CARRY-ON
(director: Jaume Collet-Serra; screenwriter: T.J. Fixman; cinematographer: Lyle Vincent; editors: Fred Raskin, Elliot Greenberg, Krisztian Majdik; music: Lorne Balfe; cast: Sofia Carson (Nora), Taron Egerton (Ethan Kopek), Danielle Deadwyler (Elena Cole), Jason Bateman (Traveler), Theo Rossi (Sniper), Logan Marshall-Green (Agent Alcott), Dean Norris (Phil Sarkowski), Sinqua Walls (Jason Noble), Gil Perez-Abraham (Eddie), Tonatiuh (Mateo Flores), Curtiss Cook (Lionel Williams), Joe Williamson (Ron Dunn), Josh Brener (Herschel); Runtime: 119; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producer: Dylan Clark; Netflix/Amblin Partners; 2024)
“Never completely bought into it as an X-Mas film.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A Netflix holiday white-knuckle thriller, mindful of Die Hard (1988) as a holiday film that was also a thriller because it was set during the holidays. It’s directed by the technically sound filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra (“Jungle Cruise”/”Non-Stop”) and is tightly written with crisp dialogue by T.J. Fixman.
It’s Christmas Eve at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport). The airport is packed with travelers busy loading their bags onto conveyor belts before getting ready to pass through security to board their flights.
The 30-year-old Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton, Brit actor) and his pregnant girl-friend Nora (Sofia Carson) work together for the last three years after Ethan was rejected at the police academy and he has since been working as a low-level TSA agent just so he can see Nora every day, where’s she’s a supervisor.
A suspicious menacing traveler (Jason Bateman) is anxious to get his bag on the flight, but is concerned LAX security will stop it. To ensure it gets on the plane, there’s a sniper (Theo Rossi) remotely keeping an eye on the baggage from a stolen van in one of garages near the airport.
The soft-spoken but menacing traveler forces Ethan, working for the first time on the baggage scanner, to let the dangerous bag (it has a weapon in it) get on the plane. Ethan’s told to listen to instructions transmitted through an earbud, and If he fails to follow instructions Nora will be a goner and the airport will become a blood bath.
The LAPD investigates a suspicious fire at the airport. The investigating detective, Elena Cole (Danielle Deadwyler), senses something is wrong and uses surveillance to try and uncover what’s going down.
The script is formulaic, but every thing else is good: the directing is more than adequate, the photography by the DP Lyle Vincent is excellent, the acting by Egerton stands out, the various chase scenes in the airport are slickly done, and there’s a brilliantly staged fight inside a speeding car.
I found the B-film terrorist thriller suspenseful, but never completely bought into it as an X-Mas film.
REVIEWED ON 12/21/2024 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com