Starring: Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Dean Norris
Directed by Jaume Collett-Sierra
Streaming on Netflix
Rated PG-13

First Impression: Despite an interesting premise, “Carry-On” is a moronic cartoonish mess that is an insult to many popcorn thrillers that have come before it. The movie is a stinker and a half that is laughable. The most interesting thing about it is wondering how an A-list actor like Jason Bateman got roped into this box office calamity.

When you think about it, action thrillers are the least respected genre in Hollywood. When it comes around to awards season, year after year the Academy of Motion Pictures largely ignores the category. And it’s not like they ignore the genre without good cause most of the time, because when it comes to action thrillers, the special effects (aka explosions and gunfire and scantily clad beautiful women) are mostly more important than the acting and the story. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any good action thrillers—action thrillers can be both audience pleasers and critically acclaimed. Take for example the “Mission Impossible” movies that largely define superstar Tom Cruise’s decades-long career. For the past 20 years without fail, a new “Mission Impossible” movie will arrive in theaters and blow audiences away with memorable action set pieces where Tom Cruise will perform death-defying stunts that leave you both impressed and eager for the next release.

So, now saying that there is a major downside to many action thrillers, about 80 to 90 percent of them are forgettable as soon as you leave the theater. Most of the better ones are regulated to basic cable or streamers: that is where I recommend you check out movies like “Source Code,” “Unstoppable,” “ Limitless,” “In Time,” and last but not least, “Red Eye” where our film “Carry-On” mostly takes its inspiration from.

In the film “Red Eye,” Rachel McAdams plays a hotel manager who is—you guessed it—taking the red eye flight to Miami where she meets a mysterious man on the flight, played menacingly by actor Cillian Murphy. He needs her to change rooms so his terrorist friends can assassinate a politician. Very simple yet very tense.

With “Carry-On” we get a story about a lowly TSA agent (Taron Egerton) who works at LAX with his wife who is at the wrong place at the wrong time, so the traveler (Jason Bateman) and his terrorist accomplices are forced to use Egerton to get a carry-on suitcase onto a plane in order to kill a politician whose views they disagree with. We also have another man who’s involved with the scheme, also being blackmailed by Bateman, all while we have a hapless FBI agent slowly putting the pieces together that, hey! maybe there is poisonous nerve gas that could kill everyone! The story gets so clunky by the end you just don’t care any more and none of the characters are particularly memorable or fun and I’m sorry I tried to give Jason Bateman a chance to be a villain but he’s been the good guy in way too many movies and tv shows, so this just seemed like a farce to me. This movie will go down as a big swing and a miss for Netflix and a stain on Jason Bateman’s impressive acting career.

Final Verdict 1 ½ out of 5 stars