‘Fight or Flight’ Review: A Maniacal Josh Hartnett Wielding a Weapon Saves Another One

I’m never going to ask where Josh Hartnett’s been because I’ve kept up to date with his television guest appearances and his varied roles in Guy Ritchie flicks. But I’ll still gladly paddle along with everyone on his “comeback” wave if it means more of whatever this all is. Hartnett, who’s been in dour features and slappy action, has now sprinted headfirst into a blood-pumping performance as a scrappy action hero. James Madigan’s directorial debut chucks the longstanding heartthrob into a metal tube of mishaps, donning blonde hair and whatever silly outfit is available to him through Bangkok and a luxury international flight. While sometimes overcomplicated, this is also a premise often duplicated, and Fight or Flight fits snugly in the sub-genre as another pretty good action movie not asking to be taken too seriously.

Hartnett is Lucas Reyes, a disavowed member of some such government organization who’s been hiding out in Thailand to avoid recourse for harming a diplomat in an act of a clash of ethics. But when the mysterious terrorist known as “The Ghost” pops up in his locale, a former handler desperate for boots on the ground will look to Reyes for help. A reluctant Reyes has only ever experienced pain when exposing his own whereabouts, but Brunt (Katee Sackhoff) promises she has the power to give him his life back if he obliges. With this level of duress, Reyes boards a flight from Bangkok to California knowing only that this mystery person is somewhere on the plane, might be injured, and has to be brought in alive. Once locked in the tin can in the sky, Reyes learns he’s not the only one looking for the mark, but he is the only one who wants the mark alive. As a bounty hunter, target, mercenary, victim, and de facto bodyguard, Reyes has to clunk around the plane saving himself and protecting the mysterious target. So. A lot of violent stuff happens.

Fight or Flight has a lot of information drips that continuously change the stakes of the game, which make for a fun adventure through the sky. It takes time to learn who Reyes is, his relationship to Brunt, who The Ghost could be, and how many people are on the same hunt. Each time, it changes what Reyes is up against while giving the audience a bit more to work with on plot. That said, while it certainly makes room for this movie’s runtime by altering the rules throughout, it burns through a lot of it with background on Brunt and company that is not only inconsequential, but a bore. I appreciate the movie’s attempts to maintain the momentum, but it could have kept it simpler. While letting the audience breathe between high-octane action scenes, the story is stretched from nothing and seems to live in a completely different movie with an even higher level of cheese.

But those on the plane certainly know what movie they’re in, especially Hartnett who can’t help but elevate the whole thing with his performance. Yeah, he’s solid with emotional stakes, but he also has a great sense of physical comedy and timing. It’s a joy to see the hulking Hartnett clunk around a metal tube in the sky, getting beaten up by waves of cartoonish adversaries. The movie takes any excuse to put the beefcake in silly predicaments, be it skulking in a tight pink tee or finding a spot for his gun in too-short silky pajamas, all complimented by his poorly bleached hair and maniacal smile. I enjoyed him towering over a stadium full of teen-girl concert goers and am just as primed to see him bend slightly through the lower decks of an airplane while getting his teeth rattled. At one point, I thought “this is like if Ethan Hunt had finally had enough and left the IMF,” and Reyes’ scrappy fight style and superhumanity paired with propensity for getting hurt certainly lines up with that idea.

Madigan has a background working as a second unit director on other sparkly action which tracks here. Most of the fight scenes are well shot, even if some have too many cuts. The longer shots are fluid and are reminiscent of the uncanniness in the action shots of Road House. The brightly lit and high saturation aesthetic might make you think it’ll look like Bullet Train or Kate, but it ends up looking like it’s from the mind of Matthew Vaughn.

Fight or Flight is a pretty trope-heavy and cliché driven kick-punch action movie that isn’t going to be known as something vastly different from all the others that take place on planes and trains, but that’s all this movie calls for it to be. It’s not entirely equipped to handle its own story beats about protecting the vulnerable and international terrorism versus activism, but it’d be stronger if it didn’t try to be. The story is a vessel for a flick that lets a heartthrob on a “comeback” tour show audiences what he’s made of. The result is the gift of a grinning hunk throwing around a collection of limbs, blunt objects, artillery, and anything with a sharp edge.

Fight or Flight hits theaters May 9, 2025