Carry-On might be the best Die Hard or Mission: Impossible Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise never made. Set mostly in the vast terminal that is Los Angeles International Airport, it feels more suited for streaming than it does for the big screen. This is one of those movies that uses tension rather than wham-bam action, even though there is a scene I won’t spoil set in a car that works nicely.
Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) is a low-level Transportation Security Agency officer who has become cynical and bored after he failed the LAPD police academy for refusing to mention his father’s criminal history. His live-in girlfriend, Nora Parisi (Sofia Carson), is supportive and encourages him to re-apply. They are both working early on Christmas Eve getting to work before 7 a.m. Nora is a manager at the Northwind Terminal Operations.
However, Ethan still arrives late to the morning roll call where his supervisor, Phil Sarkowksi (Dean Norris), chides him for being late again and initially denies his quest for a promotion. However, after some talk, Sarkowski agrees to put him on the X-ray monitor at the baggage-scanning lane. Yet this throws a monkey wrench in the plan of two mercenary terrorists only identified as Traveler (Jason Bateman) and Watcher (Theo Rossi).
They had anticipated that Ethan’s colleague and immediate supervisor, Jason Noble (Sinqua Walls), to be on the monitoring machine. But they quickly get Ethan’s attention with an earbud to which he initially thinks is a prank from other colleagues. But as Traveler talks to him some more, it becomes apparent this isn’t a joke and that Nora’s life is in danger if he doesn’t comply full.
Traveler explains that a specific carry-on bag has to pass through and get on a outboard flight in a few hours. The bag contains Novichok, a very lethal and incurable nerve gas agent. At the same time, the LAPD under Det. Elena Cole (Danielle Deadwyler) is investigating a double-homicide which is from the movie’s opening sequence. She is able to connect the homicides to an aborted 911 call Ethan tries to make and contacts the Department of Homeland Security.
This leads to multiple people at the airport terminal being stopped, searched and questioned including Mateo Flores (Tonatiuh Elizarraz), who is the person Ethan noticed with the carry-on bag. But Mateo isn’t who we think he is. This is what makes Carry-On so good is that the twists come but they’re earned. In one of the busiest airport terminals in the country, if not the world, it’s hard to tell who’s who and what they’re doing.
Also, the movie makes good use of the fact that security cameras seem to be everywhere as Watcher has been able to tap into the network so they can see everything Ethan is doing. And someone like Ethan in his age range has a cell phone on his person at all time, so when no one can get in touch with him, there’s something off.
Bateman actually does a nice role as the bad guy. He’s always had a type of douchebaggery feel to him going back to his days on Silver Spoons. Hell, for all we know, this is what happens when Derek Taylor from that show goes up as he realizes that he being the wise-ass will only get you so far in life. Or he’s Matthew Burton from It’s Your Move who is realizing he can make more money as a cold-blooded mercenary rather than a small-time schemer.
As for Egerton, he seems to grown up a lot since the high-octane Kingsman movies that I always felt were overrated. There’s a scene in this movie where he has to run a lot that would probably make Tom Cruise jump and down on his couch for the way it’s handle. It’s probably not a coincidence that both protagonists in Carry-On and the M:I movies are named Ethan. The movie, while distributed by Netflix, was produced through DreamWorks and Amblin Partners, which are connected to Cruise’s friend and collaborator Steven Spielberg.
It also helps that Jaume Collet-Sera as the director has some experience in good action thrillers like Non-Stop and The Shallows where characters are limited to a certain location. And after dealing with Dwayne Johnson’s ego on Jungle Cruise and Black Adam, he was probably relieved to make this movie which had a budget which is less than Johnson’s take-home on his recent movies. Sometimes, less is better.
Or packing a movie lighter is always better.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 