Welcome back to the blog readers. As you know, I love myself some dumb dumb action every now and then, as long as there is an engaging story underneath all the chaos. While the talent of Mel Gibson as a director is unmistakable (just look at Braveheart (1995), Apocalypto (2006), and Hacksaw Ridge (2015)), his politics and his legal troubles have definitely made him a controversial figure. I was excited to see this film because I love Mark Wahlberg, but would this film be a rousing success? Stick around to find out.
Flight Risk was directed by Mel Gibson from a screenplay by Jared Rosenberg. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace, and the voice of Leah Remini. In the film, a pilot transports an Air Marshal and a fugitive across the Alaskan wilderness, but the three begin to question everything they have known when their real identities are revealed and they struggle to survive each other.
Like I said, Gibson's politics have not endeared himself to me and I don't really know what being a "Special Ambassador to Hollywood" really entails, but I hope it is just a title and he has no real power. Add on top of that negative early reception to the film and you have a situation where I lost a lot of excitement for this film. And unfortunately, I was right to do that because this film sucks. From boring acting from Dockery and Grace (and especially some bad acting from Wahlberg) to a lazy script and by-the-numbers story, I was bored to tears.
Here's the thing. Mark Wahlberg is a great actor but he has a terrible agent. No way should he have been allowed to partake in such stinkers like The Happening (2008), Me Time (2022), and The Family Plan (2023). And I can especially say the same for whoever the hell cast him in this piece of garbage film. First of all, the guy overacts with the most wooden dialogue you will ever hear in your life (more on that later). Second of all, that Texan accent he puts on is really off-putting and it really infuriates me, especially in the second half of this film. He could have done so much better because he has proven it time and time again.
But that's not where the negatives end, no. I mentioned the script was lazy and the story was by-the-numbers and it is completely true in this film. Normally, when a film is to take place in one location, you really need an engaging story and a script that is going to do that story justice. But watching this film made me feel like the script was done by a bunch of high-schoolers. The story did not feel original, it did not feel fresh, and it did not feel relevant to today in any way. It is almost like it was made just to be made.
In conclusion (because I really have nothing else left to say), Flight Risk is a lazy and soulless attempt to capitalize on past success while dumbing everything down with a messy story and a lazy script. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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