Airplane Mode: As Bad as They Say and Worse
1980’s Airplane! is one of those movies where even if you’ve never seen it, odds are that you’ve encountered it in one way, shape, or form out in the wild. References, recommendations, imitations, its less-than-stellar sequel, or even parodies. The last being the most intriguing, considering Airplane! itself is a spoof of not only 1957’s Zero Hour! and the Airport film series, but disaster movies as a whole. Despite how commonplace parodies are, I would argue that they are one of the most challenging styles to nail since not only does the comedy need to be tight and match the setting, but also have the power to stand on its own.
I’ve never seen any of the films Airplane! was based on, but after watching it for the first time recently, it’s incredible that nearly every joke landed despite being rooted in the time’s pop culture. Dated, maybe? It released in the year 1980, so I’d be shocked if there weren’t a few things that didn’t hold up. But watching it for the first time, the existing dialogue spoofed into a mocking tone, references to popular commercials, and inclusion of top-notch dramatic actors flew right over my head. Frankly, they’re still zooming by me. However none of those mattered because the writing, acting, pacing, directing, etc. didn’t hinge on them, it was merely an added layer. If you’ve never seen Airplane! (which you should), arguably the biggest thing that dates it is a lack of proper TSA jokes. This isn’t a review of Airplane!, though.
Stay with me here — what if everything was dated? What if it was locked in a specific moment in 2016 and all of the jokes were highly dependent on you knowing the individual actors, what they’ve done, and internet jokes that fizzled out within a week? Maybe shorter if they were a Main Character and rode that wave as far as they could. Combine that with lead writers who specialize in Vine sketches (rip bozo to that platform), and the other two head writers/co-directors not having a movie above an average 6/10 rating. You get Airplane Mode, a modern retelling/reimagining/parody(?) of Airplane!. Starring Logan Paul, it might be the worst movie I’ve seen yet.
Normally I like to open with a bit of backstory, but I’m a bit stumped here. I could find that they at least started production in 2015, as Paul stated during a 2017 interview that he himself had spent two years writing the script. Along with that, the production company (Planeless Pictures) signed a deal to help make it in 2016. But an origin, an inspiration, at least some preface appears to have gotten lost in the cracks. Maybe I’m not digging hard enough, but considering that Planeless sued Paul for allegedly trying to delay the film’s release via social media outrage…well. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the staff weren’t the happiest behind-the-scenes. Especially since it took two whole years in February of 2019 for it to premier at a film festival, then quietly pop up on the iTunes store before finding a home on Tubi in the present day.
Speaking of which, the big man Logan Paul himself. I’ve never watched him; never seemed like my cup of tea both back in his prime and nowadays, but odds are you’ve heard of him. He’s popular with kids , and he has a big laundry list of controversies to where mainstream news sites have made listicles of them.
Arguably the biggest and most critical in our case being on December 31st, 2017 when he uploaded a video to YouTube that showed a near-uncensored corpse. He did a vlogging trip to Japan, in which he went to the Aokigahara Forest, commonly nicknamed the “Suicide Forest,” due to it being known as a common area in which people have been found hanging themselves. The video was uploaded to YouTube while the film was still in production, delays happened, and both Google and the production company were rightfully miffed.
To give my own two cents — and this is purely my own opinion, I’m not sure if I buy that he did that whole stunt to delay the movie. Firstly, that whole shebang came out at the tail end of 2017. I distinctly remember when it came out, because I had friends over for some holiday fun when someone checked Twitter and said, “So Logan Paul uploaded a vid of a dead body?” We all thought, “No way,” went to his YouTube channel, saw the near-uncensored corpse in question, and said, “Oh.”
To get back on track, unless they were planning on shadow dropping that as a New Year’s “gift” to the world, it’s hard to believe this was a tactical stunt to get out of being tied to a bad movie. A stunt, for sure, but considering that Paul’s reaction to the body was equivalent to a high schooler exploring dark hallways saying it’s a bit spooky, I can’t even be sure he processed just how badly it would go over. I’m not trying to defend the man, I just think he lacks that critical thought if I’m being honest.
Secondly, it seems like he truly did believe in the movie. I only have what’s available to go off of, and I’m not in his head, but Paul didn’t half his performance when it came to getting physical — that man seems proud of this stuff. Which in a weird way, I can respect. In most others, I question the creative choices. Regardless, it was settled, so whatever they decided on will stay behind closed doors.
On to the actual movie: it cold opens with Logan Paul trying to masturbate with his e-girlfriend from Australia over video chat, only to get interrupted three times. After the third strike she logs off, and he discovers that there’s a huge social media convention, Hashtagacon, happening in the next few days. Where is it taking place? Australia! Finally, a chance to get laid! There’s only one problem: he’s afraid of flight after a stunt 10 years ago where he tried flying using a cardboard wingsuit that shattered both of his femurs.
Logan Paul also has a foreign exchange brother named Juanpa, presumably to fill the void of his real brother Jake Paul. Why is he not there despite being credited as a creative lead? As Logan put it, “Disney got him,” which admittedly did get a laugh out of me. But Juanpa, what’s his deal? He’s a virgin, he really wants to get laid, every other character is an adult, and he’s a minor. Yes, you should be afraid of those details.
From there on, the movie slips into an abridged version of Airplane!. No one wants to set their devices to airplane mode (no way), resulting in the controls short-circuiting and the pilots dying. For some added tension they also have a crazy murderer on board who manages to snag themselves loose, serving as the main antagonist since they actually resolved the whole “flying” thing pretty quickly. The bad guy dies, Logan lands the plane, he realizes he loved the girl he sat next to on the flight (Jenna) and not the egirl, and then they end with a sex scene. Also he can read gay people’s minds, which is shockingly relevant. None of that was made up.
Credit where credit is due, I’ll start with some positives. They go hard with the physical comedy, and by God those stunt doubles are committed. It’s hard to tell in some scenes but rewatching it looks like Paul actually did a good chunk of his own tumbles, which hey, I respect the craft. And as crazy as it sounds, having a main character who can telepathically communicate with gay people as a core plot device could work in a better movie. What an insane sentence.
Everything else? Impressively terrible on most fronts. To get the basics out of the way, a good chunk of the jokes are lifted from the original Airplane!, only with worse execution. A common theme is that the movie really wants you to know which parts are funny, rather than letting the comedy flow and have the laughs happen naturally. Pointing out a joke, reiterating it, screaming, bringing up its own lack of narrative cohesion — it has ALL the no-no’s. Not just once, but prevalent throughout the whole thing.
That’s not even mentioning another heavy problem: a number of race jokes that I just can’t imagine landing for most people. In some cases they try to play it off as making fun of racist people (such as the sheriff in charge of the murderer profiling people, same with the TSA agent), but those just came across as bland. Most of the time it points out a stereotype…and that’s the punchline. Just having racism as the crux will only result in shock value, which gets old fast. Especially when it’s not sending a message. Especially especially when I can count the number of non-white people in the movie with one hand.
Textbook example of good jokes involving racist people/shock value: Blazing Saddles. The punchline is never just the racism involved, but how it reflects on the people who act that way, the time period, and the casual acceptance of racism in film. There’s a whole line of people just waiting to get lynched in public outside the sheriff’s office, and the people waiting are just like, “Ah, guess it’s my turn,” with a pleased expression. All the while, happy white folks go about their day. A more modern example can be found in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, where it’s always the deplorable people who are the joke rather than the act of racial profiling. Much like the bad writing, the lack of nuance is recurring all throughout Airplane Mode.
So gay people, am I right? I will give the movie a shred of credit that it has more gay characters than a good chunk of movies I’ve seen — including comedies. The downside is that it doesn’t really do anything with that, and they’re all given a stereotypical gay accent to speak with (at least psychically). One of them also kidnaps a baby and tries breastfeeding it, which is somehow a B plot that takes up WAY too much time.
Then there’s the Juanpa B plot, which oh boy. In real life, at the earliest, the actor who played Juanpa was around 19 in 2015. Which really begs the question why they felt the need to write him as a minor trying to get with fully grown adults. There’s one almost-sex scene, with another full sex scene paralleling Logan’s at the tail end featuring Juanpa x the Australian egirl (Logan dipped without telling her).
The almost-sex happens because the plane discovers that the pilots are dead, and everybody panics. Juanpa asks someone and she goes, “Heh, you’re a minor. I don’t think so,” before quickly caving and doing the ol’ gaming YouTuber special. Which begs the question: why the hell did they write in that he’s a minor??? Why did he have sex with a fully grown woman later on??? No, genuinely, what were they thinking? Give me those design documents and manuscripts — there has to be something that led to this. To cap it all off, he doesn’t actually get to…finish…during the full sex scene. Because it gets interrupted by her violent dad — who they make sure you know is black, not white like Juanpa was expecting. There’s a lot wrong with what’s been described in these last two paragraphs. I trust your judgement enough to move on.
This one is more of a stretch, but I can’t help but feel like the film has some heavy sexist undertones as well. They never explicitly go, “Women, am I right?,” however there were a number of jokes that all concluded with the woman being shown in a negative light. The Australian egirl is shallow, and only wanted to have sex with Juanpa (again, a minor) for his accent. The other woman Juanpa had sex with had an even thinner reason; they just wanted sex. There’s this flight attendant who I guess can be considered a recurring character, and the only joke they really get is being stupid and not realizing the two pilots were dead, not having sex (that’s repeated 3+ times).
There’s this mother character who loses their baby — the same baby the gay man tries to kidnap. Her whole punchline is that she loves drinking and hates her baby, and after swiping some liquor she sort-of tries looking for them before giving up. Another woman just steals the liquor outright and gets drunk. There are a lot of background gags where the punchline is just women taking pictures of themselves. They’re all a mix of that.
In the name of fairness, those gags aren’t proof — none of this is proof of anything. However when you take a step back and look at the diversity of jokes featuring the male characters…it looks pretty off. Men get physical humor, gore, gross-out, being aroused, stupidity, partying, acting gay, sudden bursts of confidence, getting the girl, talking to sentient lotion (don’t ask), etc.. The jokes featuring women, however, are limited to them wanting sex, getting drunk, being shallow, and acting oblivious. And one poop joke. It’s not a great look, is all I’m saying.
To take a break from the sexism, racism, and homophobia, the acting also ain’t the greatest. Hats off to Paul for really giving it his all, because the man really seems to be trying. The jokes? Awful. But his enthusiasm almost makes some of the punchlines tolerable.
There’s a lot of flat inflections for every other joke, which could work in a dry comedy. Yet this is not dry, this is a sopping wet comedy where they really need to hammer in that they’re busting jokes left and right. Screams and violence make up the other half. And some gore/gross-out humor for good measure. Which leads me to a whole different rabbit hole: who is this movie even for?
Recapping a bit here, but Logan Paul’s primary audience is children. On Vine, YouTube, and otherwise, kids are watching him. From what little I’ve seen of him, he leans into that. Yet this movie has essentially everything that cannot be in a kid’s film, from loads of sexual content to the R-rating itself. Not to mention it was supposed to premiere on YouTube as a part of its premium service, back when they tried publishing their own entertainment. A $3.5 million deal, hence why Planeless Pictures was so outraged that they sued Paul.
The movie still has kid-oriented humor, but is rated for adults. It was supposed to appeal to their YouTube audience, but it has nearly everything YouTube prohibits on their guidelines. I can’t see a single adult with passable taste enjoying this movie, and I’ve met some real freaks out there. I’m a biased source, but I can’t even see kid-me enjoying this back in the day unless it was my first movie ever. Hell, show this to an Amish person and they’d never touch copper again. At best I could see a Gen X person who comes from a repressed, highly religious background watching this as their first piece of media and losing their mind.
For clarification’s sake, I’m not even suggesting hate-watching this. I doubt alcohol will make this much better, and if you’re the type to do drugs then I’m sure there are better movies for you to watch with them. Worse movies probably exist in the world, but this is just painful, no exaggeration. I had to stop midway through because it kept annoying me and feeling like too much at once. It almost has an oppressive air about it — I’m dead-serious here. The only reason I continued was out of my own stubborn nature to see it through.
As stated earlier, comedies are hard. They’re subjective. They have a lot of moving parts, to where you can never just pin it all on one, two, 10, or even 100 factors sometimes. This has all been my own personal take on this movie. However, not to be rude, but the thousands of reviews on sites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes seem to agree with both hovering under a 2/10. And to be honest, I’d rather watch something like Daddy Day Camp with its 1% far sooner than this.
You probably shouldn’t watch this. It can be found free on Tubi, but so can good shows and movies like the entire Kitchen Nightmares series or Groundhog Day. Or the entirety of YouTube (region depending, of course). If you’re so desperate to watch a paid movie without spending a nickel or doing that illegal option, go to your local library and try to rent out the real Airplane!. Traditionally I try to end these things on a positive or introspective note, but these are dire circumstances. The best use of this movie is it being a free way for someone to watch and dissect how not to make a film, comedy, or really any creative project.
Nah, forget that. Like I said before, watch Blazing Saddles instead.