A holiday thriller that’s TSA approved.
From “Red Eye” to “Nonstop,” we’re sure getting entertained by these airplane thrillers, and yet, a majority of us are still able to fly. So, why not get another one of the genre, give it a Christmas theme like “Die Hard 2,” and call it “Carry On?” That’s what we now get on Netflix, and it’s a lot smarter than you would expect from a Netflix thriller. And it’s certainly a smarter new streaming Christmas movie than “Our Little Secret” or “Dear Santa.”
You get leads like Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman both breaking free from their comfort zones, and you also get another terrorist threat where consequences may emerge, but you’re still rooting for the hero to save the day. It sounds corny the way I’m saying it, and it is, but it’s usually the case.
Besides the holidays (and the story does take place on Christmas Eve), the central theme of the film regards TSA agents. You know the ones who tend to get surly with people or the other way around. I would love a book on how to survive TSA in a specific airport. You know like which ones will let you wear your shoes or which one doesn’t need your small toiletries and laptops out of your big carry ons. That’s just my aspect, but in this movie’s case, we get a lot of people complaining to them, even acting like Karens.
But I’m not here to complain about those passengers; I’m here to talk about the movie. So let’s have at it.
Egerton plays an LAX TSA agent named Ethan Kopek with a pregnant girlfriend named Nora (Sofia Carson), who works at the same airport, and has the potential to reapply to join the police academy. He seems to be at a crossroad in his life, which is why he asks his boss (Dean Norris) for a promotion. He is, however, given the chance to switch places at the scanner with another coworker named Jason (Sinqua Walls).
This comes at a bad time, because he’s given an earpiece, which has him connected with a mysterious figure (Bateman), who has his associates holding Nora at gunpoint. He wants Ethan to TSA approve of a future bag. What’s really inside? I guess we’ll worry about that later.
“Carry On” was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra in his first airplane thriller since “Nonstop” a decade ago, and it’s also his most entertaining film since “The Shallows,” while “Black Adam,” “Jungle Cruise,” and “The Commuter” have all ben crappy. This latest entry isn’t crappy, even if some scenes have to have a certain CGI-looking car crash and if there has to be some irritating minor characters. Most of it is entertaining in the ways it plays the game of how a thriller of this kind is supposed to work.
What the main protagonist is going through, how the main antagonist gets to him, and how the law enforcers (Danielle Deadwyler plays the main LAPD detective) manage to get in the middle of this. And both Egerton and Bateman are massively entertaining with how they nail their roles and how they handle the screenplay. And regarding the decisions and directions of this sinister plot, people are going to get hurt-physically, emotionally, and fatally-and I acknowledge that “Carry On” isn’t supposed to take the easy way out.
So if Bruce Willis can save Christmas at an airport, then why not Taron Egerton? I’m sure somebody at Netflix pitched that.
Now Streaming on Netflix