Landing on Netflix on December 13th, ‘Carry-On’ will probably make most people compare it to festive action classic ‘Die Hard.’ Which seems a little unfair given the latter film’s high watermark status in the action genre, but when you put an average joe character up against scheming criminals at Christmas, the comparisons are inevitable.
Still, ‘Carry-On,’ while it truly can’t compare to the towering 1988 benchmark, it doesn’t embarrass itself in the genre, providing a solid amount of entertainment partly thanks to good performances from its leads.
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Does ‘Carry-On’ hold up?
The ‘Die Hard’ comparisons, while tough for any movie to live up to, are at least slightly short-circuited by some decent worldbuilding going on here. Taron Egerton’s Ethan Kopek isn’t even at the level of John McClane, who was at least an NYPD officer. Kopek instead is more of a man in search of his place in life; while he’s happily in a relationship, his TSA job isn’t exactly the most fulfilling purpose, but he’s largely coasting.
It’s a worthwhile place from which to start a main character in a movie such as this –– because you have something to build from. You know he’s going to step up to the task at hand when the moment calls for it, but he’s not a superhero or a man (usually Liam Neeson in Jaume Collet-Serra’s other movies) with a particular set of skills. Unless you count running (foreshadowed with talk of Kopek’s high school track star status).
Likewise, Jason Bateman is an interesting choice to play the primary antagonist as the man known only as “Traveler” is more of a tactical thinker than an all-action villain. And the action element is largely effective, even if one key scene appears to borrow heavily from ‘Toy Story 2.’
Script and Direction
The script for the movie originated with a script by T.J. Fixman (who has mostly written video games) and has been through some polishing by Michael Green (a scriptwriting veteran whose credits include the Kenneth Branagh‘s Poirot films, ‘Logan’ and ‘Jungle Cruise’).
As a result, it feels mostly lean and taught, and the characters are built in such a way as they work for this kind of movie. It’s far from a perfect screenplay, but it does nimbly skirt around some of the more egregious cliches and tropes.
It also stays mostly grounded (at least until the action shifts to a plane) and believable and finds something interesting for most of the characters to do.
Collet-Serra, meanwhile, knows his way around an action movie, and while he’s certainly pumped out some generic titles in his time, this feels sturdier and more energetic that some of his other efforts. And that’s despite it largely taking place in one location (albeit an airport that offers chances for different rooms).
If there’s one big issue with the movie, it’s a scene where Danielle Deadwyler’s detective clashes with Logan Marshall-Green’s character (we won’t reveal it so as to avoid spoilers) in a speeding car. It’s an ambitious attempt to have the actors do a lot of the work themselves as opposed to cutting around stunt people. Yet for all its kinetic energy, it suffers from sometimes looking like the cut scene from a video game, draining the tension as you can’t help but chuckle at the weird visual. For a movie that is so focused on being real-world, it’s a misfire.
Performances
While Egerton and Bateman are the crux of the story, the script shares the character development love around the rest of the cast too.
Taron Egerton as Ethan Kopek
As we mentioned above, Kopek is an unmoored young man, nervously happy about becoming a father with his girlfriend Nora. He’s coasting through his job, but of course gets a chance to shine when he’s put in peril. Egerton has played some more flamboyant characters in his time, but he does solid work as Kopek, keeping him from feeling like a superhero. And his interactions with everyone around him are entirely believable.
Jason Bateman as Traveler
He may never get a name, but Bateman does revel in an interesting character –– and it’s one that the actor plays well. He’s threatening but not so physically imposing as to be ridiculous. He’s also good at delivering the exposition that is naturally a part of a villain such as this.
Danielle Deadwyler as Elena Cole
As the dedicated LAPD detective who starts to dig into one aspect of the case, Deadwyler is similarly lumbered with some expositional dialogue but is also weaved effectively into the story later on. And she’s always convincing.
Sofia Carson as Nora
Playing off of Egerton for much of the early going, she’s eventually more than just his love interest, actually handed some agency as the plot moves forward. It also doesn’t hurt that Nora is in some ways more capable than Ethan is.
Supporting cast
The reliable likes of Dean Norris (as Egerton’s grumpy TSA boss), Sinqua Walls (as one of his colleagues) all help to fill out the world of Kopek’s daily drudgery, while Bateman’s character is supported by the likes of Theo Rossi as his accomplice. It’s a solid ensemble for a movie such as this.
Final Thoughts
A solid action thriller with decent premise that aches in places to be ‘Die Hard’ but also does its own thing, ‘Carry-On’ might not exactly be in the first class of the genre, but it’s sitting comfortably in premium economy.
‘Carry-On’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
ckVktsoA0eHHgGYfsqlcU4What’s the plot of ‘Carry-On’?
A young TSA agent (Taron Egerton) fights to outsmart a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) who blackmails him into letting a dangerous package slip onto a Christmas Eve flight.
Who is in the cast of ‘Carry-On’?
- Taron Egerton as Ethan Kopek
- Jason Bateman as the Mysterious Traveler
- Sofia Carson as Nora Parisi
- Danielle Deadwyler as Elena Cole
- Logan Marshall-Green as Agent Alcott
- Theo Rossi as the Mysterious Watcher
- Dean Norris as Phil Sarkowski
- Sinqua Walls as Jason Noble
- Josh Brener as Herschel
- Curtiss Cook as Lionel Williams
Other Jaume Collet-Serra Movies:
- ‘House of Wax‘ (2005)
- ‘Goal II: Living the Dream‘ (2007)
- ‘Orphan‘ (2009)
- ‘Unknown‘ (2011)
- ‘Non-Stop‘ (2014)
- ‘Run All Night‘ (2015)
- ‘The Shallows‘ (2016)
- ‘The Commuter‘ (2018)
- ‘Jungle Cruise‘ (2021)
- ‘Black Adam‘ (2022)
