Most people would probably agree that generally a 90-minute flight tends to be a short, enjoyable jump to a certain destination. However, for Winston (Topher Grace; That '70s Show) and Federal Marshal Madolyn Harris (Michelle Dockery; Downton Abbey), their short flight in the Pacific Northwest turns deadly when the pilot of the plane is replaced by Daryl Booth (Mark Wahlberg; The Departed). You see, Winston is in Federal custody because he is a mob accountant turned informant, and Booth is a hitman sent to kill Winston before he can testify against his bosses. Suddenly, a small twin-engine plane looks like it is about to become a death trap for Winston and Harris.
Nothing has been left to chance for Marshal Harris. It was her, Winston, and the pilot, but shortly into the flight Winston got a glimpse of the pilot's license and noticed the photo didn't match the face sitting in the pilot's seat. He immediately wanted to warn Harris, but since she had a headset on, she couldn't hear him. However, while chatting with the pilot, he said something that caused Harris to pause, and she, too, realized something was amiss. After knocking the pilot out, she used her satellite phone to call her supervisor. Harris suddenly found that her and Winston's lives were in her hands, and she had no idea how to fly a plane.
While the cast is serviceable, there is nothing that stands out about the performances in either a good or bad way. Unfortunately, the script, written by Jared Rosenberg in his writing debut, is so poor and Mel Gibson's (Braveheart) directing is far from polished that the movie couldn't have been saved, even by a star-studded, Oscar-winning ensemble. The story is pedestrian, predictable, and just plain boring-so even with only a runtime, it still feels too long.
The native 4K video quality with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio manages to highlight the small scene space used for most of the film, allowing the details to be in sharp focus. Surprisingly, the surrounding scenery-which tends to look incredibly fake with this level of detail-doesn't (thankfully). And while the color palette is fairly muted for the most part, there is a brightness to the airplane interior that accentuates those clean details.
Adding to the technical quality of the 4K disc is the Dolby Atmos audio. With crisp dialogue and some decent ambient sound (though most of the film takes place in a rather confined space), this aspect helps create the illusion of the cast being 10,000+ feet in the air. The humming of the engines can be subtly heard through the surround speakers, while the gunshots are much more pronounced and tend to echo.
The combo pack comes with both the 4K and Blu-ray Discs and a digital download. The minimal extras are included on both discs and are limited to a brief 8-minute making-of segment and a theatrical trailer. To say the extras-much like the film itself-are underwhelming would be an accurate and disappointing statement.
Flight Risk could have been so much more interesting and intriguing as a plot, but the antagonist is revealed too early, and the other key players become rather predictable, making any sort of shocking reveal less impactful. One has to question why Gibson would have directed this movie, why Wahlberg, Dockery, and Grace would have agreed to star in it, and why Lionsgate would have greenlit the script in the first place. Besides the technical aspects of this combo pack, there isn't much of a sales pitch here for anyone trying to justify this purchase.
Grade: C-
