It’s that time of year when action-thrillers come out to play. Where people with special skills get trapped in public places in diabolical hostage situations for the Holidays. Yes, it’s Captive Christmas Season. Don’t believe me? I can defend my position, your honor. First up there’s the one you’re thinking of, Die Hard, but there’s also Lethal Weapon 1, Iron Man 3, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Gremlins. We can throw Home Alone and The Nightmare Before Christmas in there if we want the family versions.
In that last mention, Ole Sandy Claws needed saving, but we could talk about when Santa went into John McClane mode in Violent Night. Another one not-to-miss is my new favorite, Black Doves. Although, I’ll take arguments. No one is held captive for very long and everything is all spy-crafty, and deep cover, and unaliving.
Nevertheless, there’s no arguement about the Captive Christmas Season, otherwise known as Hostage Eve, especially not after watching the new Netflix movie Carry-On with Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, and Danielle Deadwyler. This action-thriller is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who did Black Adam, Orphan, and the best indicator of what to expect here, the in-flight fever of Non-Stop—starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. (sidebar: It’s more than the hyphens in the title that connects them.) Carry-On is scripted by T.J. Fixman, a video game writer with a few intriguing upcoming projects: a Knight Rider movie adaptation, and a superhero vigilante actioner from director Rick Famuyiwa called Past Midnight.
Why did I say intriguing? Because Carry-On did the thing. The thing is, everyone is chasing Die Hard, which is as hard to accomplish as swimming the English channel while it’s fully frozen over. Still, the chase has produced some enjoyable results, and Carry-On is highly entertaining with lots of panic-filled intensity.
Egerton is Ethan, a TSA agent coasting through life, never trying very hard. Until his girlfriend, Nora (Sofia Carson), gifts him with a positive pregnancy test for Christmas. Babies will make you rethink things quickly; and this couple is so loving, supportive, and funny from the start that you believe they’d take it to a showdown to protect each other. That matters because Carry-On is a movie that hinges on motivations and motives. Ethan and Sofia’s lives ignite when his newfound aspirations hurl him into the path of a squad of business-class terrorists, led by Traveler (Bateman). Christmas at LAX was already a nightmare but it’s about to become the Fourth, Seventh, and Ninth Rings of Hell—that’s greed, violence, and treachery. But let’s plead the Fifth because everybody’s mad. What to do? With a clicking clock hanging over him, Ethan might think he’s alone, but Detective Elena Cole (Deadwyler) is slowly working her way inside. Maybe too slowly.
Carry-On starts as a thriller and revs up into action. That progression pulls you in because it’s driven by character development. We understand who each character is and what they want, no matter how much time they spend on screen. That’s something that’s been missing from recent action movies—where the set pieces popped but we didn’t care about the people—Carry-On doesn’t have that problem.
Wait, I don’t want you to think the set pieces don’t pop—break out the salt and coconut oil because they’re tasty. There’s a scene on the highway that’s half video game and half flight simulator. It’s frantic and kinetic, and jarringly fun because Collet-Serra and cinematographer Lyle Vincent turn our POV into the dashboard camera. Later there’s a sequence between Ethan and another man who’s as desperate as he is that’ll make you apologize to your luggage for what you’ve put it through. Throughout the 2-hour runtime, the director and cinematog duo spin the camera in angles that immerse in Ethan’s tension.
On the fun side, pay attention to the clues and you can play detective alongside Ethan and Det. Cole. I’m also predicting Taron Egerton and his full-tilt, off-kilter running will make the meme mill. There’s some winky humor in there too.
“All you have to do is nothing”
Taron Egerton is an action hero, we know that from KIngsmen, but he also understands the depths of conflicted and committed characters as seen in Rocketman or underrated films like Tetris. Ethan hurts the people he loves to save them, and we see how much it hurts but how willing he is to sacrifice their perception of him in the short term for the long-term good. A person with as much heart as Ethan needed an equally heartless villain to scuffle with. In comes Bateman’s shadowy Traveler in his black baseball cap with a cruel arrogance combined with a slick mouth (also known as a silver tongue). As these two revolve around each other their frenetic energy fuels Carry-On. That energy and the power of love—I’m not joking.
Along with his sharp observations and quick thinking, compassion is another one of Ethan’s special skills. Between his life partner Nora, his closest friend Jason (Sinqua Walls), and co-workers like Lionel (Curtiss Cook), everything he does is centered on saving someone precious, including the many people he’s never met who are at risk from Traveler’s threat. On that side of the opposition is Theo Rossi as Watcher, someone who never fails to bring nefarious bastardy to the table.
What I didn’t expect was Danielle Deadwyler, because I didn’t know she was in this. Otherwise, Danielle delivers like Santa in a Christmas classic. You can bet on it. Her astute and unshakable LAPD detective gives us a parallel hero to Egerton’s Ethan. Somebody we believe will work it out, clack the villains in the necks, and save the day—or die trying. That makes Carry-On an action thrill for the Hostage Holiday Season and a good watch on Hostage Eve (or tomorrow, tomorrow is also an option).
Like its heroes, Carry-On has the skill to keep you asking why, and it answers with propulsive twists. Since you’re watching at home, you can enjoy screaming at the screen all you want. I did. And I did it again.
Carry-On streams on Netflix on December 13 right on time for the Captive Christmas
and Hostage Holiday Season
