Carry-On may be a Netflix thriller, but it’s perfect for cable

A great thriller makes or breaks by its complexity. similar movies all the president’s people or blow out Create intricate, nuanced and mysterious worlds that draw you into them, then leave you in the center of the maze to relax for the rest of the day. However, a solid B-movie thriller is all about simplicity. These movies are like take and telephone booth You won’t necessarily choose to play them, but if you find them on cable TV, don’t say no. What makes these movies so entertaining, and so worth watching over and over, is how effectively they squeeze every drop of mystery and tension out of their seemingly simple premises. and continueNetflix’s new holiday airport thriller is the most grounded B-movie thriller you’ll find.

The film tells the story of Ethan (Taron Egerton), a bored TSA agent who dreams of becoming a police officer. But as long as he works at LAX, he’s determined to think as little as possible about his job, much to the dismay of his newly pregnant girlfriend (Sofia Carson), who’s excited to see him get promoted or eventually join Los Angeles Police Department. Unfortunately, during one of Ethan’s Christmas Eve shifts at the X-ray machine, he receives a headset and a terrorist (Jason Bateman) tells him that if he doesn’t let a certain bag pass through the machine, his My girlfriend will die.

All of this setup takes less than 10 minutes to communicate, and now we begin the battle of wits between Ethan and a terrorist who beats him to the punch and keeps an eye on every security camera at LAX . Director Jaume Collet-Serra is a master of cable TV thrillers — his Blake Lively shark survival movie shoal He was an exceptionally good man – but it was in these earliest moments that he was at his best.

Where some movies have plots that unfold gradually and reveal themselves to the audience, Collet-Serra’s thriller feels like watching someone fold paper, where every detail of the plot is crucial, precise, and intricate. His protagonists start with simple, obvious actions: Ethan tries to call the police on his phone under the table and sends a text message using his Apple Watch, but is immediately blocked each time; now the folds must become more elaborate and complex . Suddenly, we’re plunged into secret messages, nerve agents, airport codes, and TSA shenanigans, with Collet-Serra guiding us flawlessly for each new reveal or twist in the story.

But for all of Collet-Serra’s talent in this particular subgenre, continueThe real strength lies in the performances of the two leads. Egerton and Bateman are on screen or talking to each other for nearly every moment of the two-hour film, but each delivery and airport chess match remains dynamic until their inevitable climactic showdown.

Egerton has proven himself as a leading man many times before, playing a spy in Matthew Vaughn’s “Kingsman” movies and playing piano as Elton in “Kingsman.” rocket manbut continue It’s the first time the 35-year-old actor has truly shown his age and proven he can play an older character with slower, less debonair movements. His performance here is calm and determined, which makes you wish he’d return to similar roles in all his seemingly boring services – maybe he and Collet-Serra could team up next for a notary thriller, because Ben Affleck has the accountant channel covered?

The real star here, though, is Jason Bateman, who plays evil in a way he’s never really been allowed to – yet Ozark Let him dip his toes into the villain pool every now and then. This is a straightforward, uncomplicated evil character that we’ve rarely seen in thrillers over the past decade or so: he’s just a guy who’s here to make money and kill a lot of people. But Bateman plays the character with panache, cleverly concealing just how much this guy enjoys his evil job, and how good he is at it. His terrorists are always one step ahead and perfectly content watching someone like Ethan play the game that Bateman’s character is already convinced he’s winning.

Considering the sheer strength of both leads, it’s no surprise that the only real tumultuous break there is. continueTension arises when the film breaks away from the central duel to introduce a police detective (Danielle Deadweiler) who finds herself accidentally thrust into the middle of the fight. As with many thrillers, the police character feels both like an unwelcome intrusion into the main events of the film and an integral part of holding together a plot that’s more interested in creating an interesting premise, rather than a meaningful mystery. But it’s hard to blame the film for a so-so ending, because the journey to get there and continueof.

In another era, this was the kind of movie you’d come home from the holidays to find that your parents had watched it six or seven times simply because it was on TNT and they stopped channel surfing every time they saw it. Who can blame them? continue Very interesting. It won’t blow you away, nor will it replace Die Hard as your dad’s favorite winky reply What is your favorite Christmas movie?but every time you turn it on, it will delight you and everyone else watching. It’s a shame you’ll never be able to catch it halfway through the cable.

continue Now streaming on Netflix.