By Romey Norton - December 18, 2024
It looks like Netflix is trying to create its very own action-drama film to rival the classic fan favourite Die Hard. Around Christmas, audiences love to argue if the Bruce Willis hit is truly a Christmas film, and now they can add Carry-On to that list. Being set in LAX’s busy airport, on Christmas Eve, featuring festive tunes, Carry-On has made space for itself in audiences' holiday hearts.
Starring Taron Edgerton as the surviving, not thriving soon-to-be dad Ethan, who from the pressure of his pregnant girlfriend, goes for a promotion at work. Swapping positions with a colleague, Ethan’s now the target and pawn in a very dangerous game. As airport security (you know, the people who judge your luggage) he’s got to let a certain suitcase get through or Jason Bateman and his gang of clever accomplices will kill his girlfriend and set off a bomb in the airport.
While Carry-On is entertaining with a solid pace, it doesn’t offer anything we’ve not seen before. Like other classic action films, Carry-On is filled with tropes such as being set in one location, the airport, and there is the threat of a bomb that needs disarming or it will kill thousands of innocent people. There’s the quirky character who helps at the end, and the detective just one step behind the lead, trying to solve the case. Nevertheless, it is a tidy and easy film you can watch over and over again.
There are action sequences, car chases, and intensity. Jason Bateman brings the devilishly terrifying charm as the main bad guy; his character could have been introduced earlier, because once we see him, that threat is real. Bateman and Edgerton have great chemistry together on screen, bringing out the best in one another. They mirror the efforts of McClane and Gruber (Die Hard), which is exciting and intriguing. Their cat-and-mouse gameplay will keep you invested throughout. No one ends up shoeless and shirtless running around covered in blood - which is a shame.
I’d have made the girlfriend further ahead in her pregnancy, and given them a young child to make that threat for Edgerton's character visually stronger for the audience. Carry-On's script is moderate, and safe, with no yippee-ki-yay memorable one-liners here to quote regularly.
With a rather happy, slightly cheesy ending, the film doesn’t suggest it will get a sequel, as Ethan is seen going on holiday with his baby and new shiny cop badge going through security. But, you know Netflix, we might get one if we’re lucky.
If you’re looking for a fun action film this holiday season, make sure to check out the airport thriller Carry-On.
Carry-On is streaming now on Netflix
