Well, this was a Crash Landing
Introduction
So, 2020 has been a rough year for many people from the looks of it. While the film industry has taken quite a beating this year, at least most of the films that I have seen seem to have made an effort to be good. However, there is one hot mess that firmly places itself at the pinnacle of my 2020 movie garbage list, and that is Andrew Lawrence’s attempt at an action movie, Money Plane.
Setting and Plot
While this film does sound good on paper, Andrew Lawrence’s directing convolutes a simple and potentially entertaining premise. Jack Reese, a professional thief, played by RAW star Adam Edge Copeland, is tasked by mob boss ‘The Rumble’ (Kelsey Grammer) to steal all the money on board the titular Money Plane: an airborne casino. In doing so, our protagonist will be able to pay off his gambling debt to the criminal. The catch is that the plane’s attendees are some of the most vicious criminals in the entire world.
This movie suffers from a lot of issues. An example of its over-elaborate fluff is the unnecessary subplot regarding a painting of a duck that Reese and his crew failed to steal during the initial ten minutes of the film. The only real reason this subplot exists is to make The Rumble come across as a Saturday morning cartoon villain, which undermines Grammer’s superior ability as an actor. Apart from that, this thread is utterly pointless and is virtually forgotten by the film’s midpoint, until it is brought up again towards the final act of the film in an illogical twist that would put even the worst M. Night Shyamalan film to shame.
Action Scenes
Don’t get me started on these insufferable action sequences! All the fight scenes are just mediocre and suffer from several problems, from clumsy choreography to inadequate editing techniques. As I recall, there is a noticeable instance where footage of Isabella (Katrina Norman) striking a man is repeated twice sequentially within the same scene. It was at this point that I really started to pay attention to the film’s excessive faults.
Performances
Another issue this movie suffers is the misuse of its actors. From the entire cast, Adam Copeland and Patrick Lamont Junior’s performances were the duct tape holding the film together, and not very well, might I add. The leader and the hacker had most of the scenes throughout the runtime of this entire movie, yet their acting still felt broken, or forced at best, due to the horrible script.
Isabella is one of three thieves sent on to plane to steal the money. She infiltrates the plane under the guise of a stewardess, intending to provide support for the rest of the crew. Throughout her performance on screen, Isabella’s lines often feel flat, making the girl’s delivery sound uninterested at worst and extraordinarily surprised or flirty at best. At some points, her portrayal honestly resembles something closer to what one might find in a well-budgeted blue flick rather than an action film.
Of the trio on the plane, she was the character to see the most action. I would say that is a good thing since the film spends a good portion of its time to try and build her up as a one-woman army whenever she is offscreen. However, this is not the case. Watching Isabella and her incompetent opponents stumbling around like toddlers in the movie’s hideous fight choreography was enough to make me want to launch a missile at the plane for them to escape and salvage whatever remains of their acting careers.
Instead of embracing Isabella’s skillset as a cold-hearted killer, the film comically has her seduce to the crimelords on the plane by dancing in front of them. When she manages to get close enough to them, she will jump on the poor fools like a chimpanzee on heat.
Making a heavy hitter like Edge fly a plane for the majority of the movie is a huge waste of potential. I believe that they could have done a lot more with the professional wrestler in this setting. Notwithstanding, Copeland does do a relatively decent job acting in the calmer instances of the film, including some endearing father-daughter scenes. However, he is constantly interrupted by the film’s cartoony mastermind.
Another character who spends a significant chunk of the film doing absolutely nothing is Andrew Lawrence’s character, Iggy. For the most part, Iggy’s scenes are extraordinarily dull, mainly revolving around him setting up equipment on the ground, in a field by himself. Sometimes he will eat a banana to spice things up. Thankfully, in the final act of the film, Iggy does get a moment to shine by having a shootout.
Speaking about something I want to shoot; it is a travesty to watch former Frasier actor Kelsey Grammer act as such a buffoon throughout this film’s screen time. The only aspects of his character the film shows are that he is evil and stupidly greedy. A villain with solely selfish motivations can also be very powerful. From the Emperor in Star Wars to No Country for Old Men’s Anton Chigurh, this character archetype has existed for years and remains popular. Here, the script ruins whatever performance he tried to develop for his character, making him come across as more of a nuisance than anything else. How the mighty have fallen…
Conclusion
While this film is awful for an absurd number of reasons, I can see it gaining a small cult following which fits snuggly under the so bad it’s good category. It is generally not dull by any means, which I guess is a plus, I think, and will keep one entertained but for all the wrong reasons.
