A frazzled TSA agent finds himself at the mercy of the world’s most dangerous terrorist on Christmas Eve, in an action-packed trailer that rises above its shlocky premise.
The trailer opens on a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) burning down a weed farm quickly and calmly, narrating his prowess to the audience.
Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) is an easygoing TSA agent threatened by the traveler to allow a mysterious bag on a Christmas Eve flight. If Ethan disobeys him, the life of one of his loved ones will be executed. Now, Ethan must make a deadly choice and race against the clock before countless lives are lost on Christmas Day.
A holiday action film often lends itself to over-the-top goofiness. After all, the garishness of a holiday setting makes it impossible to take anything seriously. However, journeyman action director Jaume Collet-Serra utilizes his signature propulsive action style to imbue this shlocky idea with a gritty sense of danger. He works the holiday theme into the plot seamlessly a la Die Hard rather than the kid-friendly interpretation others may have gone with.
Paired with a set of lead performances giving it their all, Carry-On aggregates its disparate tonal pieces to create a trailer surprisingly cohesive. Egerton, specifically, plays the kind-hearted protagonist perfectly, toeing the line between helpless underdog and capable hero perfectly without flanderizing his performance. If the film lives up to the hype, Netflix may have found itself an underrated action-thriller classic to throw on with the family.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Carry-On will be released worldwide on Netflix on December 13, 2024. The movie stars Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman in the lead roles.
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