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Flight Risk throws a curveball early on, making you believe the main problem centres around the fact Winston (Topher Grace – Heretic) is the risk, given that after being caught on the run by angry FBI agent Madolyn (Michelle Dockery – Boy Kills World), he’s being taken to Anchorage, prior to New York, to testify against a crime boss.
As well as the good stuff in this film including pilot Daryl (Mark Wahlberg – The Union) playing New Order’s excellent Blue Monday over his headphones, screenwriter Jared Rosenberg throws in a lot of humour, even when it’s slight things such as prior to the FBI turning up on his door, Winston says thanks to his motel’s glitchy microwave for finally deciding to work and cook his popcorn, as well as after they arrive, when he needs the toilet, but highlights the difficulty of attempting this given that they’ve already put him in cuffs.
This is one of those films that sets up the premise and then you just need to sit back and see how it pans out, the premise being that circumstances lead to Winston spotting that Daryl isn’t who he claims to be, this moment coming around 15 minutes into the proceedings.
It would’ve been better if this had been left out of the trailer, but then what else was there to show?
Okay, there are some plot points I won’t mention here, but then it does highlight that there’s not as much content in this film as there ought to be, as despite its brief 91-minute running length, there are some periods of time which drag, although there are still moments where it does find the time to stretch credibility.
However, despite this being quite a fun excursion, and certainly worth watching, with just a plane situation on view, it does feel like we’re watching just 1/3 of Speed.
Oh, and two guys came in literally TEN MINUTES before the end. Clearly, they’d watched another film, then chanced watching another, but thanks for chosing MY ROW(!)
Just one odd thing, which I’ll put behind a spoiler heading, as while it’s not a plot spoiler, it does mention something late in the film…
NOTE: There are no mid- or post-credit scenes.
Flight Risk is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 91 minutes
Release date: January 24th 2025
Studio: Lionsgate Movies
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (DJI Ronin 4D, Red V-Raptor 8k)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 7/10
Director: Mel Gibson
Producers: Bruce Davey, John Davis, John Fox, Mel Gibson
Screenplay: Jared Rosenberg
Music: Antonio Pinto
Cast:
Madolyn: Michelle Dockery
Daryl: Mark Wahlberg
Winston: Topher Grace
Van Sant: Leah Remini
Hasan: Monib Abhat
Coleridge: Paul Ben-Victor
Hasan (voice): Maaz Ali
Janine: Eilise Guilfoyle
Milko D’Killa: Milko Kadikov
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.