The new Netflix movie, Carry-On, has become an enormous success for the streaming service, and with the holidays here, it’s a good time to let Taron Egerton take on the burden of stress during the holidays. As TSA agent Ethan Kopek, Egerton is blackmailed into ignoring a suspicious package by the Traveler, Jason Bateman’s chilling villain. However, not every intense scene in Carry-On takes place inside LAX. Away from the lines of annoyed passengers and planes heading down the runways, there is a fight scene that raises the stakes as the thriller soars into bigger action scenes. The plot twists come flying in during the movie’s last half, but there is no bigger surprise than what happens during a scene that could be one of the best action sequences of 2024.
This Fight Scene in ‘'Carry-On' Is a Chaotic Thrill Ride
Image via Netflix
While Ethan faces a possibly high-fatality terrorist attack by complying with the Traveler’s demands, not everything is calmer outside the airport. Detective Elena Cole (Danielle Deadwyler) pieces together a criminal plot, leading Cole to partner with FBI agent John Alcott (Logan Marshall-Green) on the trail of a deadly nerve agent. Cole doesn't yet know that it’s the package Ethan needs to let go undetected. On the drive to follow a lead, Cole realizes Alcott is actually working for the Traveler. When she draws her gun on him, he speeds up, and they fight to get a hold of the weapon as their car swerves and causes the surrounding vehicles to crash, before their car flips, and they continue their struggle upside down. What makes the scene an over-the-top, thrilling set piece is how the fight is different from other similar action scenes.
The ‘Carry-On’ Car Fight Is a Worthy Successor to 'Atomic Blonde' and 'Deadpool & Wolverine'
Since Bullitt created one of the most famous car chases in movies, the action genre has tried to find inventive new ideas to give audiences something they haven’t seen when a foot hits the gas and damage is left on the roadway. Atomic Blonde did a car chase with more realism, placing a camera rig on top of the vehicle and filming on a real street for a one-take sequence where the audience feels like a passenger as spy Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) tries to keep a wounded man and herself alive from enemies driving in front of and behind them. Carry-On ups the ante on this with its one-take.
Lorraine isn’t fighting anyone, like the showdown between Cole and Alcott. That's where the Honda Odyssey fight in Deadpool & Wolverine comes in. The superheroes vent their frustrations the only way they know how. They brutally stab each other or break the other’s bones, yet they aren’t speeding down a highway. They are flung out the windows and return inside the Honda Odyssey to continue the bloodshed. Carry-On brings some competition here by keeping all the action inside to maximize the restriction between Elena and the fake FBI agent.
Music is important in bringing an extra charge of excitement. “I Ran (So Far Away)” is part of the spy movie's 1980s influence, as it plays when Lorraine shoots a gun with one hand and handles the steering wheel with the other. After Wolverine slams Deadpool’s head on the radio, “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease plays, a hilarious contrast as the superheroes stain the innocent song with blood. Just as well as maintaining the tone, is George Michael’s “Last Christmas," the perfect choice for the holiday-set Carry-On. It's a heartbreak song that is out of place playing underneath the wild action scene, and that's why it works. The fight comes without any warning in the movie, even though the effort it took to get it made was anything but random.
Netflix’s Christmas Thriller Is Fun and Bonkers
The camera rotates around Cole and Alcott with a clear view of the chaos they are leaving on the highway as they speed by. Trucks flip over. Traffic barrels are hit. Even though the visuals can look like a video game at times with a lack of realism, it fits with the bonkers tone of the scene. Stunt coordinator Dave Macomber used motion capture at his house to pre-plan it. In an interview, actress Danielle Deadwyler explained it took between two and three months to prep for it, and behind-the-scenes footage shows the choreography of the actors, seated in an elevated section of the car surrounded by a giant blue screen. The actors had to hit their cue, just like the impressive work done by the camera operator in getting the movements correct.
All the work made it a memorable action sequence that lives up to the previous explosive set pieces from director Jaume Collet-Serra and his collaborations with Liam Neeson, be it an out-of-control plane in Non-Stop or an out-of-control train in The Commuter. For a movie facing a threat at an airport, the car fight is the best part of Carry-On. Taron Egerton flexes his action-hero muscles, but Danielle Deadwyler steals the show as she battles a terrorist, and the wreckage of vehicles they crash into is seen outside the windshield. Hopefully, all those car owners have insurance.
Carry On is a film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, focusing on a young TSA agent who is coerced by a mysterious traveler into allowing a dangerous package onto a Christmas Eve flight. As events unfold, he must use his wits to resolve the perilous situation.
Release Date
December 13, 2024
CastTaron Egerton
, Jason Bateman
, Sofia Carson
, Danielle Deadwyler
, Tonatiuh
, Theo Rossi
, Logan Marshall-Green
, Dean Norris
, Sinqua Walls
, Curtiss Cook
, Joe Williamson
, Gil Perez-Abraham
, Josh Brener
, Benito Martinez
, Edwin Kho
, Reisha Reynolds
, Adam Stephenson
, Michael Scott
, Jeff Pope
, Raymond Rehage
Image via Netflix
Image via Netflix
English (US) ·