Fight or Flight

I always used to have some soft corner for Josh Hartnett and was sad that over the years he didn't get a proper script to showcase his skills. The last good movie of his that I watched was Lucky Number Slevin and may be you can count 30 Days of Night too and since then I was expecting something good but didn't get any. Thanks to Guy Ritchie for bringing him back in Wrath of Man which somehow brought him into the limelight and he got to work with good directors from there on (sort of like KEANU REEVES who by the way is one of my favourites).

Fight or Flight is simply John wick on a plane but added a bit of humour to it so that the audiences won't find it to be boring and repetitive and added to that the surprise ending by the director made it more interesting. I never knew Josh could perform such slick moves and I hope he had fun filming them. Just for Josh and his never before stunts you could give this a try.

I was really impressed with Josh's Peter Lorresque turn in last year's underrated Trap. However after a long lay-off to raise a family his choices have been kind of sketchy, and something about his essential midwestern idealism doesn't read as a jaded former operative called out of his drunken stupor in Thailand to find a spy on a transcontinental flight back to the states. There's kind of an interesting Agatha Christie quality to his queries of whom on the flight it could be between the usual "when are they adding stunt work as an Oscars category?" over-choreographed fight scenes, but the film of course feels cobbled together from familiar sources (the expletive-filled lazy dialogue in the agency with a strangely Jessica Chastainesque Katee Sackoff made one miss the subtleties of Black Book). The film offered intriguing questions ("Is there really a full shower offered in Malaysian Business Class?"), but it'd be neat if say the BBC did a series about the flight crew of one of these snazzy flights alone rather than having Liam, Brad or Josh beating up people around them; they seem like an interesting, fun bunch. Oh well, caught my favorite two minutes of Pugh and Harbour in Thunderbolts again and Gene Hackman marathon on TCM tonight. Good enough for me. Cheers!

Wow what to say about fight or flight? Well for starters it's absolutely bonkers! The action certainly never lets up a la crank. Unfortunately Josh hartnett is no Jason Statham but does a adequate job as the rogue FBI agent sent on one last job to redeem himself from the worldiness. Katie sackhoff play's his straight laced permanently scowling boss. The action mostly takes place aboard a aircraft en route to San Francisco full of assassins baying for hartnetts blood and one Very demure air hostess who isn't all she appears to be. The action set pieces are excellently choreographed especially the absolutely bonkers chainsaw sequence at the end I kid you not! But it's all in good fun and played out purely tongue in cheek! Leave your brain at the door, Go and enjoy!!

Fight or Flight is a perfect example of a fun movie. So, what makes a fun action flick? Let's explore.

First, you have to have good pacing. Things need to move, plot points need to happen frequently, slow parts/character moments need to be relatively short. This movie succeeds.

Second, the action needs to be on the crazy side, a bit over-the-top. No holding back, no cowardly PG-13 rating. Blood and gore are a plus. And a cherry on top would be if the action is filmed clearly, easy for the viewer to see. This movie succeeds.

Third, add some humor, preferably organic to the premise as opposed to inserting random jokes. If the tone of the movie is bloody, then use the bloodiness for humor. Make me laugh at the extent of the carnage. This movie succeeds.

Josh Hartnett does a great job in this role, especially with the humor. I had an awesome time with this movie and would watch it again.

(1 viewing, 5/5/2025)

First off this movie was way better than I ever anticipated. The wife and I just happened to stumble across it, and we're both in for the ride from the start. Josh Hartnett and Charithra Chandran were both great in this picture; especially the ruthless fight scenes.

Hats off to the "Runaway Bride of Bridgerton"; like seriously who knew she had action movie skills!

The movie was very humorous as well, with some similarities to comedic moments in Bullet Train; however, they didn't go out the way trying to explain characters throughout the movie which was a huge plus.

Can't wait to see what they do next!