Fight or Flight

There are a few reasons to cast a degree of doubt on Fight or Flight. It sports a cast of relatively unknown stars aside from Josh Harnett in the lead, it's directed by an individual with two former directing credits neither of which you will likely be familiar with, written by a duo, one of which has very little experience either and the other of whom is known best for the recent Shazam, G.I. Joe, and Spy Kids films, and also, and perhaps most importantly, Sky didn't seem to want you to know when it was supposed to premiere. For the longest time, all we were told was that this film would arrive on Sky Cinema in February, and a week into that month it was confirmed it would arrive right at its tail end. Needless to say, the usual comforting elements that give you faith in a film are lacking, and yet, it's actually a movie you should set aside 90 minutes to sit and watch.

Fight or Flight is essentially what you get if you set The Raid on a plane. The film is about a highly-trained individual played by Harnett who is tasked with boarding a plane and eliminating a global cyber criminal called The Ghost. However, the plot soon unravels and reveals that Hartnett's Lucas is trapped 38,000 feet in the air in a pressurised metal container with countless other killers and trained operatives, each of whom have been given similar tasks by other organisations. It's a silly and daft plot that comes across as something that would have absolutely thrived in the 80s and perhaps that's also the reason why it manages to entertain so effectively.

This film, at no point, tries to take itself too seriously. It's meant to be ridiculous and fun and filled with the signature dialogue and quips that iconic action flicks from the 80s so seamlessly delivered. Within the first 20 minutes, after the majority of an opening act that masquerades as something more serious, Katee Sackoff's character Katherine hits you with the "are you saying that plane is full of killers" line, and it's here that you realise everything that came before is not at all a reflection of what's to come.

The second act then proceeds to deliver increasingly crazy action, with Lucas battling all manner of killers, even including the triads. The action is well-choreographed and effortlessly entertaining, proving that the creators had a really refined vision with how they were going to utilise the limited space they had available. This isn't a John Wick where Keanu Reeves hops between New York, Tokyo, and Paris, the majority of Fight or Flight is set within one singular airplane, and yet despite this, each fight scene feels unique and fresh.

The impressive part of the plotline is also how it manages to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. It doesn't spoil what's to come, it simply leaves a bread crumb trail for you to follow in real-time. Who is Lucas really? What are Katherine's real motivations? Who is The Ghost and why do they cause terror on a global stage? The truth doesn't get spoiled until the third act when things really go off the rails, leading to an explosive and memorable finale.

Be it acid trips, plane crashes, and warrior monks, the final act never holds back. It's perhaps too wacky at times, but the nature of the film and its ability to never take itself too seriously actually allows this to work. There's good and unexpected comedy built-in and the cast work well together, delivering excellent chemistry, especially between Hartnett and Charithra Chandran's Isha.

Fight or Flight is gory and ruthless, funny and ridiculous, action-packed and thrilling, and it does all of this within a 90-minute runtime and with a clearly limited budget. It doesn't look cheap, but the points I listed at the start of this review are clear examples that no one was breaking the bank on this film, and yet it works and genuinely entertains. This has all the shades of what made 80s action flicks so beloved and timeless and while the plot is no Shakespearian marvel by any stretch, enough groundwork and character development has been done here that there is clear room and interest for a sequel to follow. I admittedly didn't have high expectations of this film, but Fight or Flight surprises and frankly, it's a more enjoyable watch then some of the action drivel that has been cranked out by the other production giants.