Carry-On
review by Bobby Blakey
Director Jaume Collet-Serra has been bringing the fun an action for years with films including Non-Stop, The Commuter, Jungle Cruise and Black Adam. His latest film, Carry-On brings more action and mystery to the genre and pits Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman against one another. Could this bring the holiday action it promises, or will it get grounded?
Carry-On follows young TSA agent Ethan as he fights to outsmart a mysterious traveler who blackmails him into letting a dangerous package slip onto a Christmas Eve flight. The film co-stars Theo Rossi, Logan Marshall-Green, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Dean Norris and Sinqua Walls.
This is one of those simple premise films that offers up plenty of twists and turns as it works to uncover the truth of what the ultimate goal is. It isn’t overly complicated and reminds you of films like Die Hard and Sudden Death in tone and not overly original, but still manages to entertain.
Sure, there are elements that you have to kind of just buy into and accept for it to fully work, but as a whole I found the old school vibe to work for me. It gives you plenty of fun moments and chances to take full advantage of the setting in the airport to success, most notably the baggage carrier belts for some action.
Egerton does a good job at the simple man with his own issues in life that brought him to this moment. They fully invest in the old school mentality of storytelling with him having a past that is an issue for him and his family, but also benefits this situation to convenience. You could roll your eyes at these things, but I love these kinds of films and not interested in a normal guy getting in on the action.
The real scene stealer here is Jason Bateman who is unexpectedly perfectly cast in the villain role. His confidence and simple sinister demeanor elevate the film
and the character as someone you know you should fear. It is clearly another situation of them hoping to surprise the audience with who is the voice on the phone, but throws him all over the promotion in hopes to no doubt get a bigger audience.
In the end the film isn’t anything you haven’t seen a thousand times before, but one that still manages to deliver in the end. Filled with some fun action, cat & mouse intellectual game play and all the airport you could want, Carry-On is a worthy flick to check out especially in streaming format.
Decide for yourself and check out Carry-On streaming now on Netflix.