You can’t swing a Christmas tree at the moment without crashing into one of the many dubious seasonal offerings festooned across the Netflix front page like so much cheap tinsel. Between sexy snowmen (Hot Frosty), Christmas strippers (The Merry Gentlemen), a ticket tout romance (Meet Me Next Christmas) and the latest evolution of the Lohanaissance (Our Little Secret), there’s enough shoddy yuletide fare to make even the holly jolliest of Christmas lovers want to garrotte an elf with some fairy lights.
However, amidst all the saccharine schmaltz and candy cane cliche, the streamer has also slipped a surprise treat into our stockings in the form of this unexpectedly watchable airport thriller. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who pioneered an entire sub-genre in which Liam Neeson murders people on assorted modes of public transport, Carry-On sets out its stall on a busy Christmas Eve at LAX. Bored TSA agent Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton), who only landed a job at the airport in order to chat up his now girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), has a baby on the way and few prospects to speak of. Galvanised by impending fatherhood, however, he decides to step up and make something of himself, cornering his boss (a delightfully crabby Dean Norris) to ask for a shot at the big leagues: manning the airport x-ray machines. As ill luck would have it, that very same day sees a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) arrive with a bag that he needs to clear security unmolested. Talking to Ethan via an earpiece, he explains in detail what will happen to Nora if anyone attempts to interrupt its passage.
If Carry-On borrows its setting from Die Harder, the radio banter and short-wave powerplay is pure McClane and Gruber.
What unravels is a tense game of cat and mouse in which Ethan endeavours to thwart the traveler’s plans while being shut down at every turn. Having guided Big Liam through all manner of planes, trains and automobiles, Collet-Serra has no difficulty navigating the film’s action sequences, which range from a frantic tussle on the baggage conveyor, to a memorably barmy car-based punch-up set to Wham!’s Last Christmas. But while Carry-On can’t help but evoke thoughts of Die Hard 2, this is less an all-out actioner than a taut surveillance thriller. Proceedings lean on brow-beading tension rather than showy stunts as the traveler utilises airport cameras to scrutinise Ethan’s every move. Mining the inherently stressful setting for all it’s worth (“Airports turn people into such dickheads,” one old lady observes), TJ Fixman’s serpentine script keeps us on the back foot throughout, the plot folding back upon itself repeatedly as the suspect suitcase slowly wends its way towards disaster.
Egerton deploys the same boyish charm that carried him through two Kingsman films to deliver a cocky yet affable performance that makes for a much lighter tone than the growling, frowning antics of Collet-Serra’s regular muse. The casting masterstroke here, though, is Bateman, who brings his usual blend of smug sardonics to bear, while playing against type just as effectively as he did in 2020’s The Outsider. Bateman lends a personable edge to the anonymous malefactor, leavening his in-ear directives and pointed threats with an assortment of gently ribbing insults, philosophy and occasional life coaching — live in the moment, chase your dreams, don’t touch my fucking luggage. If Carry-On borrows its setting from Die Harder, the radio banter and short-wave powerplay is pure McClane and Gruber.
With Ethan’s imperilled colleagues given solid emotional stakes by a smart first act that veers into workplace comedy (TS-Antics include a contraband bingo featuring gummies, bullets and dildos), it’s a shame the secondary plot can’t do the same for an underused Danielle Deadwyler. Lumbered with a somewhat thankless supporting role as LAPD detective Elena Cole (who has surprisingly broad authority over terrorist threats), she does little more than potter around the periphery, only rolling her sleeves to take charge in the final act.
But despite that minor quibble — and being saddled with a somewhat generic title conjuring images of Sid James chasing a busty stewardess around a jumbo jet — Carry-On is a thoroughly enjoyable festive treat and the undeniable star atop this year’s Netflix tree.