REVIEW: CARRY-ON

3.5/5

Airplaneman

119 Mins. Starring: Taron Egerton, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Sinqua Walls, Logan Marshall-Green, Theo Rossi, Dean Norris & Jason Bateman. Screenplay: T.J Fixman. Director: Jaume Collet-Serra. On: Netflix.

"Trust you to watch this right before you fly home for Christmas", my dear mum said to me as I watched Netflix's new blockbuster with them on the streaming service via Skype yesterday. Remembering, I watched 'Sully: Miracle On The Hudson' a day before flying to New York...in IMAX! "This is the new Die Hard!" And she's as right, as it is always lovely to watch films with them from back home in the United Kingdom to here in Japan. 'Carry-On' has nothing to do with Sid James or Barbara Windsor. Although 'Carry On...Through Airport Security' has a nice alarm ring to it ("is there a wire in that bra, madam?!"). But it is a Christmas movie, just in time for your homecoming trip. Especially after Dwyane 'The Rock' Johnson and Chris 'The Captain' Evans' fun 'Red One' wasn't as 'Oppenheimer' outstanding as first thought. Game over! And game on for this great N blockbuster, for a change' that takes cues from everything from 'Phone Booth' and the Denzel and Travolta version of 'The Taking Of Pelham 123', and 'Eagle' or 'Red Eye' and 'Air Force One' before you get on this plane like Samuel's snakes.

Right now, over on Disney Plus, Elton John's 'Never Too Late', has made Christmas come early with one of the finest films of the fall. Meanwhile, the man who played him in 'Rocketman' (and voiced the audio version of Sir John's autobiography 'Me'), 'Kingsman' and 'Eddie The Eagle' actor Taron Egerton is manning his career again as a TS-motherf#####g A agent like Lil Rel Howery in 'Get Out'. In an 'Unstoppable' thriller for 'The Commuter' as a clusterf### of chaos and carnage ensue with calamity, the 'Tetris' actor must stack luggage like bricks if he wants to escape this one. With a homemade plastic gun to his head in this line of fire. Aiming for a promotion after cupid struck 'Robin Hood's' heart with fellow airport employee Sofia Carson (Netflix's 'Purple Hearts' and Disney's 'Descendants'), absolutely amazing, he looks to step up to the plate and front-lines of airport baggage. One run by 'Breaking Bad's'' Dean Norris (oh so good), who friend Sinqua Walls (ditto) of 'Friday Night Lights' and 'White Men Can't Jump' reboot fame is no stranger to.

Christmas in the Ozarks. I hear it's dark and cold this time of year. For all the Netflix stars on showcase here (we see you Watcher, 'Daredevil's' Theo Rossi, moonlighting for 'The Penguin' over on HBO), like 'The Piano Lesson' and 'The Harder They Fall' actress of the moment Danielle Deadwyler continuing to cop great roles. It's the 'Arrested Development' of Jason Bateman who really carries this complex set picture. A better airport heist than the one in the last 'Mission: Impossible', with a real dead reckoning. Breathing down Egerton's employee earpiece like it was his neck, for some of the best man-on-man action since 'Man On A Ledge', Colin Farrell's mystery caller, or the time Washington had a waltz with John Travolta like it was 'Saturday Night Fever'. Greasing the roller luggage wheels, Bateman has a bag and like the opposite of Gandalf, and a well-worn saying, this too, shall pass. A sweet subplot with Logan Marshall-Green also shows up in this T.J. Fixman fixed script. As dynamite director Jaume Collet-Serra ('Black Adam', 'The Shallows' and a run of Liam Neeson movies like, you guessed it, 'The Commuter') gives us an explosive, ludicrous epic you'll love just in time for Christmas. You can even carry it with you on the day itself. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Boarding: 'Die Hard', 'Phone Booth', 'The Taking Of Pelham 123 (2009)'.