Flight Risk
Ever since I saw the first trailer for Flight Risk, I’ve been a little conflicted. I like the idea of a really stripped down thriller with just three characters. I like the idea of the whole thing taking place inside a plane.
On the other hand, the trailer wasn’t very good and gave away too much. I’ve embedded the trailer below and I strongly urge you to avoid watching it if you have plans to see this movie. I despise trailers that give away such a huge amount of the plot.
The story takes place on a small plane as a U.S. Marshal, Madelyn Harris (Michelle Dockery of Downtown Abbey fame) escorts a government witness (Topher Grace of That 70’s Show who I genuinely didn’t recognize with the glasses) to testify at the trial of a mob boss. They discover along the way that—spoilers!—the pilot (played by Mark Wahlberg in his first real villain role since 1996’s Fear) is actually the assassin. Things go from bad to worse.
Then there is the fact that this is a film directed by Mel Gibson. Setting aside the various controversies that have plagued the actor and all the bizarre and sometimes racist things he’s said, I have a real appreciation for a lot of Gibson’s work. Braveheart came out years before Gibson became a Hollywood pariah and it remains to this day one of my favorite movies. He also directed the excellent thriller, Apocalypto, set during the peak—and near the fall—of the Mayan civilization. Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge was also great. He’s a talented director.
To direct a film like Flight Risk feels like a real step in the wrong direction, especially since (according to the vast bulk of reviews at this point) it’s not very good. To go from historical epics like Braveheart to this feels kind of sad. Sadder than Gibson’s acting career, even, which is far from his glory days of Lethal Weapon, Hamlet and Conspiracy Theory, or even his earlier work in films like A Year Of Living Dangerously or Gallipoli.
In any case, the film is—as of this writing—at 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. Certifiably rotten, in other words. Here’s a sampling of reviews:
Variety’s Todd Gilchrist calls the film a “crude, unimaginative, suspenseless adventure whose tension mostly derives from deciding which of its three main characters will prove the most unlikable by the time it ends.”
The Globe and Mail’s Barry Hertz writes, “A C-grade thriller that is further dumbed down to dunce-cap calibre, Flight Risk might have worked as an enjoyably grimy piece of genre trash had Gibson not made every single wrong directorial decision along the way.”
Others blame the script rather than Gibson’s direction. “To be fair, Jared Rosenberg’s witless screenplay has several stretches that no director could make exciting, or even minimally endurable,” The Wall Street Journal’s Zachary Barnes writes.
Alissa Wilkinson of The New York Times agrees, noting “Where “Flight Risk” fails as a film is not really Gibson’s fault. He knows how to shoot action sequences. The screenplay is instead all over the place, in a way that feels tired and halfhearted.”
Not all critics agree that it’s a total plane-wreck, however. The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck is one of the few to offer up a “Fresh” rating for the film. “You’ll be shaking your head at the sheer ludicrousness of it all,” he writes, “But it’s a pretty good bet that you haven’t once felt the desire to look at your phone.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Robbie Collin notes that the film’s plot is stupid but “it’s methodically, even artisanally stupid, built in accordance with the classic thriller rules. Every twist plays fair, no matter how outlandish.”
Emma Stefansky over at IGN is also upbeat about Flight Risk, writing “The character types are familiar and the story is simple, but there’s enough panache to keep it in the air right up until its explosive ending.”
It sounds pretty rough, and even the positive reviews note that there are a lot of problems with the humor, dialogue and voice-performances from characters off-screen, but I do genuinely hope that every airline includes this as an in-flight option going forward. And who knows? Maybe it’s fun, warts and all. It’s just a very peculiar choice for Mel Gibson.
And also, what on earth were they thinking with Mark Wahlberg’s hair? I don’t think this is how hairlines actually work.
Male pattern baldness takes a very disturbing turn.
Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg’s much-anticipated new movie ‘Flight Risk’ has officially crashed and burned on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, which was touted as a high-flying action-thriller, has been met with scathing reviews from critics and audiences alike.
Despite the star power of Gibson and Wahlberg, ‘Flight Risk’ failed to take off with viewers, earning a dismal 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have panned the film for its lackluster plot, wooden performances, and uninspired action sequences.
Many moviegoers have taken to social media to express their disappointment with ‘Flight Risk,’ with some calling it one of the worst films of the year. One Twitter user wrote, “I can’t believe I wasted my money on ‘Flight Risk.’ What a disaster of a movie.”
It seems that even the combined talents of Gibson and Wahlberg couldn’t save ‘Flight Risk’ from crashing and burning on Rotten Tomatoes. It looks like this film will be one that both actors will want to forget as quickly as possible.
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