I am loving this Josh Hartnett resurgence. After some strong work in the underseen indie “Ida Red” and Guy Ritchie’s “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre”, Hartnett really grabbed attention in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”. He followed it up with a really good turn in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap”. Those are four dramatically different performances in four dramatically different movies. You can make it five with his latest, “Fight or Flight”.

Directed by James Madigan, “Fight or Flight” is a gleefully bloody action movie infused with a healthy dose of comedy. Its story (written by Brooks McLaren and D.J. Cotrona) sees Hartnett playing a former Secret Service agent named Lucas Reyes. After a violent encounter put him at odds with the CIA, Lucas has been off the grid in Bangkok, living out of a Tuk Tuk while drinking himself to oblivion.

Meanwhile Intelligence Director Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackhoff) finds herself in a pickle. Her agency has been hunting an extremely high-value target known around the world as “The Ghost”. They finally get a beat on the Ghost in Bangkok about to board a plane out of the country. With no assets in the area, a desperate Brunt contacts Lucas. She offers him a clean slate and his old life back if he will get on the plane, identify the Ghost, and escort the target to the United States.

Reluctant but equally desperate, Lucas agrees to the assignment. He boards the double-decker jet and settles in for the 16-hour flight to San Francisco. Once in the air he immediately begins looking for the Ghost. But he quickly learns he’s not alone. In fact he’s 40,000 feet in the air on a giant plane filled with assassins and bounty hunters intent on killing both him and the Ghost. As you can probably guess, things kick into gear from there.

It doesn’t take long for Madigan to crank the action up to ten. At the same time he leans into the absurdity of story, never taking things too seriously and delivering plenty of well-timed laughs. The story itself is pretty basic and you wont be a bit surprised by where things go. But it’s the action and the humor that drives the movie and both hit their marks.

Hartnett is especially fun, rocking frosted blonde hair, wearing an array of goofy clothing, and sporting a world-weary attitude that’s a perfect fit for his character. And not only does the 46-year-old actor have the charisma, but he shows off action-star physicality that I wasn’t expecting. Sackhoff is fittingly stern and authoritative while Charithra Chandran brings plenty of energy in what could be a breakout role.

“Fight or Flight” doesn’t do anything especially original when it comes to story and at times it can be needlessly crude. But the cast is on point, the action choreography is kinetic, and the movie ends on a deliciously gory note that fully embraces the nuttiness of it all. As for Hartnett fans, they will find another wildly different performance from a capable actor who clearly doesn’t mind challenging himself. “Fight or Flight” releases in theaters on May 9th.