At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor
Josh Hartnett (right) and Charithra Chandran in Fight Or Flight. PHOTO: SHAW ORGANISATION
At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor
Fight Or Flight (M18)
102 minutes, opens on May 15
★★★☆☆
The story: Disgraced former Secret Service agent Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) has a shot at redemption, when tapped by his ex-boss (Katee Sackhoff) for a mission: He is to track down a mysterious cyber terrorist known as 'The Ghost' on an international flight and take him or her into custody back to the United States. Turns out just about every passenger on-board is a crazed assassin after this high-value asset.
Is no transportation safe any longer? Fight Or Flight is Brad Pitt's Bullet Train (2022) at 37,000 feet .
The airborne action comedy is absurdly entertaining despite the familiar concept, its violence so nuts, the only response is to laugh. Barely has the seatbelt sign been switched off and a skull is skewered, grey matter splattered across the first-class toilet.
And speaking of seatbelt, it is repurposed for strangling. Arms are snapped, ribs are crushed by meal trolleys and an eye speared by a broken champagne flute once the international mercenaries leap from their seats to begin competing for their bounty.
This is not the sort of movie to ask how a chainsaw got past airport security. The more immediate concern is Lucas having to keep both himself and his target alive.
Director James Madigan, a visual effects artist, innovates with brio the close-quarters skirmishes in the pressurised cabins, and Hartnett has mischievous fun as the bleach-blond wash-up in airline pyjamas still capable of holding his own.
He finds a reluctant ally in a feisty air stewardess played by Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton, 2020 to present).
A befuddled pair of co-pilots and three Shaolin nuns are also in the teeming ensemble, few among them surviving beyond one scene.
Hot take: From the producers of John Wick (2014). Which is to say, it is a bonkers romp.
Another Simple Favor (M18)
122 minutes, available on Prime Video
★★★☆☆
Anna Kendrick in Another Simple Favor.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
The story: Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the Italian island of Capri for Emily's destination wedding to a handsome mafia scion (Michele Morrone). Beneath the sun-splashed extravagance lurks danger because the bride is a psychopath, surely again up to no good.
In the 2018 American noir caper A Simple Favor, widowed single mum Stephanie investigated the disappearance of glamorous Emily and discovered her new best friend from their sons' elementary school had killed her long-lost twin and staged her own death.
Seven years later, in Another Simple Favour, Emily is out of prison and Stephanie is a mummy vlogger amateur sleuth.
The latter has written a memoir, although reading it to acquaint oneself with the backstory will not help make sense of the convolutions in this knowingly trashy melodrama dressed up as a luxurious travelogue.
Emily's dotty mother (Elizabeth Perkins), a shifty aunt (Allison Janney) and Emily's ex (Henry Golding) are the other guests arrived at the resort. Stephanie soon finds herself framed for multiple murders. Is this why Emily invited her here to be bridesmaid, to take delayed revenge?
There are secrets, betrayals, fake identities, a mafia war and one too many incident of sibling incest even for an improviser of farcical vulgarities like Paul Feig.
The Hollywood director of Bridesmaids (2011) and the girl-powered Ghostbusters (2016) has returned for another female-centric comedy, and the fabulous frenemies – perky Kendrick versus Lively's slippery, manipulative vamp in runway couture – are perhaps reason enough for a sequel, however wearying the endless plot twists.
In their byplay, at once flirtatious and a veiled threat, lies all the intrigue.
Hot take: Their barbed banter is a treat as Kendrick and Lively talk themselves out of a nonsense frolic.
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Straits Times
5 hours ago
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Actress Ana de Armas had to scream before she could kill in John Wick movie spin-off Ballerina SINGAPORE – Actress Ana de Armas was making all the right moves when it came to the fight scenes in the movie From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina, but something was missing. 'I would do the stunts, but it felt too choreographed. The stunt team said, 'Come on, you have to start getting into character, to feel her rage and passion,'' she tells The Straits Times in a Zoom interview. The team offered a suggestion: screaming. 'They taught me how to scream myself ready. We screamed at one another . It became my way to get in the right mindset. The energy would wake me up in the morning, or at 3am, when we were shooting at night. I would just start jumping up and down and screaming, to get the blood flowing,' says de Armas, 37. Once the crew members heard her screams, they readied the cameras. The vocal exercise worked. 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Straits Times
14-05-2025
- Straits Times
At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor
Josh Hartnett (right) and Charithra Chandran in Fight Or Flight. PHOTO: SHAW ORGANISATION At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor Fight Or Flight (M18) 102 minutes, opens on May 15 ★★★☆☆ The story: Disgraced former Secret Service agent Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) has a shot at redemption, when tapped by his ex-boss (Katee Sackhoff) for a mission: He is to track down a mysterious cyber terrorist known as 'The Ghost' on an international flight and take him or her into custody back to the United States. Turns out just about every passenger on-board is a crazed assassin after this high-value asset. Is no transportation safe any longer? Fight Or Flight is Brad Pitt's Bullet Train (2022) at 37,000 feet . The airborne action comedy is absurdly entertaining despite the familiar concept, its violence so nuts, the only response is to laugh. Barely has the seatbelt sign been switched off and a skull is skewered, grey matter splattered across the first-class toilet. And speaking of seatbelt, it is repurposed for strangling. Arms are snapped, ribs are crushed by meal trolleys and an eye speared by a broken champagne flute once the international mercenaries leap from their seats to begin competing for their bounty. This is not the sort of movie to ask how a chainsaw got past airport security. The more immediate concern is Lucas having to keep both himself and his target alive. Director James Madigan, a visual effects artist, innovates with brio the close-quarters skirmishes in the pressurised cabins, and Hartnett has mischievous fun as the bleach-blond wash-up in airline pyjamas still capable of holding his own. He finds a reluctant ally in a feisty air stewardess played by Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton, 2020 to present). A befuddled pair of co-pilots and three Shaolin nuns are also in the teeming ensemble, few among them surviving beyond one scene. Hot take: From the producers of John Wick (2014). Which is to say, it is a bonkers romp. Another Simple Favor (M18) 122 minutes, available on Prime Video ★★★☆☆ Anna Kendrick in Another Simple Favor. PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO The story: Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the Italian island of Capri for Emily's destination wedding to a handsome mafia scion (Michele Morrone). Beneath the sun-splashed extravagance lurks danger because the bride is a psychopath, surely again up to no good. In the 2018 American noir caper A Simple Favor, widowed single mum Stephanie investigated the disappearance of glamorous Emily and discovered her new best friend from their sons' elementary school had killed her long-lost twin and staged her own death. Seven years later, in Another Simple Favour, Emily is out of prison and Stephanie is a mummy vlogger amateur sleuth. The latter has written a memoir, although reading it to acquaint oneself with the backstory will not help make sense of the convolutions in this knowingly trashy melodrama dressed up as a luxurious travelogue. Emily's dotty mother (Elizabeth Perkins), a shifty aunt (Allison Janney) and Emily's ex (Henry Golding) are the other guests arrived at the resort. Stephanie soon finds herself framed for multiple murders. Is this why Emily invited her here to be bridesmaid, to take delayed revenge? There are secrets, betrayals, fake identities, a mafia war and one too many incident of sibling incest even for an improviser of farcical vulgarities like Paul Feig. The Hollywood director of Bridesmaids (2011) and the girl-powered Ghostbusters (2016) has returned for another female-centric comedy, and the fabulous frenemies – perky Kendrick versus Lively's slippery, manipulative vamp in runway couture – are perhaps reason enough for a sequel, however wearying the endless plot twists. In their byplay, at once flirtatious and a veiled threat, lies all the intrigue. Hot take: Their barbed banter is a treat as Kendrick and Lively talk themselves out of a nonsense frolic. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
12-05-2025
- Straits Times
‘No more nerves': Actress Blake Lively revisits her favourite character in Another Simple Favor
AUSTIN, Texas – Set at a wedding in Italy, Another Simple Favor reunites Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick and Henry Golding, who reprise their roles from the 2018 murder mystery-comedy A Simple Favor. And much has changed for all three actors since then, with Golding and Kendrick's careers taking off and Lively achieving notoriety after her romantic drama It Ends With Us (2024), which sparked a series of legal and reputational battles for the star since end-2024. Now streaming on Prime Video, the sequel continues the tale of the friendship-turned-rivalry between mummy vlogger Stephanie (Kendrick) and her glamorous pal Emily (Lively). It picks up five years after the events of the original movie, which saw Emily stage her death and her husband Sean (Golding) accused of her murder before she is revealed to be alive – and sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering her sister and father. Stephanie is now a true-crime vlogger and Emily, released from prison on appeal, insists Stephanie attend her extravagant wedding to Dante (Michele Morrone), a wealthy Italian with mob ties. But the festivities soon spiral into chaos as betrayal, family secrets and murder unfold once again. At a question-and-answer session for Another Simple Favor at the SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas, in March, Lively says she was thrilled when American director Paul Feig asked her to return to this role. 'I love this character so much. It's probably my favourite character that I've been fortunate enough to play, so when Paul asked us to come back, I was so excited,' says the 37-year-old American actress, who has faced intense media scrutiny in recent months over the duelling lawsuits between her and her It Ends With Us co-star and director Justin Baldoni. 'I was really nervous on the first one because we didn't know if we were making a drama or a comedy,' adds the star, who is suing Baldoni for sexual harassment and is being countersued by the 41-year-old American actor for defamation. 'But it worked out, so I was, like, 'Okay, no nerves – I know what I'm doing this time.' And getting to work with Anna and this incredible group of people, it was amazing,' Lively says. Stephanie is now an accomplished author and detective, but she is still obsessed with Emily. Asked why Stephanie keeps being drawn to her like a moth to a flame, Kendrick – who headlined the Pitch Perfect musical comedies (2012 to 2017) – says of the character: 'I think maybe I start out just not taking any of it that seriously. 'But when some s*** goes down, then I'm like, 'Oh, things are actually dark and scary,'' says the 39-year-old American actress, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in the comedy-drama Up In The Air (2009) and directed the Netflix crime thriller Woman Of The Hour (2023). Golding, 38, was also happy to return to his character Sean, and many of the cast and crew who worked on the original. 'It was a joy to come back and, of course, to be with the girls and Paul,' says the Malaysia-born British actor of Kendrick, Lively and Feig. 'It's amazing to see everybody that we filmed with five or six years ago. We've all grown and we've all seen our careers blossom. 'And it's just awesome to come back to a character that you're so familiar with,' adds the star of the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians (2018), who also appeared in action film The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024). (From left) Malaysian-British actor Henry Golding, US actress Blake Lively, Italian actor Michele Morrone, US director/producer Paul Feig and US actress Anna Kendrick at the New York screening of Another Simple Favor, on April 27. PHOTO: AFP But he lobbied for his character to be different this time. 'Before the production started, me and Paul went out for lunch and I was like, 'We need to make him a complete a*****e ,'' Golding says. 'He was always kind of a d***,' adds Lively jokingly. Feig, 62, explains why he wanted to make a sequel, the first he has done. 'I always shied away from (that) because I think they're really terrifying, and I haven't seen many sequels that I like,' says the film-maker, who helmed hit comedies such as Bridesmaids (2011) and The Heat (2013). 'But I just love these characters so much – and it just felt like they had something to revisit.' Another Simple Favor is available on Prime Video. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
