Gerard Butler has already shown us all his tricks as an actor. He genuinely strives to offer us something new, something to break him out of the box, but he can’t do it. The roles he chooses will always lead him to the same destination: to be the savior of a group of people in danger, which he will do regardless of the obstacles he faces. His new movie extreme alert, is a repetition of that well-worn formula, and perhaps only appealing to those who like to see the interpreter doing the usual, being charismatic enough and getting out of trouble improbably, but, yes, very effective. There’s no more.
On this occasion, Butler, who has already been a Spartan warrior, a presidential bodyguard, a human resources headhunter, an astronaut, etc., puts his histrionic skills to the test to deliver his version of a demanding, but not extraordinary profession: now He is an airplane pilot. So far so good. The tape, apparently, will be the typical thriller of action in which the captain has to protect the entire crew –including the flight attendants and the co-pilot and a prisoner who will be extradited– when the plane goes through a terrible storm and has technical failures.
It is appreciated that, visually, the production tries to innovate, giving the entire storm sequence a gloomy, dark and disturbing atmosphere: the chosen color palette puts us in a state of constant anxiety. The blue and black tones accentuate the concern of the passengers and, for a moment, we are worried about what might happen to them. Without a doubt, it would have been more interesting to see that film, where the drama in emo adds another dimension to the hackneyed air disaster.
But that purposeful film, which was more like a short film, ends after 10 minutes, giving way to another convulsive, disconnected and diametrically different production, directed by the same person (Jean-François Richet), and starring the same person, with the same supporting cast, but without the inspiration of the previous segment. This is completely baffling.
Movie review extreme alert
Eventually, the plane has to be landed in an emergency, and the place chosen to do so is Jolo, a small island located in an archipelago in the southwest of the Philippines. Since the passengers touch down, extreme alert it becomes an uninspired survival movie, as we learn, not so convincingly, that the region where the landing occurred is occupied by separatist and criminal groups.
Just as the villains appear unexpectedly, we are also surprised by the personality change of Captain Brodie Torrance, played by Butler, who without explanation and from one moment to the next goes from being a common pilot to being a soldier and strategist with the best training. .
In reality, the feature film is a string of convenient situations for a story that lacks rhythm and coherence. By chance, the star pilot has a daughter who he adores and will be his main motivation to keep going – did someone say Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace in Relentless search (2008)?–, by chance, the prisoner in the process of extradition (Mike Colter) is an unstoppable and indestructible ex-military and, by chance, the airline that Brodie works with has contact with a group of mercenaries who make rescues.
extreme alert It is designed so that its protagonist shines on a big screen. Despite some good stylistic decisions at the beginning and a frantic third act, in the middle, everything is empty and that’s a bit tedious. What matters is watching decent drama and fight scenes. That’s why we stay in the room.
Perhaps the scene that best exemplifies this is the one that begins the climax. In it, the captain of the plane seriously asks his co-pilot (Yoson An) to “accelerate with everything” while we watch some crushing close ups that, as if of anime either western whatever it is, they show us the eyes full of fury of the hero and the thugs – who, obeying eighties stereotypes, are soulless terrorists. Immediately the ship begins to move forward and as it takes off it creates a wave of air that implausibly but excitingly and self-consciously blows away the rivals’ trucks at the back of the road. There is nothing left but to cheer the delusional exaggeration. Gerard Butler knows that we like to see him do what he does best.
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Jose Roberto Landaverde Movie buff and music lover. I am fascinated by writing, listening, reading and commenting on everything related to the seventh art. I’m a fan of Rocky and Back to the Future and obviously one day I’ll climb the “Philly Steps” and drive a DeLorean. Faithful believer that cinema is the best teleportation machine, and also that on the big screen we can all see ourselves represented. I constantly, like Scott Pilgrim, ask myself: “Does bread make you fat?”