Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman go toe-to-toe in Carry-On, a Netflix thriller that’s set in an airport on Christmas Eve, and plays like a modern-day combination of Die Hards 2 and 3.
Back in 1988, Die Hard changed action movies forever. By placing an average bloke in a single location and pitting him against an army of bad guys, it set a template for the genre that remains popular to this day.
The original played out in an office block, and was followed by multiple action classics, including Die Hard on a boat (Under Siege), on a plane (Passenger 57), on a bus (Speed), on another plane (Executive Decision), at an ice hockey rink (Sudden Death), and on yet another plane (Air Force One).
But the original spawned a sequel – Die Harder – that took place in an airport, and new action thriller Carry-On plays out in much the same way, pitting goodie against baddie in LAX, and telling a story that very possibly ends up on a plane. The result is wildly derivative, but also pretty entertaining until the paper-thin plot runs out of runway.
What is Carry-On about?
Following a brief prologue that introduces the villainous Traveler (Jason Bateman) via a black market deal and some festive bloody murder, the story starts proper on Christmas Eve.
We meet TSA Agent Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) at home, celebrating the pregnancy of his partner Nora (Sofia Carson), who just happens to work at the same Los Angeles airport.
Ethan hates Christmas, because it’s a holiday that makes people feel bad about themselves. And hates his job, because he really wants to be a police officer. But rejection from the academy has resulted in him coasting, and refusing to take risks for fear of failure. Making him perfect the perfect protagonist for the day ahead.
As Traveler has a job for Ethan: to make sure his associate’s bag clears the airport’s scanning machine in advance of a flight that afternoon. He explains the task via an earpiece that’s forced on Ethan. And claims that another associate will murder Nora if he fails.
So begins a game of cat-and-mouse as Ethan endeavors to figure out what’s inside the bag, and how he can prevent said contents from boarding the plane. Which takes up the bulk of the movie, and frequently plays like the game of ‘Simon Says’ in Die Hard With a Vengeance.
But while those tables are repeatedly turning, there’s also another story strand that focuses on Detective Elena Cole (Daniela Deadwyler) investigating the deadly dodgy deal at the start of the film, and figuring out how that connects to the strange goings-on at LAX.
Leaning into cliche, convention & coincidence
Ethan’s story is more interesting than Elena’s, because by being several steps behind the TSA agent, she’s also quite a bit behind the audience, making many of her scenes pretty pointless. Aside from a jaw-dropping freeway sequence that provides the movie’s most exciting moment.
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Ethan’s scenes are also more fun, as it’s a blast watching Egerton battling Bateman for control of the situation, with the former a likable lead, and the latter clearly enjoying playing a character operating without a conscience.
He’s aided and abetted by Theo Rossi as that stalwart of the sub-genre – the tech guy sitting in a van and watching screens while tapping away on his keyboard. Technology plays a major role in the narrative, turning Carry-On into a very modern Die Hard. Though Rossi’s character also happens to be the muscle, as well as a crack-shot, making him something of a multi-purpose henchman.
As is typical in these types of stories, the villainous plan spirals out of control as Ethan gets the upper hand. But that’s where Carry-On also starts to unravel, with the action too reliant on coincidence as characters are forced into very specific situations to keep the narrative moving forward.
While it feels like we’ve seen every story beat before, not only in the Die Hard movies, but also in classics like The Manchurian Candidates, which were all about control. Or a forgotten thriller like Johnny Depp vehicle Nick of Time, where the hero is manipulated by the villain in real-time. Or more recently M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, which also revolved around a man trying to evade authorities in a locked down building by thinking on his feet.
Those films all added something to the sub-genre, however, whereas Carry-On takes without giving anything back.
Is Carry-On good?
Meaning there’s little in Carry-On that’s fresh or original, but TJ Fixman’s script is as professional, ruthless, and efficient as the villain around which his story revolves. While Jason Bateman does him proud in that role, playing a character so dastardly that it feels like he’s missing a moustache to twirl.
Director Juame Collet-Sera is also one of the best genre helmers at work today, and keeps proceedings progressing at a solid clip, until the film runs our of steam in the home strait, and concludes in decidedly uninspiring fashion.
But until then it’s dumb fun, that doesn’t go as hard as the second Die Hard, or as with as much of a vengeance as the third, and definitely doesn’t need to be set at Christmas. But Carry-On provides enough excitement and thrills to entertain for a couple of hours this festive season.
Dexerto Review Score: 3/5 – Good
Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman enjoy an action-packed battle of wits that’s engaging until it carries on just a bit too long.
With the film now on Netflix, you can read our Carry-On ending explainer as well as details of the Carry-On soundtrack. Alternatively click here for the best movies heading to streaming this month. While for more information on how we score TV shows and films, check out our scoring guidelines here.
