Fight or Flight 2025 Movie Review
I saw very little about this movie, but I knew it was going to be a wild ride when I read the one-line synopsis. Fight or Flight is as rampant as the adrenaline response, starting in a dull roar and quickly exploding into a frenzy that starts to rival an anime meets real-life action flick. Stuck on a plane, Hartnett’s character found himself on a plane loaded with a lot of skilled assassins going after his target. What could be the results of that? Surprisingly, a lot of really fun elements that make the movie a fun dive into the theater. It’s loaded with action scenes, a mashup of comedy and John Wick that is savage, unforgiving, and quite over-the-top.
Crazy cinematography unfolds to give the sequences more edge, as fists punch, knives slash, and any manner of state-of-the-art airplane tools are used to unleash the pain. The antics and the dialogue are comic, Hartnett himself a great deliverer of some of the stupidest, yet well-timed, lines that have that full momentum to make me laugh. It was clever in its balance of comedy and thrills, finding avenues to flood every minute of this movie with entertaining goodness, all at a pace that cut through the nearly ninety minutes with ease. Somehow, Madigan and his writing team integrated a story, one filled with some mystery, a dash of crime, and some character development to expand past the mindless punches.
Fight or Flight gives some okay background on several characters, giving us something more to invest in as they uncover just how this savage adventure began. And somehow the acting is good in this film, Hartnett being the one who had me entertained the most, while the others keep a fine performance of characters that don’t trudge too far into boring and soulless characters. What does all this craziness amount to? Surprisingly, a cheesy good time that is so aware of how out of the box it is, that it’s fun and creative.
However, the movie is extraordinarily stupid, and any seeking logic is going to have a tough time swallowing the material before them. Fight or Flight has a lot of odd conventionalities that change at too convenient of times, with faster revelations and appearances the closer you get to the end. As this gradual slope arises, the movie eventually gets to its (mostly) predictable end with a very quick wrap-up, and perhaps a ridiculous end that’s too corny and off-the-wall to be considered the best finale. On the way to this journey, the story tries to dive deeper, but never quite hits the mark with that incredible story you might want in your leads.
An off-sight component is inconsistent, elements that suggest something deeper, but then fizzle out into a predictable mess that didn’t quite hit me with that menacing or legitimate power. While I’m a bit desensitized to it, I’ll warn sensitive viewers that Fight or Flight takes the violence a bit too far. Several finishes are going to be difficult to watch as the human body is brutalized and pushed to the limits of breaking. The only thing helping buffer this savage tone is the comedic cartoon undertones and fake-looking graphics to help achieve such things. As for the language, there is not much else I can say other than it’s vulgar, it’s aggressive, and only the well-timed joke, jab, and silliness can assist.
The VERDICT: Fight or Flight is a film that is one of the more unique films of the year, in regards to how boldly it tries to go. It’s a fun movie that is an action/anime lover’s dream, as hyperbolic antics, well-delivered and timed dialogue, funny faces, and acting to pull it all together are executed in a manner that makes the world just a fun use of time. Like Bullet Train to some degree, Fight or Flight is a zany adventure that is loaded to the nines with all the theatrically worthy elements (audio and visuals) to pull you into the experience. However, its suspension of logic may go a tad too far, which, when combined with the violence, language, and savage nature of the movie, may pull you back from taking a go at this film. Throw in a story that is not bad, but not spectacular, and the film’s appeal further narrows and loses points.
