Josh Hartnett in “Fight or Flight.”
Fight or Flight — Josh Hartnett’s high-flying airplane action thriller — is new in theaters. What do critics think about the film?
Rated R, Fight or Flight opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The official summary for the film reads, “Exiled American agent Lucas Reyes (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.”
Directed by James Madigan, Fight or Flight also stars Katee Sackhoff, Charithra Chandran and Julian Kostov.
As of Thursday, Fight or Flight has earned a 79% “fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 47 reviews.
The RT Critics Consensus for Fight or Flight reads, “Josh Hartnett’s go-for-broke performance gives Fight of Flight wings, sustaining this daffy action-comedy at an entertaining cruising altitude that refreshingly doesn’t wear out its welcome.”
The film’s Popcornmeter score on RT is still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Fight Or Flight’?
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast is among the top critics on RT who gives Fight or Flight a “fresh” rating, writing, “Amusing, energetic, and just clever enough to sustain its brief runtime, it serves up a boisterous and bruising brand of B-movie bedlam.”
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter also categorizes Fight or Flight as a B-movie, but still gives it a “fresh” review, writing on RT, “[Josh Hartnett’s] charisma and surprising flair for physical comedy elevate this B-movie into something approaching A-level status, even if it’s ultimately undercut by its low-budget limitations and awkward tonal shifts.”
The B-movie label was also on the mind of John Nugent of Empire Magazine, who pens in his review on RT, “A solid bit of high-concept B-movie fun, establishing Josh Hartnett as a credible action hero, and James Madigan as a genre director to watch.”
On the flip side, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gives Fight or Flight a “rotten” rating, writing on RT, writing, “The violence gets cranked up to 11 after about 30 minutes, before we have anything resembling a rooting interest, and the violence stays there for most of the remaining hour. None of it has impact.”
Also giving the film a “rotten” rating on RT is AV Club’s Chloe Walker, who notes, “Fight or Flight has Josh Hartnett and endless splattery fights on an enclosed mode of public transport, but that’s all it has.”
Justin Clark of Slant Magazine also splats Fight or Flight with a “rotten” rating on RT, writing, “Dramatic moments create tonal stutters that prevent the film from becoming the unhinged Looney Tune that it wants to be.”
Fight or Flight opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.