Carry-On

 The Carry On films have a long, storied trajectory here in the UK - a series of slightly racy, slapstick, pun-filled farces, each one themed around a loose concept: Carry on Camping, Carry on Matron, even a Carry on Screaming (a Hammer films spoof.)

 I guess after more than sixty years it was time for a change, but a gritty, American-based reboot that dispenses almost entirely with the jokes and double entendres seems a bit extreme.

 The good news is that despite being a terrible Carry On film, Carry-On is a pretty fun action thriller in the Phone Booth mold. Set almost entirely, like Die Hard 2, in an airport on Christmas day, it follows the adventures of TSA officer Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) in what turns out to be an unexpectedly fraught work day.

 Ethan's an easy going guy who gets a bit of an existential crisis at the news that his partner (Sofia Carson) is pregnant. Trying to jolt himself out of a long-standing rut*, he asks, and is allowed, to man one of the carry-on luggage scanning stations.

 The problem: there was a sophisticated terrorist operation that depended on coercing the guy whose post he just replaced to allow something to be smuggled through security. So the terrorists scrabble to find information on poor Ethan (they have one of those magical hackers who can dig anything up on anyone almost immediately, and has full access to all the airport's systems - one wonders why he can't just hack the scanning equipment and get it done with). Soon Ethan is forced to wear a wireless earbud and is in direct communication with the very charismatic terrorist mastermind (Jason Bateman) - to ensure his cooperation, his girlfriend (who works in the same airport) is being targeted by a sniper.

 Thus begins a game of one-upmanship between the scrappy Ethan and the seemingly omniscient terrorists. It gets more than a little silly at times, but the script (by T.J. Fixman, who was previously responsible for scripting the Ratchet & Clank games from the PS3 onwards) ratchets (pun not intended) the tension and moves at a rapid enough pace that has you all but skipping over the copious plot holes.
 As the film advances a detective (Danielle Deadwyler) gets involved in the investigation and things get even more ridiculous as multiple pairings of heroes and terrorists chase each other all over the facilities.

 At almost exactly two hours, the film overstays its welcome, and suspension of disbelief gets more than a little bit strained; The terrorists veer wildly between being impossibly competent and making stupid decisions, as required by the script (pro-tip: if you're an expert gunman and sniper, a van is probably the worst tool of assassination you've got at your disposal).

 People just won't call the cops on our criminals, but at least that results in an annoying comic relief character getting stabbed. And it's not like law enforcement is balked at - a single LAPD detective is able to quickly halt operations in an airport's busiest day with the slightest of proof, and at some point I just stopped counting how many times Ethan would have been shot - or at least detained - in real life by the police or airport security while running around all over the place like a deranged lunatic.

 None of this really matters all that much. Director Jaume Collet-Serra's a pro at this sort of thing by now, having made the similar Liam Neeson vehicles Non-Stop, Unknown and The Commuter. This one's a bit lighter in tone, but his direction remains quietly assured, expertly conveying Ethan's process as he tries to figure out where his opponent is calling from, or going loud in a stunning shootout during a massive highway pile-up.

 This is the sort of movie people (wrongly) insist doesn't get made any more**: a slick, propulsive, cleverly constructed thriller that takes its time to get to the explosion at the fireworks factory. Well acted, shot and scripted, to boot. It's not a classic - it drags a little too much, its plot twists are a little too baroque and implausible. But for a one-time holiday viewing, it's pretty great.

 A warning about the film's politics: the film is clearly in the pocket of Big Airport, what with its depiction of empathetic, dedicated employees, or of the airport itself as anything but an obstacle course where joy and hopes go to die. Please do better, Netflix/Dreamworks. 

Full points for featuring a Toy Story 2-inspired action scene, though.

*: See, if this was a proper Carry On film, I'd be saying something like 'Ooh, matron!' at about this time.

**: For proof, read the first line of the previous paragraph again.

Game Night

  Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) are a loving couple who met over and share a love for competitive boardgames - quizzes, Jenga, charades, Risk, Pictionary... you know, shitty, entry-level boardgames. I'm not going to bring up Eurogames because they're obviously after party games with more direct competition, but they've spent years running a weekly game night and haven't even gotten to stuff like Apples to Apples or Quiplash.

 Amateurs.

 Ahem. So. Max and Annie have a pretty stable group of friends they have over to play stuff (Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury and Billy Magnussen, plus some random plus ones), all the while trying to avoid having to invite their creepy policeman neighbour (Jesse Plemons), whose hilariously awkward attempts at being social and the ways they're shot are one of the highlights of the movie.

MVP

 Their routine is thrown into disarray when Max's overachieving brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes into town. their relationship is... well, pretty unhealthy, what with Brooks casting shade on Max every chance he gets. So after some pretty entertaining, low-key games of one-upmanship, Brooks invites everyone over to their house for their next game night and promises a special surprise.

 The surprise being that he's hired one of those augmented reality outfits to put together a mystery game for everyone to solve. The prize to whoever solves it first: his Corvette Stingray. Soon after that announcement a couple of thugs break in, beat up Brooks, and kidnap him.
 The other players (which now include a very funny Sharon Horgan as Billy Magnussen's current plus one) of course assume this is all part of the game, and set out to win in several different ways. Max and Annie cheat by tracking Brooks' phone, Ryan and Sarah decide to find the outfit that put the game together and bribe their way to victory, and Kevin and Michelle play properly while bickering about a newly revealed marital indiscretion.

 What follows is a ridiculous mix of chases, reveals, twists, more reveals, more twists, all accompanied by some pretty great jokes as the crew butts heads with actual, dangerous criminals played by Danny Houston and Michael C. Hall. 

 Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein direct with a lot of energy, crack comedic timing and a lot of visual flair and inventive shots (a rare thing in modern comedy; at a guess, it was a big factor in netting them the chance to direct the D&D movie). The script, by Mark Perez (reportedly with some extensive rewrites from the directors) has exactly the right mix of running gags, cutesy character moments and clever/silly conceits*, providing an excellent opportunity to watch a bunch of ridiculously attractive people (plus Jesse Plemons) put themselves into (and sometimes dig themselves out of) a bunch of goofy situations.
 All tied up with a very cool synthwave soundtrack courtesy of Cliff Martinez.

 At the risk of using a horrible adjective, it's fucking delightful.

 I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel where the game night crew play Talk to Me. Or a crossover where the Dungeon & Dragons sequel pulls back and shows that the game night crew are playing that movie's characters.

*: Such as the big action scene essentially being a game of keep away.

Air

 There's one thing I look for in shoes - wearing one has to be better than not wearing any at all. I do not give a flying fuck about Air Jordans, and just about the only thing I know about Nike (other than their inhumane treatment of workers) is that it provided scion Travis Knight with the funds and leisure time to make his crazy dream of making a stop-motion animation studio possible.
 I know next to nothing about sports, let alone basketball, and have a hefty distaste for corporations and advertising. It was financed by Amazon. Why the hell should I watch this movie?

 Well.. I like Ben Affleck's movies. The guy's an amazing director, even when he's leaning populist as with Argo. And as it turns out, Air is a really good populist movie. Much better than Argo. Very engaging even if you're not interested in the subject, immaculately shot and paced, and full of snappy, funny dialog that recalls Sorkin but isn't quite as showy and twisty (the script is by Alex Convery, who has no other credits to his name so far).

 After a short barrage of nostalgia bait - the movie is set in 1984, and by golly it's not going to let you forget it - we're introduced to Sonny (Matt Damon), a guy who scouts talent for Nike's struggling basketball shoe division and the only guy who seems to give a damn about basketball there. After watching Michael Jordan (Michael Jordan) throwing a ball at a metal ring multiple times on his VCR one night, Sonny realizes that he's got to risk everything on hiring him to represent their shoes, despite the fact that more successful companies are courting him.

 So... well, he risks everything, wheels and deals until he manages to get Nike's director (Ben Affleck) on his side, and with a small team (Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker and Matthew Maher) he beats the odds and yadda yadda.
 I mean, there's no suspense here, you know how this is going to end. On top of that, as good as Damon is in the role, it's one of those characters that never fucking makes mistakes - the guy is honest, passionate, unnaturally shrewd and infallible in his instincts; the only thing he gets wrong is kind of a humble brag. A primum mobile character; Everything that happens in the movie is driven by him except for that little mistake (which provides the CEO a chance to dramatically step up).

 It should be annoying, but unless you're set on hating the movie, it's so well done it works. The character interactions are sometimes a bit didactical, but always fun, the story moves effortlessly and  is full of great secondary characters: special mentions go to Chris Messina for an inspired string of insults, and as always Viola Davis steals the show as Michael Jordan's mom; It's a really powerful performance.

 If I had to strain for something to dislike, it's the fact that this really is a pure crowd-pleasing film, mostly shiny surfaces and easy sympathy plays, about a corporate success story.

 There is a timid stab at pointing out the inequality in play, walls full of pictures of white millionaires look predatorily at the athletes they will profit off on, and some mention of the particulars of Jordan's ground-breaking deal with Nike, which I'm guessing is common knowledge to someone who knows something of the subject. But it's too little, and too celebratory of everything Nike to actually make an impression.

 Oh, I do actually dislike something, and it's a pet peeve: the soundtrack, with only a couple of exceptions, only chooses the most obvious, overplayed songs from the era, and edits them so that you get an intro and then the most famous part.
 Then again, it fits the bubblegum nature of the film; Something like, I dunno, Blasphemous Rumours wouldn't have fit very well. But still, come on - lots of other stuff to choose from. The 'Mats put out Let It Be that year; Just saying.