Carry On is exactly the movie you think it is, a disposable but highly entertaining single location real time flow thriller full of twists. It’s about a TSA agent working at the Los Angeles International Airport who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a terrorist plot. If all of this sounds a bit familiar, you’re probably thinking of Die Hard. Not the original one but the equally fun sequel aptly titled Die Hard 2. Despite the early nineties release date, they weren’t presumptuous enough to tack on a catchy zinger at the end. That will come in just a couple of years. I could comfortably end this review right here as that’s basically everything you should know about this movie.
However, there are a couple of more really interesting things I want to bring up. The first one is logic and I think you already know where this is going. To fully enjoy Carry On you simply have to suspend your belief and just go with the flow. Characters will make stupid decisions, plot twists will conveniently happen at just the right times, and so forth. After you watch the movie check out the Pitch Meeting for it. I’ve noticed that a lot of people thought they were going to be watching a masterpiece and expected nothing less. Why, I do not know. Everything here screams a good-looking, a bit dumb but fun action thriller.
I’m sure you’re familiar with this concept. What’s that old saying, life imitates art? I had a lot of fun with Carry On, that’s something I have to tell you. The atmosphere was intense but also oddly upbeat. The whole story happens over the course of just a couple of hours and during the Christmas rush adding a holiday vibe to the movie. I just don’t think it’s going to take over the eighties and nineties classics. And the constant back and forth between our TSA agent Ethan and the mysterious traveler was awesome. Taron Egerton of his Kingsman fame was great and he played the role of an average guy perfectly.
He’s not some badass killer or a genius but someone like you or me. And, when pushed to the limit, he’s capable of coming up with wonders. On the opposite side, we have none other than Jason Bateman playing the bad guy. That in itself is enough to make Carry On a fun movie as it provides us with a chance to see Bateman in an atypical role for him. And yet, his snarky and cynical comments suit him so well that I wonder why he didn’t play bad guys more in his career. This is, perhaps, why he was on board (no pun intended) as soon as he read the script. We also have Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) and Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy).
The director is Jaume Collet-Serra, a man who just loves making these visually sleek “one wild night” action thrillers. His “Liam Neeson kicks ass everywhere he goes” franchise is perhaps the most popular one consisting of Non-Stop (airplane), Run All Night (city), Unknown (city but in Europe), and The Commuter (train). All of his movies have a strong nineties vibe and this one does too. Carry On was filmed at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport terminal which was abandoned back in 2019 when the newly built terminal opened. Despite that, the old terminal is still fully functional offering high levels of authenticity with real planes taking off and landing in the background.
Since we will be spending almost all of the two-hour running time here, it was crucial to make everything feel as real as possible. Additionally, it was quite interesting to take a peek into the inner workings of an airport. I was especially fascinated with those fancy scanners and the security procedures. Finally, I just have to mention Phone Booth, a relatively similar movie to Carry On starring Colin Farrell.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: T.J. Fixman
Cast: Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Theo Rossi, Dean Norris
Fun Facts: The airline Trans Global Airlines does not exist in real life as it’s an homage to another airport-related movie, 1970 classic Airport.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21382296/
