Fight or Flight…try to have some perspective
Movie night always hits a slump the week after a really good movie is released (I saw Thunderbolts in the theater twice). It’s almost axiomatic. I can’t remember the last time I saw a great movie and the next week I saw an even greater movie. With that in mind, this week, the Average Dude journeyed out to my local moviehaus to see Fight or Flight.
Just how many of those are there, anyway?
Fight or Flight stars Josh Hartnett as former CIA operative Lucas Reyes. Lucas is on the run, living in Bangkok because he had a bout of conscience while on an official assignment. In comes high-level CIA director and former girlfriend Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackhoff) to enlist his aid to bring in a ‘ghost’ operative. Unknown to Lucas and Katherine, other forces are at work to kill the ghost. And they are ALL booked on the same flight back to Los Angeles. It’s like Bullet Train for the friendly skies. Lots of close-quarter fights. Lots and lots of blood. If you go in expecting that, you will not be disappointed. I did and I wasn’t.
It could be a new drinking game
For those of you who see Josh Hartnett on screen and say ‘is that Josh Hartnett?’ you’re not alone. I played ‘spot the cameo’ during Oppenheimer and made that very same comment to Mrs Average Dude. Josh was in the M Knight Shyamalan clunker ‘Trap’ last year. I then checked my brainbone to remember the last decent movie I saw Josh Hartnett in, and Pearl Harbor is what came to mind. When I GTS, I remember that he had a part in Black Hawk Down the same year (2001). Looking further, I was surprised to see just how many movies he’s been in.
Spoiler alert. It’s 36
Other than the 5 movies mentioned so far, Josh Hartnett has been in a total of 36 movies. Thirty-two have come out since 2001. Clearly, Josh has been working and I had no idea. That’s startling to a dude who considers himself a movie knowledge source. Ego check, please!
But lets be fair here…the overwhelming majority of these movies have been B grade or less. I’ve at least heard of Lucky Number Slevin, Wrath of Man and Sin City. None of them were star rolls and none of them are annual watches. Honestly, not a single movie on his list is an annual watch. Which is kind of weird, given how much I actually like Josh Hartnett.
To his agent…your fired
Josh Hartnett is one of those actors that I find myself rooting for without even knowing it. Yes, Trap was a really bad movie but I still rooted for Josh. I expect we all have at least one of those actors that we like without having a solid reason. Maybe it’s that he has a quirky good looks. Maybe it’s because he has an empathy to him that seems genuine (like Keanu Reeves).
For whatever reason, I like him. And even in a very basic, nothing new here, filler between expected blockbuster weekends, I liked him. And I’m glad to see a career upturn for him. We can’t really call it a renaissance. Dude has been working steady for nearly 30 years (in a kind of Quik Trip regional manager kind of way). But in his last two movies, his name has been first on the marque and I’m here for it.
So, with a very little bit of fanfare and much good will, I am giving Fight or Flight a satisfying 3.5 out of 5 on the back of a journeyman actor with a best-bud appeal and a sh!te-ton of bloody action. Depending on the box office, there may even be a second helping of Fight or Flight. What they would call it, I have no idea. Having a second flight filled with colorful international assassins is probably a bridge too far. Besides, I think he killed them all already.
Check out all the Average Dude Movie Reviews and our super cool merch at www.barredlands.com
Follow us on X
Follow and Like us on Facebook
#barredlandsdotcom #AverageDudeMovieReviews #PCLoadletter64 #FightorFlight #JoshHartnett