Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
‘Fight or Flight’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.
Opening in theaters May 9th is ‘Fight or Flight,’ the new action comedy which sees Josh Hartnett playing a scruffy American agent roped into tracking down and keeping a high-value asset safe.
Directed by James Madigan, the movie also stars Charithra Chandran, Katee Sackhoff, Julian Kostov and Danny Ashok.
Related Article: Josh Hartnett Talks ‘Fight or Flight’ and Shooting the Action Sequences
Initial Thoughts
Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
An action movie with a line of dark, often bloody humor that puts an anti-hero with a crisis of confidence in an enclosed location where he must track something down with assassins all around him?
Based on that basic premise, you might suspect that we were talking about 2022’s ‘Bullet Train,’ which saw Brad Pitt in a similar position.
That move boasted the star power of Pitt, with director David Leitch, who has wrangled together the likes of ‘Atomic Blonde,’‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,’ and, of course, the first ‘John Wick.’
Here, in place of Pitt we have Josh Hartnett, and in the director’s chair is James Madigan, who came up as a second unit director and visual effects supervisor. He’s worked on the TV likes of Marvel’s ‘Runaways,’ but here makes a solid debut as the one calling the shots (and punches, and death-by-food tray) for a movie.
Script and Direction
(Right) Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
The screenplay, from ‘How it Ends’ writer Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona, who has mostly had acting jobs in movies such as ‘Shazam!’ on his resume, certainly sets out its intentions early, digging right into liberal swearing and a darkly comic tone while also rolling out some of the better-used tropes of action movies such as this.
It certainly does enough work to sketch out a world like this, and the smart choice to set the movie within the cramped environs of the plane amps up the tension, even as the jokes look to subvert that at every turn.
(L to R) Charithra Chandran and Josh Hartnett in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
Nothing here is likely to win awards, and it doesn’t have the polish of more mainstream action comedies, but it’s not really looking to model itself after those, preferring the wilder beats of something along the lines of 2006’s ‘Crank.’
As a filmmaker, Madigan clearly knows his way around a set-piece, and he brings the fight scenes to life with appropriate zeal, even if the look of the movie, lensed by Matt Flannery, tends to have a fairly basic sheen. And while Madigan throws a lot into the stunts, the actors themselves are usually left with more perfunctory material, the basic threads that string the clashes together.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Charithra Chandran and Josh Hartnett in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
Josh Hartnett is clearly in his “go crazy and have fun” era and between this and M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap,’ it’s certainly an entertaining one so far. Throwing vanity and caution to the wind as the bleached blond, frequently drunken and often in trouble burnout Lucas Reyes, he can also bring (and accept) the pain when called upon.
Reyes, a former Secret Service agent with a dark backstory (albeit one also with a big conscience), is an entertaining character for him to play, and Hartnett throws himself into the role with gusto.
Charithra Chandran as Isha in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
Charithra Chandran is absolutely on his level (and sometimes better) as flight attendant Isha, who discovers that her latest journey is going to be more eventful than a passenger demanding snacks. She’s got some winning chemistry with Hartnett –– never so dull as to be romantic –– and can also handle herself when the moment arises.
Likewise Danny Ashok, who is appealingly nervy as her fellow staff member Royce, called upon to deal with the dead bodies that start to stack up.
(L to R) Katee Sackhoff as Katherine Brunt and Marko Zaror as Chayenne in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
Katee Sackhoff doesn’t have enough to do as the mysterious and ice cold Katherine Brunt, but she certainly seems to be having fun in the part, delivering lines with the requisite level of calm demeanor and no-nonsense vitriol.
Around them, the likes of JuJu Chan Szeto and Hughie O’Donnell add flavor to the movie in relatively small roles.
Final Thoughts
Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
‘Fight or Flight’ seems destined to be compared to the work of Leitch and his old ‘Wick’ collaborator Chad Stahelski, not to mention the movies they’ve produced such as ‘Nobody’ and ‘Love Hurts,’ which saw unexpected action types thrown into challenging situations.
For all the weird tics he’s allowed, Hartnett is a more conventional hero and despite some more ridiculous action moments (one sequence near the end seems to be channeling the ‘Evil Dead’ movies, and stretches even this movie’s flexible believability to breaking point), he’s never going to compete with the likes of Keanu Reeves.
What’s the plot of ‘Fight or Flight’?
Exiled American agent Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) is given one last chance to redeem himself –– the assignment is to track down and identify a mysterious, international high-value asset known only as The Ghost on a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco.
Complicating matters, the plane is filled with assassins from around the world who are assigned to kill them both. The pair must work together in a fight for their lives. At 37,000 feet, the stakes have never been higher.
Who is in the cast of ‘Fight or Flight’?
Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes
Charithra Chandran as Isha
Julian Kostov as Aaron Hunter
Katee Sackhoff as Katherine Brunt
Marko Zaror as Chayenne
Rebecka Johnston as Rebecca
Danny Ashok as Royce
Hughie O’Donnell as Garrett
Irén Bordán as Mrs. Nazareth
JuJu Chan Szeto as Master Lian
Josh Hartnett as Lucas Reyes in ‘Fight or Flight’. Photo: Vertical.
List of Josh Hartnett Movies and TV Shows:
Buy Tickets: ‘Fight or Flight’ Movie ShowtimesBuy Josh Hartnett Movies on Amazon
Charlize Theron is wishing one actress took home a golden statuette for their work.
Theron recently stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote her upcoming movie, The Old Guard 2, when the pair spoke about her co-star, Uma Thurman, and Theron’s recollection of the actress before working with her.
“We knew each other kind of offhand, but I knew her from being a massive fan, just watching her work and always wanted to do something with her,” Theron said. “Because when I came into the action world, she was really, to me, like, the sensei. She was the OG.”
Jimmy Kimmel added, “I agree. She should have won the Academy Award for Kill Bill, right?”
[embedded content]
Theron responded, “A hundred percent. I think men get a lot of credit for these movies.”
“What she did in that film was just so unbelievable. And to me, she’s just such a badass,” the Mad Max: Fury Road actress continued. “Since I’ve been in action movies, I’m like, ‘Who do I want to like work with and do an action sequence with?’ It’s always been Uma Thurman. Always.”
Theron then explained why she was nervous to work with the Pulp Fiction star. “I was definitely intimidated by her especially when she showed up and she was given one sword and we had worked out this whole sequence and she went, ‘I think I want two swords,’” the actress said.
Theron won her best actress Oscar in 2004 for Monster and was nominated in 2006 for North Country and in 2020 for Bombshell. For Thurman’s part, she received a nom for Pulp Fiction in 1995, but lost to Jessica Lange.
Taylor Swift has been subpoenaed by Justin Baldoni’s lawyers in the sprawling legal battle over the filming of It Ends With Us.
Swift’s involvement in the dueling lawsuits relates to suggestions from Blake Lively that Baldoni altered a rooftop scene at the beginning of the film. Lively invited the director to her New York City home in 2023 to discuss the script changes.
Once there, Baldoni was surprised to see Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, and close friend, Swift, according to his lawsuit, which cites communications that include the name “Taylor.” The megastars praise Lively’s version of the scene, pressuring Baldoni to accept the revisions, he alleged.
In a text, Lively refers to Reynolds and Swift as her “dragons.” The message reads, “If you ever get around to watching Game of Thrones, you’ll appreciate that I’m Khaleesi, and like her, I happen to have a few dragons. For better or worse, but usually better. Because my dragons also protect those I fight for.”
Baldoni was supportive of the changes. “I really love what you did. It really does help a lot. Makes it so much more fun and interesting. (And I would have felt that way without Ryan and Taylor),” he wrote with a wink emoji. “You really are a talent across the board. Really excited and grateful to do this together.”
Tensions over the rewrite lead Baldoni to send Lively a six-minute-plus voice message at 2 a.m. to apologize for anything he did to upset her, according to the complaint. At the end of the recording, Baldoni says, “You probably have kids all over you and a baby on your boob, and you’re listening to me ramble at 2 in the morning.”
A spokesperson for Swift said the subpoena is a bid to “draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.” The rep, who noted that the only connection the singer has with the film is permitting the use of “My Tears Ricochet,” added “Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see It Ends With Us until weeks after its public release, and was traveling around the globe during 2023 and 2024 headlining the biggest tour in history.”
Lively and Baldoni didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
As the resident James Bond expert here at CinemaBlend, I’d like to think I’m pretty tuned into what’s going on with the adventures of 007. It’s part of why I can tell you that the 2025 movie schedule does not have plans to debut the long-awaited James Bond 26, while also feeling sad every time I do so. That’s a good time for someone like me to learn something new, and I’m really surprised that I somehow didn’t know (or forgot) about a No Time to Die scene that I didn’t know was all Daniel Craig.
Now, of course, we all know about Mr. Craig’s history with stunt-based injury from throughout his tenure in the tuxedo. But as you’ll see in the video shown below, Special Effects Supervisor and James Bond legend Chris Corbould lays out that those sick donuts the Aston Martin did in the pre-credits sequence didn’t require a stunt driver:
Daniel Craig’s James Bond swan song on behalf of CinemaBlend.
The event saw me speak with Mr. Corbould himself, which allowed us to discuss No Time to Die’s explosive Guinness World Record set by the picture’s bittersweet finale. That part of the trip came just before I was given a thrilling ride in a Range Rover, as a stunt driver recreated a sequence from the final Daniel Craig James Bond movie, and through some rather muddy conditions.
Now you’d think that a stunning driving stunt would have entered the conversation that day, with all of these variables present. Alas, it did not. However, learning this fun fact as we’re waiting to learn which actor will be licensed to kill next feels like another appetizer that teases what’s next.
It’s like thinking you’ve run out of Bollinger champagne, only to find out that you have a bottle chilled in the console of your car. Ok, so that’s more of a Goldeneye reference than anything else, but you get the analogy. (Also, even 007 knows not to drink and drive, so let’s stay smart here, ok?)
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Here’s hoping we’ll hear more promising news before the year is out, as Bond 26’s rumored release window will be here before we know it. Although I’d gladly buy drinks for whomever can release the first trailer for Daniel Craig’s new project, Wake Up Dead Man: a Knives Out Mystery; which is due to hit Netflix at some point in 2025.
Francis Ford Coppola is sharing his opinions on Donald Trump’s proposed movie tariffs.
During a Friday profile with GQ, The Godfather director addressed the “uncertainty” surrounding the tariffs the president announced Sunday. He said that implementing these tariffs would be “like slamming the door closed” on potential monetary gain for the United States.
“All it does is create uncertainty. People don’t understand that the economy in the previous administration? There was world inflation, there wasn’t [just] inflation in America,” Coppola said. “The entire world was going through a serious inflationary trend. But the country that did the best with it — and which other countries were jealous of — was the United States. So, the United States really banked a lot of money previous to this new administration, and there’s a lot of money in the country, and these tariffs are like slamming the door closed on what was a very prosperous situation.”
Coppola revealed that since Trump’s reelection, “people are selling out screenings of Megalopolis,” his film which compares the fall of the Roman Republic to the future of the U.S. He said that when the movie released in September 2024, “it was so prophetic or prescient to say America is like Rome — it’s going to maybe lose its republic,” adding that its recent surge resembles that of the 1979 war film Apocalypse Now.
“It’s just like what happened with Apocalypse Now. Apocalypse Now was a big flop, it got terrible reviews, everyone said it was the worst movie ever made. And yet people never stopped going to see it,” Coppola explained. “The same thing is now happening with Megalopolis.”
Ahead of the film’s release, Coppola elaborated on his inspiration to create “a Roman epic set in modern America as Rome” at the New York Film Festival. “Today, America is Rome, and they’re about to go through the same experience, for the same reasons that Rome lost its republic and ended up with an emperor. It was very prescient to do a movie about America as Rome because it’s going to happen in a few months,” he said.
“And it was the same reason; the Rome of that time was so prosperous, Rome is making lots of money so the senators were actually very interested in their power and their own wealth, and they weren’t managing the country,” he added. “Well the same thing has happened here. Our senates and our representatives are all wealthy and manipulating their own power rather than running the country and then we’re in danger of losing it.”
Notably, Megalopolis is not available to stream online, with the director deciding to take the film on tour in theaters instead. An insider previously told The Hollywood Reporter that Megalopolis wasn’t streaming because “[Coppola] wants it to play in theaters, the way it was intended,” which he reiterated in the Friday interview.
The five-time Oscar winner said that his 2024 drama, which he poured $120 million into, isn’t streaming “because the film is still being shown in theaters” combined with the note that he doesn’t “want anyone to own it.”
