With a century of each cinema and aviation below our belts, it’s onerous to imagine that it took humanity this lengthy to give you an airplane thriller known as “Combat or Flight.” However cinephiles all over the place can relaxation simple understanding that the arrival of the bottom hanging fruit since “Bullet Prepare” delivers huge portions of combating onboard a transferring passenger jet.
James Madigan’s function directorial debut exists in a self-contained bubble of authorities competence that’s oddly comforting proper now. An unnamed American intelligence company oversees the world with staggering precision, by no means permitting a nefarious actor to elude its imaginative and prescient for too lengthy. And whereas they’ve eyes on numerous dangerous guys, one title towers above the remainder: The Ghost. No person has ever managed to place a face on this nameless cyber burglar, however the wreckage left from their multitude of hacking jobs has made them a lot of enemies.
From crypto heists and identification theft to the distant destruction of whole factories, The Ghost demonstrates singular pc hacking abilities and a cruel greed that leaves no nation or organized crime syndicate unscathed. And the Darkish Internet simply received a tip that they’re getting on a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco.
The company’s ruthless director Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackhoff) realizes this may be her solely shot at catching her white whale, however her roster of instantly obtainable mercenaries in Bangkok is proscribed. She’s compelled to swallow her pleasure and name Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett), a disgraced former Secret Service agent who simply occurs to be her ex-boyfriend. Unable to depart Bangkok since Katherine positioned him on a no-fly record out of spite, the once-great agent has change into content material to slowly drink himself to demise amongst Thai locals who pity him. However Katherine offers him a last shot at redemption if he can board the flight (full with the legitimate passport she had made for him in 37 minutes) and guarantee The Ghost will get to San Francisco unhurt.
Lucas just isn’t precisely thrilled with the proposition. He’s spent years steeping in anger at Katherine over the life she stole from him, and he didn’t count on their first dialog because the breakup to contain her asking for a favor. However with nothing to lose and all the pieces to achieve, the anxious drunk makes his approach to the airport and prepares for the hardest flight of his life. It seems Katherine wasn’t the one individual tracing the Darkish Internet for The Ghost’s whereabouts, and the double-decker luxurious jet is stuffed with assassins world wide, keen to gather the $10 million bounty on their head. If Lucas desires a prayer of getting his previous life again, he’ll should kill each final one of them earlier than they land at SFO.
“Combat or Flight” milks its high-concept premise for all the pieces it’s value, giving us a compelling protagonist with all the pieces on the road after which hitting him with countless issues. Hartnett eagerly dives into the function of the erratic loser, donning the bougie pajamas given to first-class prospects as he fends off assailants utilizing each weapon and fight methodology below the solar. It’s a intelligent script — even when “Flight Threat” stays the most effective contained aerial thriller of 2025 — and co-writers Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona deserve credit score for crafting a setup that will get us to purchase into their ridiculous premise. Briefly, the movie‘s first two-thirds are a rowdy good time.
The movie’s largest power is its writing, but it surely hits some actual turbulence when the fight takes heart stage. The motion sequences devolve into pure camp, leaning into the truth of the movie’s low price range by relying too closely on tacky cinematography and unconvincing particular results. By the point a chainsaw inexplicably materializes, it’s clear that the movie has totally embraced its standing as a B-movie.
Perhaps that’s OK, as “Flight Threat” by no means strives to supply something greater than senseless escapism. If nothing else, it joins “Lure” in an increasing canon of mid-career Josh Hartnett motion pictures which can be memorable for his or her utter ridiculousness. And maybe all of us must be grateful that a movie that promised us combating or flight had the generosity to ship on each.
Grade: C+
A Vertical launch, “Combat or Flight” opens in theaters on Friday, Could 9.
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