves around the struggle between aptitude and free will.