‘Flight Risk’ Reviews: Does Mel Gibson’s Thriller Land With Critics?

Director Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk, starring Mark Wahlberg, is new in theaters. Does the airplane thriller have a smooth or bumpy landing with critics?

The official synopsis for Flight Risk reads, “In this high-stakes suspense thriller, Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg plays a pilot transporting an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) accompanying a fugitive (Topher Grace) to trial. As they cross the Alaskan wilderness, tensions soar and trust is tested, as not everyone on board is who they seem.”

Rated R, Flight Risk opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. Rotten Tomatoes critics to date have given the film a 26% “rotten” rating based on 45 reviews.

The RT Popcornmeter, which measures viewer ratings, is not yet available.

How Are Individual Critics Reacting To ‘Flight Risk’?

Todd Gilchrist is among the top critics on RT who give Flight Risk a “rotten” review. In his critique for Variety, Gilchrist writes, “Director Mel Gibson delivers is a crude, unimaginative, suspenseless adventure whose tension mostly derives from deciding which of its three main characters will prove the most unlikable by the time it ends.”

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Alissa Wilkinson doesn’t fault Gibson in her “rotten” review for the New York Times on RT but instead lays the blame on Jared Rosenberg’s script. Wilkenson writes, “Where Flight Risk fails as a film is not really Gibson’s fault. He knows how to shoot action sequences. The screenplay is instead all over the place, in a way that feels tired and halfhearted.”

Meanwhile, Alison Willmore targets the stars of Flight Risk and their approaches to their roles. In her review for New York Magazine/Vulture on RT, Willmore writes, “Flight Risk is a dumb movie, which is not its primary sin. The problem is that it’s not the right kind of dumb—the kind where everyone involved is committed to the innate silliness of what they’re doing.”

Flight Risk did some earn some “fresh” from other top critics on RT, including Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter, who writes, “You’ll be shaking your head at the sheer ludicrousness of it all. But it’s a pretty good bet that you haven’t once felt the desire to look at your phone.”

Peter Bradshaw also gives Flight Risk a “fresh” review RT while tipping his cap to Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace. In his review for The Guardian, Bradshaw writes, “The film is, of course, very silly, but diverting and ingenious, and contains game performances from Wahlberg, Dockery and Grace.”

Christian Zilko gives a backhanded “fresh” take on the film for IndieWire, writing, “When evaluated as a work of pure craftsmanship, Flight Risk is some of the finest stupidity Hollywood has gifted us in a long time.”

Director Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.