For many, there’s nothing more stressful than going to the airport. From your aggressively impatient fellow travelers, stress-inducing flight delays, and of course, the dreaded TSA security checkpoint. And while the holiday season for many is a time of joy and good tidings, the airport feels like the seventh circle of hell during this time of year; even with tinsel and colorful Christmas lights attempting to add some cheer. It’s also important to remember that before you consider arguing with a TSO — they don’t enjoy pulling you aside either.
While it may be tough for some to buy a handsome chap like Taron Egerton as a disgruntled TSO in the new Netflix action-thriller Carry-On, you can quickly go with it especially if you’re a fan of director Jaume Collet-Serra’s other like-minded mid-budget action and horror movies. In fact, compared to many of the forgettable action flicks that Netflix churns out, Carry-On feels like a step up.
What Is ‘Carry-On’ About?
Ever since he was rejected by the LAPD, Ethan Kopek (Egerton) has felt stuck in a rut. For the past three years, he’s worked as a TSO at LAX but has never once received a promotion. When his partner Nora (Sofia Carson) announces that she’s pregnant, Ethan doesn’t know how to feel. Nora also just so happens to work at LAX as a manager for one of the airlines and continues to encourage Ethan to reapply to the LAPD.
Ethan isn’t particularly thrilled when he and Nora are forced to work on Christmas Eve, which will inevitably be one of the busiest and most chaotic days of the year. With the help of his buddy and co-worker Jason (Sinqua Walls), Ethan is able to convince his boss Phil (Dean Norris), to let him operate the X-ray machines to prove his worth. The day starts as expected until one of the travelers finds a rogue earbud with her carry-on luggage. Ethan is ready to chuck the earbud into the lost and found until he receives several texts from an unknown number, instructing him to put it on.
Immediately, Ethan is greeted by the voice of a menacing man known only as Traveler (Jason Bateman), who was expecting to be threatening Jason, having already sent his goons to sneak into his family’s home. However, Traveler is one well-prepped criminal mastermind who is quick to pivot and seems to already know quite a bit about Ethan. He ultimately gives Ethan an ultimatum: let a dangerous piece of carry-on luggage go through security or everyone he loves will be killed.
Jason Bateman Makes for the Perfect Villain in ‘Carry-On’
It’s best not to think about real-world logic while watching Carry-On. This isn’t that kind of movie. Nor is it the next Die Hard, although the movie does share a lot of similarities to Die Hard 2, particularly its airport setting. If you’re familiar with Collet-Serra’s previous movies such as Non-Stop, The Commuter, and The Shallows, you’ll know exactly what you’re in for here. At its core, Carry-On is a wildly entertaining, mid-budget B-Movie featuring two talented stars in Bateman and Egerton, playing a mistletoe-coated game of cat-and-mouse. It’s pretty easy to let your sense of realism go with just how much fun you’ll have while watching.
Related
Casting Bateman as a villain is an inspired choice, and while watching Carry-On, you’ll begin to wonder why he hasn’t played roles like this more often. Bateman is able to employ his signature slyness and morph into a character that genuinely feels menacing. This isn’t a character like Marty Byrde where you still find yourself rooting for him despite his sketchy decisions — Traveler is a bad dude. He’s willing to get his job done no matter what it takes and doesn’t care much if anyone is killed. While in a lot of ways, Traveler is a fairly two-dimensional villain, Bateman elevates the role in a way that makes him feel far more memorable. Because, at the end of the day, how many action-movie villains sound like the wise-cracking fox from Zootopia?
Egerton once again proves that he makes for an immensely likable leading man, and still has plenty of charisma even when he’s doing an American accent. While Egerton has done action before, he can still give an everyman quality to Ethan. He’s not supposed to be Kingsman'sEggsy or Robin Hood. Instead, Ethan Kopek is just a regular guy stuck in a dire situation. We’ve seen Egerton take part in elaborate action scenes, but in Carry-On, Egerton dials it back to give us an everyman protagonist we can't help but root for.
What Makes ‘Carry-On’ One of the Better Netflix Action Movies
Image via Netflix Before the action even begins to unfold, Carry-On doesn’t feel too slow in its build-up. Because T.J. Fixman’s script allows us to care about the characters, Collet-Serra can direct some genuinely tense scenes. One of the movie’s most effective setpieces is a one-take fight set entirely in a car while “Last Christmas” by Wham plays on the stereo. You can try to argue that the CGI looks like it’s straight out of that lame Fast & Furious ride at Universal Studios, but the actual effort to make a scene like this stand out makes up for it.
Carry-On isn’t some full-on reinvention of the action genre, although it is a perfect example of how a filmmaker like Collet-Serra feels right at home with Netflix. After directing largely forgettable blockbusters such as Black Adam, Collet-Serra feels like he’s finally back in his wheelhouse. He has no shame in the movie’s cheesiness, which makes this feel far more genuine than other Netflix action movies like The Gray Man or The Mother.
Carry-On’s two-hour runtime does begin to wear out its welcome toward the conclusion. While I would be one of the first people to go for bat about how Danielle Deadwyler is one of the most criminally underrated actresses working in Hollywood, her role as LAPD Detective Elena Cole feels tacked on and ultimately pointless. Make no mistake, Deadwyler still gives a solid performance and is at the center of the movie’s stand-out car fight scene, but her subplot, which largely consists of her talking on the phone with Josh Brener’s Herschel, takes away from some of the movie’s momentum. Carry-On feels like the perfect 90-minute thriller, but the extra half-hour feels padded out with lame jokes about Soundcloud rappers and various subplots about some of the supporting characters that don’t amount to anything.
Yet, that’s the benefit of a movie like Carry-On premiering on Netflix. While we don’t see many mid-budget movies like this on the big screen anymore, there’s a reason why some of Collet-Serra’s past movies, such as Run All Night, have done well on the streamer in recent months. Carry-On is pure escapist fare that you can turn on while sitting next to your Christmas tree, and it has enough energy that you won’t feel the need to check your phone every 10 minutes.
Carry-On begins streaming on Netflix on December 13.
'Carry-On' is a wildly entertaining Christmas-set action-thriller with fun performances from Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman.
Pros
- Jason Bateman is an inspired choice to play a villain while Taron Egerton makes for the perfect every-man.
- The movie never takes itself too seriously and plays to director Jaume Collet-Serra's strengths.
- The "Last Christmas" fight scene was a great touch.
Cons
- There's about 30-minutes of subplots that could have been cut.
- While Danielle Deadwyler gives a solid performance, her character adds nothing.
Release Date December 13, 2024
Runtime 119 Minutes
Writers Michael Green , T.J. Fixman
English (US) ·