In every actor’s career, there are periods of stagnation: the price for fame and adoration is extraordinarily high, and worthy roles become fewer and fewer. Josh Hartnett started from the stratosphere: while still very young, he managed to star in films by Robert Rodriguez (“The Faculty”), Sofia Coppola (“The Virgin Suicides”), and Michael Bay (“Pearl Harbor”). In the 2000s, he almost became a superhero and seemed to understand something about life, gradually leaving Hollywood and focusing on fatherhood. In recent years, Hartnett has gradually returned to mainstream cinema, becoming a key player in the Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer” and a maniacal parent in last year’s “Trap.” Hartnett is the number one reason why the new action film “Flight Risk” exists and works successfully. This likable, bloody sketch allowed him to relax his mind, slightly sacrifice his body for dangerous stunts, look towards the currently popular action franchises, and realize that he is capable of much more.
Josh Hartnett as Lucas in a still from the movie “Flight Risk”
Hartnett’s character, Lucas, is a former special forces operative who spends his days in Bangkok in a regular alcoholic haze. Unexpectedly, his former boss (Katee Sackhoff) contacts him and gives him a task: to track down and neutralize a hacker nicknamed Ghost, who is on board a flight to San Francisco. Lucas doesn’t yet know that there are plenty of other killers among the passengers who want to settle scores with Ghost and get hefty sums for him. A deadly battle begins, where only a few will survive.
Josh Hartnett as Lucas in a still from the movie “Flight Risk”
James Madigan, a debutant, directed “Flight Risk,” and the film itself was commissioned by the British streaming service Sky Cinema. For these two reasons, much in the film may seem secondary: from the plot (it nods to the recent “Bullet Train” with Brad Pitt) to the design and modest budget. One of the screenwriters is DJ Cotrona, a man with a difficult fate in Hollywood: he was once supposed to play Superman in George Miller’s unmade “Justice League,” and later settled in “G.I. Joe,” episodic rom-coms, and both parts of “Shazam!” At some point, Cotrona decided to take matters into his own hands, and that’s how “Flight Risk” appeared, making it onto the prestigious Black List of screenplays in 2020. The story turned out to be simple, the dialogues schematic, but sophistication is not required here. All the attention goes to Hartnett, who has a great time on screen and, for the first time in years, is not afraid of comedic tones.
Josh Hartnett as Lucas in a still from the movie “Flight Risk”
The indestructible, dyed-blond Lucas, in a pink T-shirt and firmly seated Vans, will eliminate enemies one by one, drink toad venom and feel a surge of unprecedented energy, after which he will effectively use a chainsaw. Stewards and combat nuns will help the hero; the true face and motive of the Ghost will be commendable but somewhat apocalyptic. Madigan wins thanks to the frantic pace and the “Raid” cinematographer Matt Flannery, who knows a thing or two about fights. “Flight Risk” differs from the gloomy “John Wick” with its mass of syndicates and laws in its accessibility and unseriousness. Hartnett has all possible trumps in his hands: the film deliberately ends with an obvious cliffhanger, and the producers cautiously hope for a sequel. With such overwhelming charisma from the main star, a continuation would be more than justified.