Flightplan follows a plane engineer (Jodie Foster) as her daughter goes missing on a flight. No-on remembers the daughter ever being on-board and things get so mysterious you will find yourself watching the whole film even if you hate because you just need to know what happened to the daughter. This kind of film is difficult to pull off, as setting a thriller in a claustrophobic setting with not all that many hiding places and no escape roots like a plane will usually go into ludicrous territory. Just look at Non-Stop. Thankfully, this just about manages to entertain its audience and if you don't focus on what's going on too much, you should have a decent time. Jodie Foster gives an excellent performance as the protagonist, and the other actors are on point as well. Flightplan boasts good direction, and the cinematography creates plenty of tension but it also visually appealing. A good visual style and good performances, as well as a mystery you will be trying hard to solve at the centre keep the film afloat.
However, the film reminds me of a point made in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. Do we really want to know the secret? Towards the end, finding out the mystery deflates the tension and the film remains entertaining but heads into generic territory. The film, on a whole, is implausible and relies suspends disbelief a little too far, but the actual resolution to the mystery is just a bit ordinary and doesn't quite live up to the build up. The cabin crew are too unsympathetic about the missing child, as are the passengers, with Sean Bean's captain being pretty much the only likable secondary character. The film takes itself a bit too seriously and this removes the fun from the film a bit. With the silly plot and lack of likable characters the film fails to lift itself above average, although it is quite frightening at times. Overall, this is a decent enough thriller with good performances and visuals. I love action and thriller movies so I could enjoy this easily but if you don't like these genres you may not get on so well with this.
6/10
However, the film reminds me of a point made in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. Do we really want to know the secret? Towards the end, finding out the mystery deflates the tension and the film remains entertaining but heads into generic territory. The film, on a whole, is implausible and relies suspends disbelief a little too far, but the actual resolution to the mystery is just a bit ordinary and doesn't quite live up to the build up. The cabin crew are too unsympathetic about the missing child, as are the passengers, with Sean Bean's captain being pretty much the only likable secondary character. The film takes itself a bit too seriously and this removes the fun from the film a bit. With the silly plot and lack of likable characters the film fails to lift itself above average, although it is quite frightening at times. Overall, this is a decent enough thriller with good performances and visuals. I love action and thriller movies so I could enjoy this easily but if you don't like these genres you may not get on so well with this.
6/10