On December 13, the high-octane thriller with elements of action «Carry-On» premiered on Netflix. In it, Taron Egerton will have to follow the lead of the legendary John McClane, as the action again takes place on the eve of Christmas, involving an airport and bad-guy terrorists. Just how exciting it is to watch such pre-Christmas adrenaline-fueled escapades — we tell you in the review below.
Pluses:
A fascinating story with enough tension to keep your attention throughout the entire runtime; good pacing; Jason Bateman made a great villain;
Minuses:
the absolute secondary nature of the idea as such; a sufficient number of plot conventions; perhaps some people will miss the action and the holiday atmosphere that was felt in «Die Hard»;
«Carry-On»
Genre thriller, action
Director Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Logan Marshall-Green, Sofia Carson, Daniel Deadwyler, Theo Rossi, Dean Norris, Sinqua Walls, Josh Brener, Curtiss Cook
Premiere Netflix
Release Year 2024
Website IMDb
Ethan Kopek, a regular guy, is gearing up to be a dad and dreams of a police career, but instead is stuck in a boring job at Los Angeles International Airport. Ethan’s life would have been fine if it weren’t for an ill-timed motivational speech by his beloved Nora, which prompts our hero to ask his boss for a promotion. Once approved, Kopek eagerly takes on the job of an X-ray scanner operator, replacing his friend and colleague at this position.
But at his new post, problems for the unlucky employee begin almost immediately. A mysterious woman hands him an earpiece, and a suspicious message on his phone compellingly urges him to use it. After that, a calm male voice informs Kopek that he must let one suitcase with unknown (but obviously dangerous) contents through. And to ensure he has no doubts, the voice promises to deal with Nora if he fails to comply. Now Kopek faces a tough choice: comply and save his pregnant love, or sacrifice her life for the safety of the passengers on one flight.
Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra is no stranger to planes, terrorists, and dubious messages on phones, having turned Liam Neeson into an air marshal a decade ago. And squeezing suspense out of narratives is nothing new for him — just recall the plot where a desperate Blake Lively faced off against a bloodthirsty shark.
Clearly, Collet-Serra approached «Carry-On» from a height of his considerable directorial experience, which is palpable. His film has plenty of gripping antagonism between the bad and good guys, and distilled tension that literally makes you stick to the screen.
Yes, the first seems damn derivative and shamelessly uses the «Die Hard» formula (especially the second film), which everyone and their dog will mention. The second is extracted, admittedly, thanks to dubious script decisions and absurdly improbable situations. However, exploiting old formulas is not a crime (think «Skyscraper» with Dwayne Johnson, where the creators pulled off roughly the same trick). Plus, if the story works genre-wise, and in the case of «Carry-On» it absolutely does, then narrative flaws are less painfully perceived and are simply easier to forgive.
Don’t forget, even in the iconic action classics with Bruce Willis there were plenty of fantastical implausible moments. But those films were so engrossing that plot conveniences were a breeze. Remember, for example, the scene in the second part where the beleaguered McClane was tossed a bag full of grenades in the cockpit. Yet, the inventiveness and spectacle of the ejection scene absolutely negated the fact that the explosion had to wait, it seems, 20 minutes while the brave cop figured out what to do and implemented his rescue plan.
Thus, the creators of «Carry-On» tread the same path, trying to trump on-screen silliness with constant, unending tension and inventiveness, and they really pull it off. Albeit not as neatly as in the «Die Hard» series.
However, the unbeatable McClane didn’t hesitate to ho-ho-ho, taunt Hans Gruber and his gang about the honestly won machine gun, greet nude beauties on posters, and beat up enemy faces at every opportunity. The local fighter against (non-)terrorists rarely resorts to violence, swaps the stained white tank top for a black T-shirt, and instead of nude beauties deals with a surprisingly cold-blooded gay man who kills efficiently and fights skillfully.
Here lies a fundamental difference between «Die Hard» and «Carry-On»: the latter leans significantly towards a suspense thriller and almost never steps into the territory of a Christmas action movie, where the hero relies not only on resolve and with but also on the power of his own uppercut. The exceptionally spectacular and nearly solitary local action scene has nothing to do with Taron Egerton’s character. Not to mention that in cursed Los Angeles in winter, you won’t see snow.
Overall, Collet-Serra’s film turns out to be entirely derivative and even at the trailer stage didn’t try to suggest otherwise. It has plenty of script foolishness and contrivances. The political component with that Russian «Novichok» looks dubious too. However, in the declared thriller genre, the film really works, offering the necessary degree of tension throughout its runtime. In our times, that’s a rarity, especially when it comes to Netflix.
After watching, one can only regret that the brutality of the 80s – 90s has left no trace here. So, no more world-saving hangovers, glossy Playboy beauties, or signature phrases like «yippee-kai-yay, motherf#cker» for us.
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