This is not your ordinary Christmas movie. “Carry-On” is a surprise end-of-the-year action thriller from Netflix that’s sure to add some spice to your holiday season viewing. The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who is probably known best for his past collaborations with Liam Neeson and Dwayne Johnson. With “Carry-On” he and screenwriter T.J. Fixman put together a no-nonsense throwback genre movie with clear “Die-Hard” inspiration.

“Carry-On” kicks off on Christmas Eve as a shadowy man meets with two members of the Russian mafia at a Christmas tree lot. The man, whose name is never revealed, quickly offs the two mobsters and leaves with a mysterious suitcase. The man (who I’ll refer to as the Antagonist) is played by Jason Bateman who is marvelously working against his usual comic type. It’s a rock-solid performance.

Elsewhere we’re introduced to a young couple, Ethan (Taron Egerton) and Nora (Sofia Carson). Both work at Los Angeles International Airport – he as a TSA agent and she as an airlines operations manager. They’ve also found out Nora is pregnant with their first child which has Ethan a little antsy. He’s been frustrated since being rejected by the police academy. Since then he has spent three years in an entry level position with the TSA and showing no incentive to move up.

With reality setting in, Ethan convinces his supervisor (Dean Morris) to give him a chance to earn a promotion. He’s tasked with monitoring one of the baggage scanners where someone leaves an earbud in one of his trays. Through it he’s contacted by the Antagonist who orders Ethan to allow a certain piece of carry-on luggage to pass through the scanner otherwise Nora will be killed. Ethan tries to outsmart the Antagonist but quickly leans he is always one step behind.

Meanwhile, LAPD detective Elena Cole (the always welcomed Danielle Deadwyler) traces the murder of the two Russian mobsters to a potent nerve agent. Her investigation eventually leads her to LAX where she becomes yet another player in Collet-Serra’s high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse. From there it’s all about moving his players from point to point while keeping the audience guessing about how things are going to play out. “Carry-On” certainly succeeds in doing that.

It’s hard to make the case that “Carry-On” breaks new ground in the action-thriller genre. But as I’ve preached before, not every movie needs to. There’s always room for well-written, well-directed, and well-acted features that know exactly what kind of movie they want to be. That’s precisely what “Carry-On” is. And cheers to Jaume Collet-Serra for knowing what he wanted to make and sticking by those convictions. His movie benefits from it and so do we. “Carry-On” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 4 STARS