In an attempt to most obviously appeal to fans of Die Hard (and who isn’t?), director Jaume Collet-Serra has come up with something designed for them, especially for those who like Christmas movies that will freak you out.

Of course Die Hard was a hard-core action thriller set in a office tower in Century City at Christmas, but many are hard-pressed to call it a “Christmas movie” — even though it always turns up near the top of Yuletide favorites. Collet-Serra, in setting a thriller on Christmas Eve during the most crowded time imaginable for travelers, put his film Carry-On at LAX, one of the world’s busiest airports, and that becomes the perfect setting if you want a heart-racing action flick with a holiday chaser.

Of course a film like this is unquestionably derivative with elements of any number in the genre from Speed to Phone Booth, and other movies dependent on basic titles to give you a clue what may be in store – Carry-On being no different but a nice time-waster for a couple of hours anyway.

Collet-Serra, working with T.J. Fixman’s script, is basically following a familiar kind of formula from the many Liam Neeson suspense thrillers he has directed where Neeson, usually an ex-cop, is working against time in order to prevent human disaster. Think Neeson/Collet-Serra movies like The Commuter, Run All Night, Unknown, Unstoppable –– you get the idea. In this case the lead character has been aged down and here played by Taron Egerton as Ethan, who while having ambitions to become a cop is working as a TSA agent at LAX (doubled at film’s location by a dormant New Orleans airport).

On duty after switching shifts with a colleague at the last minute, Ethan becomes the target of a mysterious traveler (a cast-against-type Jason Bateman) who quietly drops off an earpiece that will allow him to communicate with Ethan. When Ethan puts it in his ear his traumatic night begins as the traveler instructs him to clear a carry-on suitcase or there will be hell to pay. That includes threats relayed to Ethan about his pregnant girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), who is an airport employee at another terminal. 

At first resisting, even thinking it’s a prank, Ethan soon discovers it is no prank — this guy means business. We get glimpses of the baseball cap-wearing traveler as a real cat-and-mouse game continues between the two. Soon it involves others on both sides — including the “watcher” (a menacing Theo Rossi), an associate of the traveler’s who carries out orders including some violent acts to prove they are serious, and the kidnapped husband of another innocent victim of this scheme — to do great harm to many on Christmas Eve. The husband is Eddie (Gil Perez-Abraham), who is set up to do whatever the traveler orders, including murder, or never see his partner again. Similarly, Ethan, increasingly terrorized by it all, must keep his superior, Phil Sarkowski (Dean Norris), at bay, along with other colleagues, in order to keep Nora safe at a major turning point in their relationship.

Also in the mix is police detective Elena Cole (Danielle Deadwyler), who is on patrol and soon becomes entwined in all this action as one case merges into another and the bigger picture of impending disaster brings her into action in order to stop this particular piece of luggage from ending up on a overbooked plane.

Collet-Serra, also a director of popcorn entertainments like Dwayne Johnson vehicles Black Adam and Jungle Cruise, certainly is in his comfort zone here but does manage to add human touches to the victims, particularly Eddie and Nora, both well played by Egerton and Carson. Deadwyler, who seems to be good in any genre, stands out as a determined detective hot on the trail, and Bateman in a rare sicko bad guy role handles both the voice-on-the-phone aspects and the creepy physicality once Traveler comes fully into focus. He is sinister as hell, but still an average-seeming guy – until he isn’t.

Production elements are first-rate, with special props to film editors Fred Raskin, Elliot Greenberg and Krisztian Majdik for keeping this all moving at high speed.  

Producer is Dylan Clark.

Title: Carry-On
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: December 13, 2024
Director: Juame Collet-Serra
Screenwriter:  T. J. Fixman
Cast: Taron Egerton, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Jason Bateman, Theo Rossi, Dean Norris, Logan Marshall-Green, Sinqua Walls, Gil Perez Abraham
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 1 hr 59 mins