Easy to enter but difficult to escape, an airplane is an exciting setting for an action movie. In the ghosts of cinema past, we’ve seen all kinds of thrilling events occur in this claustrophobic space; a hotel manager sits next to an assassin (Red Eye), a group of prisoners decide to break free mid-flight (Con Air), even an in-air snake infestation (Snakes on a Plane). But Jaume Collet-Serra’s Carry-On transports the action from the airplane to the airport. Here, the danger is in the very place you would think you are most safe: airport security.
★★★☆☆
TSA agent Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) finds himself finally progressing in his career when he is offered the responsibility of supervising hand luggage checks. With a pregnant girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), this promotion is a step towards the job security he needs. Unfortunately, on Ethan’s first day on the X-ray desk, there is also a plot to sneak a Novichok bomb through security. To raise the stakes even higher, it’s Christmas Eve. Worst work shift ever.
After a blue-haired passenger hands Ethan an earpiece she found in her belongings, the tension sets in. When Ethan puts the earpiece in, an anonymous voice instructs him to ensure a specific bag clears the machine or else Nora will suffer. “One bag for one life”: all Ethan needs to do is nothing.
Carry-On enlivens an ethical dilemma: would you endanger multiple strangers to save one person you care about? This is an interesting premise, however it’s weakened by its script. As Ethan converses with the mysterious voice, he talks aloud as if the earpiece is a phone. Yet, not a single person in the crowded airport questions why Ethan is talking to himself or if he is okay. Action movies are fun when you can suspend disbelief to a degree, and it is exhilarating to imagine the near impossible. But, when no passenger appears at all worried about the audibly agitated guard checking their bags, Carry-On’s most tense moments become laughable.
An accomplished actor like Egerton can communicate through body language alone but the audience are unnecessarily spoon-fed his every emotion through the script. If Ethan had been played more quietly, his moral conflict would’ve been much more isolating and sinister. Talking aloud may create catchy trailer soundbites but it becomes a bemusing choice in the full-length feature.
Carry-On’s implausibility only increases as the film progresses. When we discover the voice in Ethan’s ear is an assassin played by Jason Bateman, we see him talking openly about their plot to bomb a plane from an airport bar. Yet once more, not one person around him is worried or suspicious. Do they all just assume he is an actor rehearsing for a part?
Furthermore, as an agitated Ethan wrestles with indecision, he repeatedly leaves his station to throw up, look for the traveller, or go check on Nora, but receives no real reprimand from his higher-ups. It seems that in this movie’s universe, the TSA work schedule is very laissez-faire.
Between scenes of Ethan’s agonising choice, we see LAPD detective Elena Cole (Danielle Deadwyler) slowly connecting the dots between a prior murder and suspicious airport activity. Detective Cole provides one of the most enjoyable action sequences, where Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’, our reminder that this is a festive flick, is juxtaposed with a hefty dose of violence. However, while Deadwyler, like Egerton, provides an exciting performance, she is let down by lazy plotting where one detective somehow has independent jurisdiction over all terror threats.
Carry-On is a modern reincarnation of Die Hard as an action thriller that becomes festive solely because it is set at Christmastime. What makes Carry-On much weaker than its predecessor is its lack of interest in character. We learn lots about Ethan, his aspirations to join the police and his charismatic but also anxious nature, but we don’t ever know much about anyone else. Nora is defined by two things: she’s good at her job and she is pregnant.
Meanwhile, the villains are fashioned as cliches. Bateman’s anonymous traveller looks as if he has arrived at LAX straight from the set of The Matrix. His moustached accomplice, on the other hand, is styled like a children’s cartoon. Hired by an individual we barely hear about, these assassins’ extreme plan to execute an act of terrorism seems mercilessly cruel and without any justified motivation. They’re just bad guys for the sake of being bad guys; the film could’ve donated some space to strengthening their backstory.
The Verdict
The premise of Carry-On is certainly exciting and it may have worked successfully if the logistics were more carefully refined. In a recognisable real-world setting of an airport, you can’t be wholly unrealistic without weakening the intended thrill. Carry-On is a fun alternative Christmas movie however it is not the suspenseful masterpiece it could’ve been. This is a movie to watch curled up on your sofa rather than on the edge of your seat.
Words by Jennifer Cartwright
Carry-On is streaming on Netflix now
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