Carry-On | 2024
Jason Bateman as Traveler and Taron Egerton as Ethan Kopek in Carry-On. Cr. Netflix © 2024.
Although he's taken something of a detour into large-scale blockbuster filmmaking in recent years with films like Jungle Cruise and Black Adam, Jaume Collet-Serra is primarily known for his moderately budgeted Liam Neeson thrillers from the 2010s such as Non-Stop, The Commuter, and Unknown. In that regard, his latest film, Carry-On, is a return to form for the filmmaker, giving him a high-concept thriller with a crackerjack premise.
Replacing Neeson as the everyman hero, Taron Egerton stars as Ethan Kopek, a TSA agent whose life and career feel stalled. Spurred by the hopes of starting a family with his wife, Nora (Sofia Carson), Ethan decides to push for a promotion at work, only to find himself in the middle of a terrorist plot to smuggle unknown materials through his line and onto a flight. If he does not comply, his wife will be executed. With the lives of hundreds and potentially thousands hanging in the balance and his every move being watched, Ethan must track down the mysterious voice on the other side of the earbud to save both his family and countless travelers heading home for the holidays.
Carry-On is a simple, no-frills thriller that packs a lot of heat thanks to Egerton and Jason Bateman as the mysterious adversary in his ear. Their cat-and-mouse game keeps the suspense taut, and when it finally explodes into full-on action, Collet-Serra delivers some bruising, old-fashioned thrills. One scene in particular, featuring Danielle Deadwyler as an LAPD detective wrestling for control of a car careening down the highway, finds the filmmaker in top form, delivering a single-take showcase in which the camera moves around the action without any visible cuts, all set to Wham's "Last Christmas." It's the kind of flashy old-school action filmmaking we don't see much of anymore, and Bateman is great fun playing against type as the villainous defense contractor whose objective is really a nefarious plot to justify his own existence and boost his government contracts. It's a sort of wag-the-dog scenario that is a refreshing twist on this sort of terrorism plot.
This is a "dad movie" par excellence, a smashingly entertaining white-knuckle thriller that is leagues better than Netflix's typical throwaway filler content. One can't help but wonder how this would have played theatrically. While it's a worthwhile holiday watch on streaming, this thing would have played like gangbusters in a packed theater. It's a welcome throwback to a kind of movie I would never have thought I'd miss, but Collet-Serra confidently reminds us what a straightforward and well-cobbled-together thriller can really be.
