‘The pilot’: panic on New Year’s Eve

If there’s one actor who has become the current archetypal action hero, it’s Gerard Butler. The Scottish actor has managed to go beyond the saga of ‘Objective’ and, in recent years, he has managed to be one of the stars who brought the genre to box office success, with films such as ‘Greenland: The Last Refuge’ or ‘ Game of Assassins’. Now He has the challenge of showing a different look, embodying an improvised hero in ‘The Pilot’.

‘The Pilot’ is set on the last day of the year, in which Trailblazer Airlines pilot Brodie Torrance must make the journey from Singapore to Honolulu, stopping in Tokyo. What seemed like a routine flight, in which there are almost no passengers, being New Year’s Eve, turns into hell when lightning strikes the plane and are forced to disembark on a Philippine island, dominated by mercenaries and rebels, who take the passengers prisoner.

The film has a certain spirit of classic films about flights with too much turbulence, such as the classic ‘Airport’, which was the first to bring a story of emergency landings, terrorists in the air and atmospheric problems. However, “The Pilot”, the way it is lifted, is more reminiscent of the first installments of “Die Hard”especially the second tape, set on a Christmas Eve and with the plane hijacking as a reference.

Classic scented action tape. Gerard Butler is fabulous as an improv hero

And it is this spirit that Jean-François Richet knows how to exploit. The French director has proven to be very eclectic in his filmography, from comedies such as ‘A week in Corsica’ to period and adventure productions such as ‘The Emperor of Paris’. In this case, “The Pilot” is more like “Blood Father,” in which he also turned Mel Gibson into an impromptu hero. Richet, directing from a screenplay by Charles Cumming and JP Davis, proves it he knows how to dose the moments of action, the sequences closest to the thriller, guiding the audience in this adrenaline-charged adventure.

The innovative thing is to see Gerard Butler has turned into a pilot whose sense of responsibility leads him to want to rescue passengers, but who lacks the tools to do so. Audiences used to seeing him wield weapons, to survive impossible situations, viewers will be surprised when they see an ordinary butler, who needs the help of a convict, accused of murder and strategically introduced into the story. Interpreted by Mike Colter, Marvel’s iconic Luke Cage, has the more conventional tough guy roles in action movies and serves as a counterpoint to Butler.

Added to a subplot where there is some criticism of the way airlines operate and how armies and police are forced to work together with soldiers of fortune, ‘The pilot’ does not invent anything, but knows how to offer the public a good dose of action, adrenaline and a story that knows how to involve. Thanks to that classic spirit of 90s action movies, ‘The Pilot’ manages to conquer, with the added addition of seeing Gerard Butler outside his comfort zone in a genre that he masters beautifully. The ideal proposal to enjoy pure, hard and quality action on the big screen.

Note: 7

The best: Its classic action tape spirit.

Worse: The introduction of some characters feels forced, mostly because they make the story predictable.