NOTICE! This article contains SPOILERS for Carry-On!Following the success of Netflix's new flight-based thriller Continuean underrated film in the same genre starring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy from 2005 makes for a captivating next viewing. Rounding out Netflix's 2024 slate of holiday releases, Continue arrived on the streamer on December 13th as a huge success, even drawing comparisons to Die Hard with its critical acclaim and emotional moments. With Continuethe cast is led by Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman, The film follows a TSA agent who is blackmailed by a traveler into letting a bomb onto a flight on Christmas Eve.
Continue stands out as one of Netflix's strongest releases of 2024, with its success bearing similarities to the impressive achievements and popularity of the streamer's November 2023 thriller Leave the world behind. Although the narrative of Continue is not without plot holes, contrivances, or familiar and formulaic twists, the film still presents an entertaining new thriller with compelling cast performances. The film's story and success are also reminiscent of the plot of the 2005 thriller Red Eyewhich has received similar acclaim and is fronted by big stars, but has no Continuevacation scenery.
Red Eye is another captivating aviation thriller with a similar story to continue
Red Eye also involves blackmail and an airplane assassination plot
By climbing the streaming charts to become the most popular film on Netflix, Continue began to receive an increase in comparisons with Red Eye. Directed by horror master Wes Craven, the 2005 thriller stars Rachel McAdams as a traveler taking a red-eye flight from Dallas to Miami when she finds herself sitting next to a man (Cillian Murphy) she briefly met at the airport bar. Suddenly the tide changes when the man tells her that he is working with a terrorist organization and begins to blackmail her into helping with his assassination plot.
Within the stories of Continue and Red Eye, Egerton's Ethan Kopek and McAdams' Lisa Reisert play similar roles as they are ordered to help with the criminal's planswith Jason Bateman’s “Traveler” playing the same blackmailing terrorist role as Cillian Murphy’s Jackson Rippner. Just like the Traveler threatening Ethan with the murder of his girlfriend Nora if he doesn't comply Red EyeThe film's villain threatens Lisa with the murder of her father until the murder is completed. Furthermore, in both thriller films, the target of the terrorist plot is a politician.
Continue has often been described as a cross between Red Eye (2005) and Phone booth (2002).
It's hard to believe this Red Eye did not have any influence on the plot and tone of Continueespecially given the critical and commercial success of the 2005 film. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two, of course, is that ContinueBlackmail and terrorist conspiracy largely occur in the TSA section of the airport itself, while Red EyeThe anxiety-inducing narrative takes place while McAdams and Murphy are already aboard the plane. However, ContinueThe ending of briefly brings the action to the plane, while Red eyesThe final act of Brings the hero and villain back down to earth – with, ultimately, very similar results for both narratives.
Carry-On and Red Eye have impressive reviews
Both thrillers received positive reviews from critics
Continue continues an upbeat trend for Netflix action films, continuing genre films like Extraction 2 and Rebel Ridge with positive reviews from critics. In addition to maintaining its status as Netflix's most popular film in the weeks following its release, Continue It has impressive reviews from critics as it has a “Certified Fresh” score of 87% on Rotten tomatoes. However, the film proved to be more controversial with audiences, maintaining a mixed rating of 53% on the website's “Popcornmeter”. Still, the warm welcome Continue from critics and its enduring ratings popularity gave Netflix a resounding success to end the year.
|
Title |
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score |
Rotten Tomatoes audience score |
Box office |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Red Eye (2005) |
80% |
64% |
US$96.3 million |
|
Continue (2024) |
87% |
53% |
N/A |
ContinueThe positive reception even surpasses that of Red Eyewhich became a critical and commercial success upon its release in 2005. Currently, Red Eye holds an 80% score from critics and a 64% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Wes Craven's thriller grossed $96.3 million at the box office against an estimated budget of $26 million (via Mojo Box Office), doing Red Eye a moderate commercial success. While it's difficult to accurately compare box office earnings to streaming viewership numbers, both releases proved to be triumphs for the cast and crew.
Red Eye and Carry-On prove how Cillian Murphy and Jason Bateman are underrated as villains
Murphy and Bateman typically don't play pure villains in their films and shows
Among the many similarities between Red Eye and Continue is the films' genius casting choice for their main villains. At the time that Red Eye was released in 2005, Cillian Murphy was still growing up in Hollywood after playing Jim in 28 days laterPieter in Girl with pearl earringand Dr. Jonathan Crane / The Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's Batman begins. The latter was the first major example of Murphy shining as a villainous character, with Red Eye taking those skills to the next level by casting the actor in the lead male role.
Since Red EyeMurphy has become best known for his heroic or anti-heroic rolesas in his interpretations of Tommy Shelby in Peaky BlindersEmmett in A Quiet Place Part IIand J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer. Therefore, seeing him as a pure villain in Red Eye provides a great reminder of Murphy's acting versatility and how much his career has blossomed through increasingly complex roles over the past two decades. With Murphy reprising his roles in 28 years later and the next Peaky Blinders movie, it doesn't look like one Red EyeThe villain part will be coming soon.
Likewise, Jason Bateman is not known for playing the villain. Instead of, Bateman has risen to prominence for his comedy roles, which often see him playing the “straight man” hero. with sarcastic humor. On a few notable occasions, Bateman has moved away from this type of character through dramatic projects such as Ozarkswhich portrays him as an anti-hero as he launders money for a drug cartel and involves his family in local criminal schemes.
Given the success of Continuethe hope is that Bateman will continue taking on similar, unexpected but engaging roles in the future.
Before ContinueBateman's biggest villainous role was in the 2015 horror film The presentwhich saw him play a man with a violent past and a menacing layer that he often keeps hidden below the surface. Both Continue and The present are among Bateman's most impressive performances in recent yearsand will show how compelling he can be in roles where he acts against type and uses his own likable reputation to add nuance to his villainous characters. Given the success of Continuethe hope is that Bateman will continue taking on similar, unexpected but engaging roles in the future.
Sources: Rotten tomatoes, Mojo Box Office