Die Harder

A good movie for a happy Christmas

Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) is a TSA worker at LAX who’s recently learned that his girlfriend Nora Parisi (Sofia Carson), who works as a manager at the same airport, is pregnant. Working the baggage-scanning area during a Christmas Eve shift, Ethan starts getting orders from a mysterious traveler, who tells him to let a piece of carry-on luggage go through or else they’ll kill Nora. This premise sounds familiar.

So, let’s get this out of the way immediately. The premise bears numerous similarities to the first two Die Hard (NSFW) movies. You have the Everyman hero, the cat and mouse game, the Christmas setting, the hostages, and the bottle episode nature of the setting. Carry-On is even set in LA, like the original Die Hard, but takes place in an airport, like Die Hard 2. 

Jason Bateman plays the Traveler in one of his more dramatic roles, and he’s excellent. He has a good voice for this kind of character. Of course, there are moments when Bateman’s history as a funnyman shines through. For example, when Ethan says, “Tell me there isn’t something horrible in that bag,” the Traveller just says, “No,” with perfect comedic timing.

As is usually the case with these kinds of movies, the Traveler likes to act polite. At one point, offering Ethan a stick of gum after he throws up twice due to stress. You can tell that any nicety is superficial, however, even without all the blackmail. After Ethan throws one too many wrenches in his plan, the Traveler further shows what a swell guy he is by physically attacking him. I never thought Bateman looked like someone who could kick your a*s, but there you go.

Yippee Ki Yay (Minor Spoilers)

The movie’s climax sees the Traveler ordering his henchman, the Watcher (Theo Rossi), to kill Nora. However, instead of using the sniper rifle he was threatening her with earlier, the Watcher decides to get up close and personal with a knife, leading to a chase scene. That’s when I felt my willing suspension of disbelief started to strain. The Watcher acted so smart and methodical, and then he just fumbled on the one-yard line.

Not that I want the villains to win. That’s bad storytelling, is all, and it’s easily fixable. The film could have added a scene where the Watcher complained about being the one who spent the whole movie stuck in a van, watching. Or have him needless torture his hostage (Adam Stephenson), showing he’s a sadist. Those moments would explain why he would pass up the smart thing for the more “fun” thing.

Despite that, I found Carry-On to be very enjoyable. It manages to be a worthy addition in a sea of Die Hard knockoffs. Carry-On moves at a nice pace, and the suspense is so good that I don’t think I even needed the more action-packed moments in the film’s second half. If you like Carry-On, I’d also recommend Red Eye. Its star doesn’t think highly of it, but I consider Red Eye one of Wes Craven’s movies.