Directed By Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring – Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Sofia Carson

The Plot – A mysterious traveler (Bateman) blackmails a young TSA agent (Egerton) into letting a dangerous package slip through security and onto a Christmas Eve flight.

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, bloody images, some adult language and suggestive references.

Carry-On | Official Trailer | Netflix

POSITIVES

As Netflix continues to bridge the gap of quality between the silver screen and streaming, films like ‘Carry On’ will convey their biggest steps forward, with a scintillating stinger of a thriller that Collet-Serra feels perfectly plucked to steer. Jaume’s films like ‘The Shallows’ or ‘Orphan’ aren’t the deepest or most thought-provoking cinematic achievements, but they undoubtedly inspire entertainment value in droves for plots that continuously go off the deep end with worst case scenarios during the most vulnerable spots. This summarizes ‘Carry On’ to a tee, especially with Jaume’s direction imbedding no shortage of tension or suspense for a conflict that is constantly reevaluating itself, proving itself to not only be effortlessly easy to follow along, but also intense when you consider the stakes and overwhelming adversity that Egerton’s character grapples with in attempting to save the day. The film certainly has no shortage of conveniences, particularly in the right place right time mentality that all plots cater to, but it mostly keeps its foot on the ground with what post 9/11 airports have regulated during everyday travel, and that mystique behind the unanswered questions of who and why are when the cylinders of momentum are firing at their most effective, where urgency and vulnerability marry seamlessly to enact an engagement that kept me gripped throughout nearly two hours of ascending altitudes. While the mystique of this cat and mouse game between Egerton and Bateman definitely gets the ball rolling, it’s the physicality within these grueling action set pieces that pays them off brilliantly, with top notch production values and technique that would play particularly well on the grandest screen, especially how each sequence varies in both articulation and creativity. Between the topsy turvy turmoil of road rage immersing us to the swift speeds and encapsulating devastation, or the isolated corridors of a showdown within the luggage terminal, it’s clear that so much time and effort went into outlining an established setting with no shortage of creative or ocular possibilities, with a variety of stylistic impulses within the camera work and green-screen backdrops that refuse to sacrifice believability for scope of the most devastating destruction that undoubtedly leaves a lasting impact to the day’s events, that aren’t just neatly tidied away without consequence. The dialogue between the two leading lads also go a long way in setting a precedent for their shifting power struggle, which feels charismatic without feeling comedic, an aspect that could’ve altered the film’s flight plan towards its intended destination. While there are obvious intentions to paint an evidential foreshadowing in the background of Egerton’s cryptically conflicted character, the duo’s capability in one upmanship feels irresistibly inviting, especially during the opening interactions, where Egerton is incapable of knowing just how deep this plot reaches in the depths of this seedy organization supposedly responsible for so many of the world’s most horrific events. Uniquely, as the film stretches wider in concept, its most grounded and personal arcs involving the many supporting characters to Egerton are most integral, particularly when the stakes of the surrounding airport travelers transcends those of the established protagonist, with his strange actions under this fateful day unknowingly framing him for the devil in the details that will lead the eventual investigation into this sinister plot. Because the stakes continuously increase with each passing minute, without sacrificing the urgency factors in a two hour run time, Collet-Serra is able to bottle the entirety of his momentum in order to unload it at just the right moments, leaving so little moments of build within the exposition that can easily condemn other movies, but here further refines the many pocketed dynamics within Egerton’s character, who serve as his only allies to such overwhelming odds. On the subject of Egerton and Bateman, they each do such a remarkable job of undertaking their characters, with Bateman exploring his dark side in a rare but effectively intoxicating antagonist role that utilizes his familiarly dry but stern vocal deliveries. Bateman abides by the law of speak soft but carry a big stick, in that he never has to overemphasize or exaggerate in order to get his point across, instead delivering with committed conviction that is even scarier when describing the unwavering realities of his profession that he describes so matter-of-factly. This is matched equally by the charms and cadence of Egerton’s everyman approach endearing him so affectionately to the audience during those initial story beats, but never conveyed as weakness in the mind of a man who never stops thinking, regardless of how heated the situations that he finds himself in become. Like his memorable turns in ‘The Kingsman’ franchise, Egerton once again lends his body to physical feats for fight sequences that are every bit believable in choreography as they are compelling in vulnerability, with just enough awareness in the placement of his character in hostile predicaments that outlines an intelligence for thinking quickly on his feet.

NEGATIVES

While the first two acts of the movie are nearly flawless in their overall execution, the third act cools the jets a bit with convoluted renderings during big reveals that finally make the movie feel every inch of its nearly two hour run time. This is one of those times when less could’ve enacted so much more, as when the film begins to explain character motivation and investigative clues, it trips over its own feet a bit in long-winded deliveries, especially once the conflict goes airborne, forcing Egerton to act fast in order to fool Bateman from an otherwise perfect plan. It’s certainly predictable how the former will distract the latter, especially for how evidential the movie telegraphs this intention with its visuals and editing, but the bigger issue is how long the explanations take away from the thrill of the momentum, making me wish that the script took a more ambiguous route to not only attain the scary mystique about the antagonist, but also in maintaining the aforementioned urgency of the storytelling, which goes noticeably absent during the moments it matters the loudest. ‘Carry On’ doesn’t necessarily squeeze out every drop of its material to pad out the run time, but its writing doesn’t know how to condense these revealing scenes in ways that smoothly deliver them inconsequentially, resulting in too much time taken away from the unfolding of the primary conflict that should’ve felt more in the heat of the moment. Finally, the script errors a bit on the side of derivative familiarity, but not with a predecessor that set a precedent with so many of these claustrophobic thrillers. While ‘Die Hard’ is the film that a lot of critics will throw out in comparison to this film, I felt the film borrowed more from 1995’s ‘Nick of Time’, where a mysterious outsider (Portrayed by Christopher Walken) recruits a blue collar worker (Played by Johnny Depp) in order to assassinate the governor. Without spoiling much of the third act developments to this film, I can say that structure alone is about 90% of what this movie is about, and even more so when some of the compartmentalized pockets of temporary conflicts reflect a directional significance to its predecessor. We’re so far into the cinematic game that it’s impossible for newer movies to borrow in some way from a film that did it first, but the examples here start to stack quite quickly during the first half, and no matter how invested I was to the film, I couldn’t stop thinking about the movie that it was mimicking, especially in being able to accurately predict so many of the resolutions, based on my experience with ‘Nick of Time’.

OVERALL
‘Carry On’ ascends to cruising altitudes with gripping tension amid compelling drama for scenery-shifting set pieces that never runs on empty, despite creative derivativity and convoluted reveals that temporarily threaten to ground its progress. Jason Bateman is believably committed to his darkly sinister turn as the movie’s antagonist, and Taron Egerton pilots enough heart and charisma to land this Netflix product smoothly on satisfying territory, with two hours of edge-of-the-seat entertainment that practically flies by.

My Grade: 7/10 or B