Soul Plane Information

Soul Plane is a 2004 comedy film starring Kevin Hart, Method Man, Tom Arnold, D. L. Hughley, Mo'Nique, Loni Love, K.D. Aubert, Godfrey, and Snoop Dogg. It is directed by Jessy Terrero.

Plot

After Nashawn Wade (Kevin Hart) gets his buttocks stuck in an airline toilet, the plane suffers a minor disaster and, as a result, his dog is sucked through a jet engine. He then sues the airline and gets a settlement of $100,000,000. He decides to use the money to start his own airline, called NWA (Nashawn Wade Airlines), whose acronym and logo are a pop culture reference to rap group N.W.A and based on the real airline Northwest Airlines. The airline specifically caters to African Americans and hip hop culture. The terminal at the airport is called the Malcolm X terminal, the plane is a heavily modified 747-200, customized with low-rider hydraulics, spinners, blended winglets for longer range, and a dance club. The safety video is also a spoof of the Destiny's Child song "Survivor".

The flight took off from LAX Airport late in the evening with Captain Mack (Snoop Dogg) in command. However, during the first flight of the fictional airline, Nashawn is trying to deal with a multitude of problems. His pilot has acrophobia. He has never left the ground because he learned to fly in prison. As Nashawn learns this, he asks him who his "flying buddies" are which Captain Mack told him were from the Air Force. Captain Mack then shows him a picture of him with Taliban members with Arabian style music in the background. Meanwhile, his cousin Muggsey (Method Man), is setting up a miniature casino and strip joint in one of the areas on the plane (as seen in the workprint and unrated versions of the film), and Nashawn's ex-girlfriend is on board and less than happy to see him. The Hunkee family also appear to have problems in the movie; Elvis Hunkee's (Tom Arnold) daughter is turning eighteen and plans to allegedly use the newfound freedom by drinking and having sex, his son has transformed in a matter of seconds from an exact duplicate to acting like a stereotypical wigger, and his wife has found a new interest in black men after viewing pictures in a pornographic magazine.

The pilot seemingly dies, after eating mushrooms that the co-pilot (Godfrey) uses to soothe his genital crabs. Nashawn then attempts to contact the co-pilot, who is incapacitated after slipping on the water located around the hot tub, forcing Nashawn to attempt to land the plane himself. Nashawn lands the plane safely, using the airplane stewardess' flight knowledge learned while having sex in the cockpit with the pilot on another flight, in the middle of Central Park only to have the spinners stolen from the plane. He then gets back together with his ex-girlfriend after earlier revealing to her that he only broke up with her so she would not give up her college opportunities for him.

The movie ends with the Nashawn telling the audience the fate of his crew. He claims that he and his ex-girlfriend are back together taking their relationship slow this time around, his cousin Muggsey has started a strip club and gambling casino located in an airplane similar to the club in Nashawn's plane, Elvis Hunkee has begun a sexual relationship with one of the abrasive airline security guards (Mo'Nique), and Elvis Hunkee's son has become a major music video director but has disappeared shortly after filming a Michael Jackson video. Also the pilot later wakes up with his chain and clothing stolen.

Cast

• Kevin Hart as Nashawn Wade
• Tom Arnold as Elvis Hunkee
• Method Man as Muggsy
• Snoop Dogg as Captain Mack
• K. D. Aubert as Giselle
• Godfrey as Leslie Gaemon
• Brian Hooks as D.J.
• D. L. Hughley as Johnny
• Arielle Kebbel as Heather Hunkee
• Loni Love as Shaniece
• Mo'Nique as Jamiqua
• Sofía Vergara as Blanca
• Missi Pyle as Barbara Hunkee
• Sommore as Cherry
• Ryan Pinkston as Billy Hunkee
• Gary Anthony Williams as Flame
• John Witherspoon as Blind Man
• Cynthia Pinot as Hardrock Girl
• Angell Conwell as Tamika
• Francine Dee as Stripper
• Roberto Roman as Passenger
• Terry Crews as Bouncer
• Richard T. Jones as False Denzel
• Lil Jon as himself
• Ying Yang Twins as themselves

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 18% from a total of 98 reviews with a consensus stating, "A raunchy sendup of Airplane! that never really takes off."

Parodies

In The Boondocks episode "...Or Die Trying", the Freemans see Soul Plane 2: The Blackjacking, featuring a terrorist plot to blow up a nuclear power plant using the Soul Plane. Series cast members John Witherspoon (Granddad), Gary Anthony Williams (Uncle Ruckus), Snoop Dogg (Macktastic), and Mo'Nique reprise their roles as the blind man, Flame, Captain Mack and Jamiqua respectively. Also in "The Return of the King", Martin Luther King Jr. criticizes the movie along with other black pop culture icons.

Box office

US Gross Domestic Takings:

US$ $14,190,750

Other International Takings: $631,596

Gross Worldwide Takings: $14,822,346

In an interview on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, Kevin Hart said that part of the reason for the poor box office turnout was due to bootlegging of the film. Hart says the film was being bootlegged three months before the film was released in theaters. Hart said the film "on the street, it made 40 million dollars". Hart told Marc Maron that during a premiere, fans of the movie were coming up to him asking him to sign copies of the bootleg. Hart does credit the film for making him popular enough to start touring around the country.