MOVIE REVIEW: FLIGHT RISK

 

A U.S. marshal boards a small plane to transfer a government witness to New York. As they cross the Alaskan wilderness, tensions start to rise as not everyone on the flight is who they appear to be.

Director: Mel Gibson

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace

Release Date: January 24, 2025

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime: 1h 31m

Review:

Flight Risk is an unintentionally funny thriller that could have been decent if it weren't for the hackneyed script and direction.  Mel Gibson, whatever you think of him, has directed some solid films in his time which makes this mess of movie more confusing.  Everything about the production and direction feels undercooked and uninspired from start to finish.  It might be passable if he was able to create some sort of tension in the confined and claustrophobic set up, but he never does.  The script gives us a trio of incredibly generic one-dimensional characters who are never all that intriguing or interesting.  Mark Wahlberg made his mark in movies with his inspired turn as a nutjob boyfriend in 1996's Fear, so we know he's capable of playing an intense villain.  This role seems tailor made to give him an opportunity to bring that sort of energy, but the character is so poorly written and over the top that it’s too hard to ever take him seriously.  Giving his character a serious case of male pattern baldness makes him come off even goofier and leaves you wondering why they bothered with it in the first place.  Topher Grace adds to the silliness which an over the top performance that has him set to max level of annoying for the better part of the film's runtime.  Michelle Dockery tries her best to make her underwritten character interesting and engaging but there's only so much she can do when her character continually makes the dumbest decisions possible.  It doesn't help that the film's final act starts to feel like an accidental remake of Airplane! sans the inflatable auto pilot and sweating.  Once Flight Risk comes to a rather abrupt end, you’re left more confused than anything else since it’s such a collective mess.  

D-