Cast: Josh Hartnett, Charithra Chandran, Katee Sackhoff

Written By: Brooks McLaren

Directed By: James Madigan

Release Year: 2025

Audio Description Produced By: Fourth Rock

Written By:

Narrated By: Jeffrey Hillard

What Is it?: A little like the plot simplicity of Speed. Josh Hartnett is a disavowed agent who becomes the only option to catch a spy that no agency has been able to catch. He reluctantly takes the gig, only to find himself not the only one who got the message. suddenly, he’s on a plane full of contract killers, and one of them is his target.

What Works: the simplicity, and the commitment to stick to it. We are allowed to have pretty straight forward action films with solid stunts, and concepts to lure us in. it is unusual to see Hartnett here instead of Jason Statham, John cena, or another action star, but here he is. He’s actually a breath of fresh air, stepping outside his comfort zone.

The action scenes are fun and well choreographed, and the film never aims to be more than the sum of its parts. It isn’t begging for critical acclaim or awards, nor does it feel like the director feels his film is some prestigious action film that redefines the genre. he just made a simple film on a plane where everyone wants to kill each other.

What Doesn’t Work: Nothing doesn’t really work, except tht there are just better action films, with more funding, and accomplished directors. Just because this film punches and kicks well doesn’t make it die Hard. It is a B-level action film, but there’s nothing wrong with that. the biggest problem with the film are choices it can’t undo,like hiring an action director with a long roster, or a deeper roster of action stars, or even a bigger budget for crazier stunts. I’m not sure it needs any of that, because it also never overplays its hand to make it feel cheap. Hartnett isn’t expected to do much more than what he’s believably able to do (no roundhouse kicks), so he probably did most of his own stunts.

The Audio Description: and a new AD company arises from the ashes. I did not know they existed, but they wrote a solid track. the best part is when Hartnett takes a drug,thinking it is performance enhancing, and instead he’s just really high. We see things from his perspective, which looks like an anime, and in real life it is really bloody and violent.

Why You Might Like it: Your top genre is Action. You are perfectly fine with a contained action film, and don’t need the transformers to come along and blow things up.

Why You Might not Like it: You’ve been spoiled by the John Wick franchise, and some other strong action films with large budgets, so the idea of a frivolous punch and kick film with a non-action star doesn’t strike your fancy.

Final Thoughts: there’s no turbulence on this flight plan. An executive decision has been made to get in the drop zone, and punch your passenger 57 ticket for Fight Or Flight.

For Grade: 7.7/10