Director: James Madigan
Writers: Brooks McLaren, D.J. Cotrona
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Charithra Chandran, Katee Sackhoff
Synopsis: A mercenary takes on the job of tracking down a target on a plane but must protect her when they’re surrounded by people trying to kill both of them.
One location action films always seem like a good idea at the time. Yes, they sometimes work. The Raid: Redemption and Dredd are perfect examples. But these are the exception, and not the rule. Most times, it seems to have been planned more for financial reasons, as opposed to artistic ones. The bad side of this is really that it is limiting. Some creators work well within these structures, but most find themselves hamstrung and throwing everything against the wall to see what will stick. First time feature film director, James Madigan, truly struggles with this, despite some minor bloody fun experienced on the trip.
Fight or Flight follows ex-Secret Service agent, Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett), who is tasked with tracking down a wanted person on a particular flight. If he is able to bring them back alive, he will get his life back. There is, of course, a catch. Everyone else on the flight has been tasked with killing this asset. Plus, the asset might actually be doing good for the world. He is given this “opportunity” by Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackhoff), an agent with whom he has history. So, after a screaming fit at Brunt, our intrepid hero (doused with a great deal of alcohol pre-flight) must not only find this mystery person, but also deal with contract killers in every row. You can almost hear the elevator pitch. “It’s like John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum mixed with Bullet Train. Everyone is after him, and they are all trapped in a metal tube hurtling through the air!” And honestly, that sounds a lot better than the results we are given.
However, the film does have one thing going for it, and that is its lead performances. Hartnett uses every bit of his considerable charm to drag the film to watchability. Even if this does feel like a movie he would do before his mini-renaissance, he is still a walking example of what charisma can do for a film. When he meets Isha (Charithra Chandran), a flight attendant, Fight or Flight certainly is the better for it. Their connection, and back-and-forth rapport is the saving grace of the movie, and the otherwise weak screenplay from Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona.
And thank goodness for that, because they are the only actual characters that exist in the world of Fight or Flight. The other attendants are pretty obvious stereotypes, but the real issue is the myriad of other killers. For a movie that is mildly concerned with the morality of its lead character, it does absolutely zero work to engage with those choices or the other characters. It almost feels like a cheap video game knockoff, in which Lucas must defeat them solely for plot reasons. It even falls short of the aforementioned Bullet Train (a thoroughly mediocre film, in its own right) because at least that film paid credence to its other characters, for better or worse. To say that this should have been “Bullet Plane” is shockingly an insult to the previous film.
That all being said, most of the action is actually quite fun. Sure, it makes no sense that no one would come knocking on the first class bathroom as Lucas is drugged, beaten, and eventually makes a comeback to brutally murder a singing contract killer (don’t ask), but the scene is visceral and well-filmed. There are numerous memorable moments of bloodshed, but most of it is played with a shrug as there is no time to rest before the next villain must be vanquished. To continue the video game analogy, Fight or Flight is a movie in need of a boss who never appears at the end of the level.
If you love Josh Hartnett, blood, and silly action, you will absolutely have a good enough time onboard Fight or Flight. But if your expectations are lifted to the level of even Bullet Train, you may end up disappointed. Honestly, avoiding spoilers, the film seems to be following the wrong lead character. There are interesting moments hidden in this simple script that could make for a better story than what we receive. We deserve more, and so do Hartnett and Chandran.
