Cert 15 90mins Stars 2

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s screen career takes an interesting detour in a rare serious-minded role. Sadly his decent attempt at acting goes unrewarded in this dull aeroplane disaster.

It takes off with good intentions but stalls mid-flight. Unable to decide on the best route, it crashes somewhere between tired revenge thriller and underpowered drama.

The story is inspired by true events of 2002 when two planes collided mid-air. The resulting carnage on the ground left no survivors, but created a wake of angry relatives.

As a grief stricken grandfather, Schwarzenegger fails to secure an apology from the authorities. So he hunts down Scoot MacNairy’s hapless air-traffic controller.

The build up to the crash is nicely tense, while the scenes of the rescue services trawling the wreckage are sensitive and effective.

But the ploddingly paced script is even handed to a fault, leaving us without a hero or villain, or little in the way of drama.