The Josh Hartnett renaissance continues with the Fight or Flight, a quirky action-comedy flick with brutal fights, an engaging concept, and a lot of fun.
Fight or Flight
Directed By: James Madigan
Written By: Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Charithra Chandran, Katee Sackhoff
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Fight or Flight hits theaters this week, and while marketing on the action/comedy hasn’t been overwhelming, it’s definitely something that should be on your radar. The story is relatively straight forward as it takes place almost entirely aboard an airplane. In the world of international espionage and shadow/criminal organizations, one operative, known only as “the Ghost,” is wanted by just about everyone. With a bounty on their head by just about every crime syndicate (even whole governments) around the world, everyone wants to kill them…except one.
Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackhoff) wants to capture the Ghost alive for her and her organization’s benefit. When the mysterious person shows up in Bangkok and heading to the airport, she sees her chance, but will have to rely on an “old friend” to get the job done. Enter Lucas Reyes (Hartnett), a former secret service agent who’s been on the run, unable to return home, and hunted by bad guys for the past two years.
With an offer to get his life back if he manages to bring the Ghost in alive (despite no one knowing who they are/what they look like), Lucas boards the plane. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one tracking the Ghost. Somehow, the world’s worst people were alerted to the Ghost’s movements, resulting in a plane full of deadly assassins all vying for a piece of the bounty. As Lucas works to keep the Ghost alive among a plane full of killers, he finds himself a target as well, and must spend the next 16 hours in the air trying to stay alive.
There are some obvious comparisons one could make to Bullet Train, but aside from “vehicle filled with assassins killing each other,” they’re pretty different beasts overall. Namely, Fight or Flight is more straightforward in its plot, though there are a few fun twists/reveals along the way that I won’t ruin here.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you this is a great movie. In quite a few ways, it has a lot of B-movie aspects to it. Oddly enough, some of the more mundane scenes are the ones that felt like they came from a SyFy TV movie. Don’t let that deter you, however, because the film still brings the A-movie, big screen fun.
It’s a blast. A legitimate hoot, if ever there was one, and so much of it works thanks to Hartnett’s over-the-top performance. Lucas is a bit of an unhinged character. Despite his penchant for violence (and seeming joy in some of it), there’s a depth to him as well. Something more than a mindless killer looking to complete a job.
While we get some glimpses of his backstory and the reasons why he acts certain ways, most of that depth we sense/feel throughout the story is entirely on Hartnett’s portrayal. He does a fantastic job of playing an exasperated assassin. He doesn’t necessarily mind the killing, but seems annoyed when he has to do certain things. It’s a great approach to this kind of character that manages to make him seem all the more dangerous, without diving into the “retired, badass older man” tropes.
Lucas is also how a majority of the film’s humor comes about, and it’s very clear that Hartnett is having the time of his life playing around with this unhinged character. Everything from his interactions with the Ghost, to how he deals with having to kill people while still trying to keep things quiet, is handled incredibly well and with excellent comedic timing. That’s not to say the other characters don’t have humorous moments (one of my favorite gags is between the airplane pilots), as it’s a genuinely hilarious movie all around.
Even with the comedy aspect, however, Fight or Flight delivers on the action side of things as well. It’s intense and brutal, causing me to shout out, “holy shit!” a number of times, while maintaining a frenetic pacing that makes every fight scene feel engaging on its own.
Amongst all the humor and copious amount of fight scenes, the story manages to keep you invested as well. It’s very self-contained, but includes some hints at a larger world/story (much like how the first John Wick handled its world-building); allowing you to simply sit back and enjoy the film for what it is, but curious enough about the world to be ready for more.
The result is a movie that’s a ridiculous amount of fun. It may, ultimately, be more along the lines of a B-movie, but Fight or Flight is a damn great B-movie with some legit star power behind it. Sign me up for more of these, and please let Josh Hartnett continue to play weird dudes.
