'Fight or Flight' review: A mile-high mess with no escape route

Courtesy of Vertical

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An easy pitch that could basically be described as “Bullet Train” in the sky, the Josh Hartnett-led “Flight or Flight” is the latest action knock-off to crash and burn while flying by the seat of its pants. Look, I love Hartnett and I’m fully on board for his career resurgence, but he’s completely out of his element in this messy, high-altitude misfire. He plays a former Secret Service agent tasked with locating someone known only as “The Ghost” aboard an international flight, only to discover that an entire army of trained assassins is also on board, all after a $10 million bounty to kill the same target.

It’s a cheap movie, made with even cheaper visual effects, a climactic brawl involving a chainsaw won’t be winning any awards anytime soon. Sloppily assembled with dreams of launching a franchise, it never takes off. To his credit, Hartnett gives it a shot, bringing some manic energy to a film that has almost none. He makes the boring parts slightly less excruciating, which, in a movie this uninspired and uneven, is the difference between checking your watch or hoping the theater projector suddenly breaks.

Hartnett plays Lucas, a disgraced CIA operative now drinking his way through the slums of Bangkok. He gets a call from his ex, Katherine (Katee Sackhoff), also a government agent, who offers him a shot at redemption. The specifics of what he did wrong don’t really matter, the movie doesn’t care, so long as it gets him on a plane bound for San Francisco to track down this elusive Ghost and bring them in alive.

No one knows who the Ghost actually is, which sets up a whodunit-style mystery as Lucas searches the cabin for clues. But the twist? Half the passengers are also assassins trying to kill both the Ghost and Lucas. From there, “Flight or Flight” spirals into a string of loosely connected action scenes, sprinkled with cheesy one-liners and populated by characters you couldn’t care less about.

There are no stakes. Why should we care if Lucas saves the Ghost? What’s the real story between him and Katherine? Who are these assassins, and why are they all conveniently booked on the same flight? None of it holds together. The action starts big and loud, which leaves it nowhere to go but down. Some character deaths are clearly played for laughs, while others are treated with sudden, jarring seriousness. The movie can’t pick a tone and sticks out like turbulence on a smooth ride.

Hartnett deserves better. He brings what he can, but even he can’t save a movie this disjointed and brain-numbing. If this was meant to be the start of a new franchise, someone should’ve pulled the emergency brake before takeoff. Ditch these travel plans. 

Grade: D-

FIGHT OR FLIGHT is now playing in theaters.