Fight or Flight (MA) – 102 minutes

Not snakes on plane, but killers – hordes of them.

In that regard, Fight or Flight shares pedigree with Bullet Train (2022), the thriller starring Brad Pitt.

The violence in this one is Tarantinoesque, but the humour is unmistakable.

Anyone who has seen the trailer will know what I mean.

For those who haven’t, the opening sequence tells you exactly what you are in for.

And then we step back 12 hours to set the scene.

An operation in the field in Bangkok has gone horribly wrong and the intended target of the raid, a hacker simply known as The Ghost, has escaped.

At headquarters, agent Aaron Hunter’s job is on the line as a result of the bungle.

Deeply worried that The Ghost will get away and with no other field agents in the vicinity, in desperation agency head Katherine Brunt uses the only key she has left.

She calls upon a mercenary left out in the cold two years ago, her former boyfriend, disgraced secret service agent Lucas Reyes to do the heavy lifting.

As a result of overstepping the mark, Reyes has himself been targeted since he was let go, immersing himself in the bottle, unable to return to the US.

While outraged by Brunt’s overture after all this time, he is reluctantly won over by her preparedness to wipe the slate clean.

Little does he (or she, it must be said) know that he is entering a lion’s den.

With a high price on both his head and that of The Ghost, all manner of cold-blooded killer follows the pair onto a plane bound for San Francisco.

Blood will be spilled – loads of it.

Fight or Flight is over the top mayhem and silliness, but if you view it with the spirit intended, it hits the mark.

Written by Brooks McLaren and DJ Cotrona, the crazy plotline is all about pushing the envelope and director James Madigan doesn’t hold back.

Aided by a powerful soundtrack, some of the stunt work leaves you gasping.

How Reyes manages to live through the pounding he receives is the stuff of fairy stories. My mind wandered back to Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard.

Josh Harnett throws himself headlong into the lead and comes up trumps.

He combines the role of kick ass hero with downtrodden reprobate and makes it stick. Reyes simply refuses to die.

Charithra Chandran is no push over as The Ghost, who has an agenda and is ever resourceful. Chandran has charm and smarts and holds her own opposite Harnett.

There is a gritty determination about Katee Sackhoff as Katherine Brunt and a ruthlessness and intemperance in Julian Kostov’s portrayal of agent Hunter.

Danny Ashok and Hughie O’Donnell bring humour to their roles as flight attendants caught in the crosshairs.

The plotting isn’t exactly easy to follow and, arguably, has more holes than Swiss cheese. Real life credibility isn’t high on the list of must haves either.

Never mind though because this film revels in vitriol and the outrageous hyper violent, which makes Fight or Flight provocative and entertaining.

While clearly not for more sensitive cinema goers, it leaves the door wide open for a sequel.

Rated MA, it scores a 7½ out of 10.