Rating: R | Runtime: 97 minutes
Release Date: May 9th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: Vertical Entertainment
Director(s): James Madigan
Writer(s): Brooks McLaren & D.J. Cotrona

Kill box!

When Brunt (Katee Sackhoff) and Hunter (Julian Kostov) receive their first actionable intel on the elusive “Ghost” (courtesy of whipping boy Simmons, played with great comic timing by Willem van der Vegt), they realize none of their people are in the area. Agents were there, but “Ghost” killed them all. So, now Brunt must call the one person she swore she wouldn’t out of a mix of guilt for her role in exiling him and shock that he’s even still alive after two years being hunted. That man is Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) and she’s lucky he even answered his phone—even if only to deliver a stream of profanities before getting accosted by a gang of thugs completely unrelated to the task at-hand.

This is our introduction into the world of visual effects supervisor James Madigan’s directorial debut Fight or Flight. Screenwriters Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona will soon explain who that gang was, but not before allowing Brunt to extend her olive branch to Reyes with the promise of giving him his life back. All he must do is get on the plane “Ghost” is taking to San Francisco (if she’s able to remove him from the no-fly list in time), find out who “Ghost” is with nothing more to work off than a potential gunshot wound, and bring the criminal back alive. There’s just one more tiny wrinkle, though. Because of a brief leak of “Ghost’s” itinerary, that plane is now full of assassins looking for them too.

The result is a high-octane, joke-filled actioner that looks to capitalize on the appeal of films like The Raid (with cinematographer Matt Flannery in tow) and Bullet Train (where a poster mention of John Wick probably guarantees some connection there too). And since Reyes is all by himself save for three flight attendants outside their depth in Isha (Charithra Chandran), Royce (Danny Ashok), and Garrett (Hughie O’Donnell), you can guess how battered he’ll end up by the end. As long as the body count of baddies increases, though, his pain is an enjoyable means to an end. Because his only chance at survival is to keep downing mini alcohol bottles and taking a chance on a vial of adrenaline that may or may not turn out to be psychedelic toad venom.

It’s exactly what you expect with the main dramatic thrust being why Reyes was burned and how that answer might influence his decision to fulfill this mission. This is a man with morals, after all. If he discovers “Ghost” is actually the good guy (which, let’s face it, international terrorists these days are often just a head tilt away from being altruistic rebels), Reyes might realize that helping their mission is more important than getting his life back. He’s survived this long. What’s another couple decades before his liver gives out or an opponent (probably an assassin looking to kill him) finally gets lucky? Sure, it won’t necessarily add to the drama on the plane since he must keep “Ghost” alive either way, but it will give Brunt and Hunter fits on the ground.

The comedy helps us look past the often silly bent limbs and blood sprays, but the action is mostly played straight insofar as the choreography and brutality goes. Things get really fun when Reyes’s hallucinations play with his interpretation of the current scene and the sheer chaos throughout keeps us awake and invested either way. There’s an over-arching sentimentality that actually skews things closer to last year’s Kill than the more ultra-serious The Raid, but the lack of the need to fridge a love interest lets that emotion enhance the comedy via its often tongue-in-cheek delivery. We know Reyes is going to live long enough to give Brunt what she wants or to screw her over, so sit back and revel in the carnage.

Chandran and Sackhoff are good as the two actors with enough screen-time to not be relegated into bit parts like everyone else (Ashok, Marko Zaror, and many others make their mark, but they’re all mostly here to die or disappear once their utility is up). So, it’s up to Hartnett to carry Fight of Flight on his shoulders and the tone is right in his wheelhouse to ensure he does. Whether combatting sedatives, pushing through bad trips, or dealing with excruciating pain, he is game for anything. Sometimes its dislocating a person’s brain stem with a punch to the back of the neck. Sometimes it’s misjudging an attack and almost knocking himself out on a toilet. Either way, it’s always a good time.

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Charithra Chandran and Josh Hartnett in FIGHT OR FLIGHT; courtesy of Vertical.