Plane

Weather delays and lost baggage are a cakewalk compared to the nightmare faced by the passengers and crew in Plane, a thriller that won’t be on your next inflight entertainment menu.

As the latest vehicle to showcase the brawny world-saving skills of Gerard Butler — and considered with the appropriate expectation level — it generates some white-knuckle tension for the first half-hour before encountering some narrative turbulence.

Butler stars as Brodie, a commercial pilot set for an intercontinental flight from Singapore on New Year’s Eve before reuniting with his estranged daughter in Hawaii. Despite only a handful of travelers, however, it’s hardly a smooth ride.

One of them is Gaspare (Mike Colter), a handcuffed prisoner accompanied by an armed government agent as he’s extradited on a murder charge. Then there’s a major storm right in their path, without approval for a diversion.

One lightning strike later, Brodie and his co-pilot (Yoson An) lose power in the cockpit and are forced into a controlled crash landing on a remote island, uncertain exactly where they are or how they will get home.

As it turns out, the island is hardly a safe haven, populated by militant separatists looking to kidnap the unwanted visitors and presumably hold them for ransom. They must fight for survival with limited resources and dwindling hope as an airline negotiator (Tony Goldwyn) battles corporate red tape in planning a rescue operation.

The adventure funnels into the usual collection of perilous shootouts and long-shot escapes, culminating in a last-ditch shot at survival for Brodie and his passengers. The collection of eye-rolling twists comes with the territory.

About the only welcome detour from formula in the screenplay by Charles Cumming and J.P. Davis (The Contractor) comes with Gaspare, a character who adds a layer of unpredictability while navigating tricky moral ground.

Otherwise, French filmmaker Jean-Francois Richet (Assault on Precinct 13) stages some lively confrontations and keeps the action moving dutifully, with Butler as the charismatic and physically commanding presence at the film’s center.

Don’t book a time to see Plane expecting any character depth or emotional complexity. Yet after the airborne suspense, the film remains stuck at cruising altitude without enough fuel to reach its final destination.

Rated R, 107 minutes.