Fight or Flight is a 2025 action-comedy film directed by James Madigan (The Meg, Second Unit director) in his film debut as director and written by Brooks McLaren (How It Ends) and D. J. Cotrona (“From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” as producer, with many acting credits). The film stars Josh Hartnett who may recognize him from recent work in Trap (2024) and Oppenheimer (2023), but he also has credit for 27 episodes of performing in the “Penny Dreadful” TV series (2014 – 2016) and the Robert Rodriguez directed film, Sin City (2005).
I have been a fan of his work in the past and most certainly the last two film credits. No matter how others may perceive the film as imperfect or not good, I had a great time viewing it in the theater with all the action and Josh brought the comedic talent on to keep the audience engaged throughout. Yes, it can be a bit silly at times, but that is part of the comedy in some scenes, not only from the film’s star. I know for a fact that some of the scenes got the fellow audience members to laugh out loud. There may be shades of the film Snakes on a Plane (2006) or Bullet Train (2022) that may cause some audience members to recall how those on board tried to survive what and who was on board with them. If anyone remains on the fence about viewing this R rated film, take a chance to view it at a matinee price, or on the discount day at your local cinemas.
Most of the action takes place in the confined cabin of a passenger airliner, including women with great martial arts skills, all types and size of guns that were smuggled on by the mercs, ultimately leading for the protagonist to use whatever was most at hand on board to fight them off. But before we see any activity on board, we see the woman in the black suit and glasses, Katie (Katee Sackhoff) who has been after a “ghost” (a high-value asset) surface on her radar as boarding a plane from Bangkok. With no other available agents in the Bangkok area arriving on time, she resorts to call on a former mercenary who doesn’t want to hear from Katie, Lucas Reyes (Hartnett). It takes some negotiation and promises, some Lucas knows too well have been broken in the past. Once on board, he soon discovers the plane is full of others who want to receive a great pay day for finding the asset. You can’t imagine how happy I became when I saw Marko Zaror (Fist of the Condor, Machete Kills by Robert Rodriguez, John Wick 4) who stars as Cayenne (the name he uses on the plane after saying his full given name of Cayetano with multiple surnames in Spanish). I found it humorous as I understood his name in Spanish. If you know Marko’s talent, you know the action you are about to view.
Charithra Chandran (“Bridgerton” TV series, Eternals) is quite talented to carry on the role of Isha, the airline attendant who has a complete knowledge of the plane, as well as some of the passengers on the flight. Early on, Lucas sees her skills and identifies her as one who needs his help despite her rejecting anyone’s help. She is also a talent to keep watching.
Synopsis: A mercenary takes on the also job of tracking down a target on a plane but must protect her when they’re surrounded by people trying to kill both.
The film was released in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2025, and is opening in theaters in the United States on May 9.
Source: Vertical, US distributor
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