action, Charithra Chandran, comedy, Fight or Flight, James Madigan, Josh Hartnett, JuJu Chan Szeto, Julian Kostov, Katee Sackhoff, Marko Zaror, movies, reviews
June 5, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by James Madigan
Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in Bangkok and on a plane going from Bangkok to San Francisco, the action film “Fight or Flight” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Asians and black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A disgraced former Secret Service agent, who is recruited to track down an elusive computer hacker on a plane, gets into unexpected entanglements along the way when he finds out that several assassins on the plane want to kill him.
Culture Audience: “Fight or Flight” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Josh Hartnett and intentionally goofy action movies.
“Fight or Flight” skillfully balances action and comedy and leans gleefully into absurdist tendencies. The movie doesn’t take itself seriously and has a protagonist with realistic flaws. It’s also refreshing to see an action movie based on an original screenplay where the main character could be just as unhinged as his opponents.
Directed by James Madigan, “Fight or Flight” was written by Brooks McLaren and D. J. Cotrona. Lucas Reyes (played by Josh Hartnett) is a disgraced former Secret Service agent, who spends his days getting drunk and gambling in Bangkok. He’s recruited by Katherine Brunt (played by Katee Sackhoff ), a no-nonsense leader of a secretive U.S. government agency, to track down and apprehend an elusive computer hacker terrorist named Ghost, who is believed to be going on a plane flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. (“Fight or Flight” was actually filmed in Hungary.)
Lucas gets this assignment because the person who originally had this mission becomes unavailable, and the government agency needs someone to board this plane. Katherine (who also happens to be an ex-lover of Lucas) keeps track of what’s going on in a control room with her trusted colleague Aaron Hunter (played by Julian Kostov), who gives advice on strategy.
Lucas reluctantly boards the plane without knowing what Ghost looks like except for being told that Ghost should be bleeding from a recent gunshot wound. Lucas soon finds out that many of the passengers on the plane are assassins who have been assigned to kill him and Ghost. What follows is a series of wild fight scenes before, during and after the plane takes off.
A flight attendant named Isha Mandhal (played by Charithra Chandran) becomes an unexpected ally to Lucas. Other memorable characters on the plane include a talkative assassin named Chayenne (played by Marko Zaror) and a martial arts expert named Master Lian (played by JuJu Chan Szeto), who is on the plane with some of her students.
“Fight or Flight” is boisterous, but to its detriment, it’s often repetitive in the basic concept joke of a plane full of assassins. However, the amusing parts of the movie make it watchable for viewers who can tolerate seeing over-the-top stunt fighting on screen. Hartnett performs his role with gusto and with charismatic comedic timing. And it should come as no surprise that the movie ends with the possibility of a sequel.
Vertical released “Fight or Flight” in U.S. cinemas on May 9, 2025. The movie was released in Germany on December 27, 2024. “Fight or Flight” will be released on digital and VOD on June 17, 2024.