I’ve talked about films set in one location before on my site. Trains, plains, cars, and rooms have all been the settings of these types of movies over the years. A film set in a small plane , Flight Risk, came out earlier this year. It wasn’t very good. Flight or Fight takes place on a jumbo double-decker luxury plane, and it’s incredible, to say the least.  The action that is seen in the trailer is a tip of the iceberg compared to what is actually in the film. I was blown away by how much action there is in this film.

Lukas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) is a down on his luck described ex-CIA operative. He’s drinking his sorrows away in Bangkok Thailand when he’s called on the phone by the last person he would ever want to hear from, his ex Katherine Brunt (Katie Sackoff) She !sks him to help her because she has nobody else. The job is to find someone named the ghost on a plane full of passengers and many of whom are trying to find and kill that individual themselves due to a hit played on them by an unknown person.

All the action takes place on this jumbo jet, and it’s some of the most original fight sequences I’ve ever seen. The blood is flowing like a waterfall from all the victims of the action. Every piece of furniture,  glassware, seat, window, and bathroom are used to kill, mame, or injure many of the men and women who are involved in the fight scenes. These are all Bounty hunters trying to collect on a big payday, so these people are all deadly ki)less with a set of skills that would put most people to shame. Except for the trained ex-CIA agent.  Hartnett isn’t someone I’d think of as an action star, but he fills the role perfectly in this movie.

I remember seeing Josh Hartnett in films like 30 Days of Night, Pearl Harbor,  The Faculty, and Black Hawk Down over twenty or so years ago. He took a self-imposed sabbatical for a while before coming back last year with Trap working alongside M Night Shyamalan.  Fight or Flight is his second movie back, and he’s not missed a step from my perspective.  He seems to know the kinds of roles he wants to take, and he jumps head first into them. He’s two for two as far as I’m concerned with his last two films. He seems like he’s having fun acting and obviously doing action scenes in this movie inarticulate. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him, but he seemed to make it look easy with the help of the fight choreographer. Matt Flannery. 

It’s easy to get lost in all of the action and fighting in this film, but there is a story at the forefront of this action extravaganza.  The story centers around the ghost character and her motivations for doing the things she’s doing. Charithra Chandran does an exceptional job as this character. She keeps her mystery close to the vest until she is forced to reveal it. When she does, it’s a worthwhile secret and reason for doing the things she did and why everybody is after her. I loved how her story and the overarching plot of the movie unfolded so neatly.

Alongside Hartnett and Chandran, there is a very good supporting cast led specifically by Katiee Sackoff from Battlestar Galactica and The Mandalorian fame. She plays a very sinister leader of a secret service esquire group. Her motivations are kept secret foremost in the film. The viewers only know about her relationship with the lead character. I like seeing Sackoff playing villains like this. They suit her. Even though she’s played heroes in the past. I can see her becoming more of an actress who devours these types of roles in the future. She also worked opposite  Julian Kostov, who was one of her subordinates, and he has a foul mouth and altier motive behind what he’s doing. The pair are pretty sinister overall.  Danny Adock and Hughie O’Donnell both play stuerdesses on the flight, and they’re there for one reason only, comedy relief. They served their purpose perfectly. I laughed constantly at the pair and their antics throughout the movie. It was a nice break from all the serious action.

Fight or Flight isn’t anything special, but it has a good message wrapped around all the crazy action sequences.  The fight scenes are out of this world, and the choreography was masterfully done by Flannery and his company. It was like a dance to see how  beautiful some of these scenes worked.  Hartnett and Chandran were both very good in the movie, but Hartnett seems to have found his love for acting once again with the last two roles he’s chosen. Obviously, he’s enjoying doing what he’s doing lately. Film fans like me are grateful for that because we enjoy seeing him on screen.  The villains were typical, and the comedy and banter helped make this a rather enjoyable filmgoing experience.  It’s nothing to go crazy about, but in a year that has been rather dull so far, this is a bright spot.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen