“Soul Plane” was supposed to be likable, risk-taking and funky. Unfortunately, it rarely succeeds.
Nashawn (Kevin Hart) becomes a millionaire after winning a totally preposterous lawsuit involving his dog and his rump. He decides to open his own airline: NWA (an obvious allusion to the rap group). The airline’s motto: “We Fly, We Party, We Land.”
The airport has a basketball court and a Foot Locker. The plane is completely purple, can roll in reverse and has spinners and hydraulic switches. In coach, the flight attendants pass out fried chicken, and there is a dance floor and casino waiting for hedonists on the pimped-out aircraft.
All of this is cute and amusing for about 25 minutes. Then the film drags along with the endeavors of the cast.
I’ve seen better acting and comedy in church plays.
Kevin Hart has no personality or spirit as an actor. If you chuckle when watching him, it is mainly from sympathy. All of his scenes and lines fall flat, and the viewer may wish death on this useless character halfway through the film.
Correspondingly, Method Man’s character has no importance and comes off as an annoying punk. John Witherspoon was charming and funny in “Friday,” but his blind man routine in “Plane” is hit-and-miss.
Thankfully, Mo’Nique delivers some helpful laughs as a crazed security guard; she finds an attractive passenger and quickly performs a cavity search on him.
Likewise, Snoop Dogg’s calm charisma shines on the screen as the pilot. He smokes pot, eats shrooms and chills out the whiny Nashawn and the worrying co-pilot. Snoops enlivens an otherwise frustrating experience.
For such a ghetto and funky premise, this movie has a disturbing amount of lame whiteboy plot clichs.
First, the focus switches to Nashawn’s lost love at inopportune times. Who cares? This is not some third-rate romantic comedy, and the mood swings during these “two former lovers” scenes are awkward and unneeded. If we wanted a sappy and artificial story, “Titanic” would be in the DVD player.
Toilet and sex humor reminiscent of failed comedies like “Old School” and “Sorority Boys” abide in “Soul Plane.” Why? Apparently, the makers wanted to rehash several movies (including the classic “Airplane!”), throw in two or three passable ideas and hope the audience does not catch the forgery or watered-down screenwriting.
Stereotyping plays a big role in “Plane.” A gay flight attendant and an Arab with a suspicious suitcase are two examples of the uninspired, unfunny, tired and possibly offensive attempts at humor saturating this film.
If only the plot revolved around Snoop Dogg, maybe “Soul Plane” could be above-average. An inexcusable boring second half, tired stereotyping, unentertaining main characters, rehashed comic formulas and terrible, uneven direction makes this another reason not to fly.
The extras are skimpy and add nothing to this lacking comedy. The deleted scenes are rightfully so, and the outtakes are less funny than skin cancer. A music “safety” video comes from one of the funnier moments of the film. But the last thing you want to watch is the commentary and making-of feature: who wants to see a lackluster comedy being made or hear the pitiful explanations for a poor release?