Monday Mystery Movie at Regal

Title: Fight or Flight
Director: James Madigan
Writers: Brooks McLaren, D.J. Cotrona
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Charithra Chandran, Marko Zaror, Katee Sackhoff, Julian Kostov, JuJu Chan Szeto
Genre: Action-Comedy
Released: 2025

Synopsis: From the producers of John Wick comes this “wildly entertaining” action-comedy. 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. (from fightorflight-film.com)

What worked for me. The martial arts choreography was excellent in this film, almost all of it done in the confines of an Airbus A380. (Granted, that’s a massive plane, so they had plenty of room to work with.) The action had a darkly comedic edge reminiscent of Jackie Chan’s style, where the hero takes hits and keeps going. By chance, I ended up sitting next to someone who also loves that kind of action, and we found ourselves laughing and cheering at all the same moments.

What didn’t work for me. The villain—The Ghost—felt as over-the-top as a post-1960s James Bond antagonist. Their ability to pull off the backstory crimes stretched believability, even by the generous standards of the film’s cinematic universe. And the heavy-handed social commentary was too much for this bleeding-heart liberal. Another thing that didn’t work for me—and I hate to say this—was the violence; one sequence of the violence specifically. The chainsaw madness was too much.

Final thoughts. I liked the movie. It was a romp—if you can call a film packed with excessive violence a romp. The pacing was tight, the energy high, and it never really let up. I can’t forget to mention that Portland’s very own Katee Sackhoff was a supporting actor in the film. It was good to see her on the big screen.