Carry-On (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Jaime Collet-Serra

Starring:  Taron Egerton, Sofia Carson, Jason Bateman, Danielle Deadwyler, Logan Mitchell-Green, Dean Norris

Carry-On is an action movie which takes place on Christmas Eve, just like Die Hard, although that's where the similarities end.  For a while, Carry-On carries on (no pun intended) in the Die Hard tradition of silly action sequences and chases.  However, the plot bogs down in logistical questions in which we wonder why the villain made this all so hard on himself.  I'm aware Carry-On isn't made to be dissected or fully logical, but the more complications arise, the more I wonder how a smart guy like Jason Bateman's Traveler could've allowed for his plan to spin so far out of control. 

The plot is simple.  Ethan (Egerton), a TSA agent coasting along in his current job without much interest or future, is working the screening machines at the mobbed LAX on Christmas Eve.  He soon finds an earpiece with a note to place it in his ear.  The anonymous baddie on the other end tells Ethan that at a certain point, he needs to let through a passenger with something deadly in his carry-on suitcase.  If Ethan doesn't comply, the Traveler (as he's listed in the credits) will have his girlfriend Nora (Carson), who also works at LAX, killed.  For a while, this generates suspense, especially with Bateman providing menacing sarcasm similar to Kiefer Sutherland in Phone Booth (2002).  

But after Ethan allows the carry-on suitcase through (containing a bomb of Russian nerve gas), Ethan then attempts to stop the bomb and the Traveler from detonating it.  Through some bizarre plot point, The Traveler explains to Ethan how to dismantle the bomb before it blows up the airport.  This is the first of many head scratchers the Traveler commits.  What he should have done was use Ethan to get the bomb smuggled through, then prick him with some poison that will simulate a fatal heart attack (like he did with another LAX guard), the bomb could get on the plane, and no one would be any the wiser.

An LAPD detective (Deadwyler) is also on the case and needs to track down Ethan and the Traveler while piecing together what is happening.  And yes, there are some Christmas songs sprinkled throughout the soundtrack, to keep us in a jolly mood.  The actors sell the material better than it deserves.  But then the proceedings grow needlessly complicated and confusing.  The Traveler is supposed to be an expert "facilitator" who is paid a handsome sum to make plots like this run smoothly.  I'd say he's overpaid, and someone else could do it more cheaply and a lot less suspiciously.