Netflix released an action film 'Carry-On' for Christmas in the spirit of 'Die Hard', where Taron Egerton saves his girlfriend, passengers, and the New Year.

Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) is a humble security officer at Los Angeles Airport. He genuinely loves his job, but loves his girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson) even more. Their relationship is quite cloudless, and Ethan drifts along the river of life, not complaining about problems and not thinking much about tomorrow. He enjoys chatting with colleagues and meeting Nora during lunch hours, who works at the same airport.

But one day, on Christmas Eve, she tells him she is pregnant. Ethan immediately realizes the responsibility of being a future father and asks his superiors to transfer him to a higher-paying position. That position becomes checking passenger luggage on the X-ray scanner. However, unknowingly, Ethan ruins the plans of a hitman (Jason Bateman), whose suitcase with a dangerous poison was supposed to pass inspection by another employee. The criminal takes the unsuspecting Nora hostage and begins blackmailing Ethan.

The director of 'Carry-On' is Spaniard Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed the lion's share of action films with Liam Neeson ('Unknown', 'Non-Stop', 'Air Marshal', 'Run All Night'). The director's filmography also includes a rather decent horror film about a lone girl and a shark ('The Shallows'), and in 2022, Collet-Serra tried his hand at superheroics, directing 'Black Adam' with Dwayne Johnson in the lead role. And, as has become common with many of his colleagues, it was quite unsuccessful. However, the lack of success in this field did not affect the director's desire to continue working. And now, two years after 'Black Adam', the Spanish director returns to where he feels most confident: the familiar form of a simple but solidly staged action film of the hit-run-shoot variety.

The plot and setting of 'Carry-On' strongly resemble the second 'Die Hard' with Bruce Willis: the same airport interiors, a hidden danger, a threat to a loved one, Christmas Eve, etc. But Collet-Serra is not Renny Harlin, and Egerton's character is certainly not John McClane, whose trademark squint is incomparable to Egerton's comically furrowed brows.

At the same time, 'Carry-On' seems to consciously avoid such parallels, despite the similarities, and veers away from the masculine action films of the past. For example, through the premature reflection of the main character. He rethinks his present and future not at the end of the action, but already in the midst of the fateful events. And, oddly enough, the villain-mercenary helps him with this, becoming, through a hidden earpiece, the inner voice of the future father, articulating those things that he preferred to forget or not know at all. At some point, this turns into a strange (given the seriousness of the situation) and inappropriately comedic buddy movie, like the last .

Nikita Margaev

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Dramaturgy in such a film is clearly not what you expect first. But Collet-Serra consciously stuffs it into the plot, despite the fact that the film's mechanism finds its way in the right direction on its own. Why such complications in a mediocre action film are hard to say. And the director doesn't wait for comments. He simply states a fact: the heroes of action films of the past and the heroes of action films today are polar opposites. If the director's favorite actor Liam Neeson were here, everything might have been different. He certainly wouldn't have needed the killer's tips on how to build a family life. Their conversation would have been very short.

But the director of 'Carry-On' easily compensates for all these awkwardnesses with an excellent knowledge of staging action scenes, not shying away from modern technology. The most spectacular of these is the fight in a car speeding down the road, filmed without visible cuts. A good craftsman is always in demand, and Collet-Serra is just that.

'Carry-On' is not an example of exemplary action. It has many outdated, unnecessary, and even unnatural things (especially closer to the finale). However, in the pre-New Year period, a film about yet another saving of Christmas and New Year looks quite palatable. Each of us believes in miracles. And the film unashamedly brings them to life on screen and, as best it can, entertains the viewer. And for that, we can say thank you.