Almost overnight Liam Neeson became today’s Stallone or Schwarzenegger. Whether he is tracking Albanian human traffickers across Europe or fighting Alaskan grey wolves with shards of glass attached to his fists, the 61 year old Neeson has not only embraced his action stardom but he’s really good at it. But this really shouldn’t surprise anyone. A brief scan of Neeson’s filmography shows that he is a versatile actor who has never been a stranger to action roles.
He shows it again by giving us another March action thriller called “Non-Stop”. The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who also worked with Neeson on the 2011 film “Unknown”. This time around he is 30,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean in a passenger plane and facing one Neeson-sized threat. “Non-Stop” is a huge step up from the star’s last action outing “Taken 2”. It’s a fun throwback picture that uses many of the same plot devices which service the story well despite the perfunctory impression they leave.
Neeson plays Bill Marks, a United States Federal Air Marshall who boards a non-stop flight from New York to London. We learn several things about him early on. He is an alcoholic who clearly has some emotional baggage. He also has a fear of flying (particularly takeoffs) which is a liability considering his occupation. The film also uses the familiar method of giving us brief glimpses of the major players in the film as they wait to board the aircraft – passengers, pilots, flight attendants. It’s cleverly executed here and it had me cautiously and suspiciously examining every face I was shown.
Once the plane is over the Atlantic Bill gets a phone text on his secure federal line threatening to kill someone onboard every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a bank account. At first he tries to decipher whether or not it’s a hoax, but he quickly finds out that the threat is real. With one person dead, 20 minutes until another person dies, and no way to quickly land while over the ocean, Bill has try and get control over the perilous and deadly situation.
As you can tell this is obviously pretty absurd stuff, but that doesn’t stop it from being a highly entertaining ride. Neeson gives his usual stout and sturdy performance but here he is also quite vulnerable. We do get those patented scenes where he breaks noses and snaps necks, but he also brings out the panic, perplexity, and brokenness which the story includes as part of the character. Julianne Moore plays a passenger he meets on the plane as does Corey Stoll in an entirely different role than his Hemingway from “Midnight in Paris”. Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery and recent Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o play flight attendants although Nyong’o is relegated to a very small part.
“Non-Stop” throws a few jabs at a number of subjects including the news media’s over anxiousness to tell a story despite its inaccuracy and various post-911 attitudes about flying and people in general. Some work better than others. The movie does take a few preposterous turns and the final revelation, while satisfying for me, was a bit goofy and requires the audience to refrain from asking some very obvious questions. On the flipside it was always casting doubt on my suspicions and I never figured out what was going on until the final reveal.
Will “Non-Stop” make anyone’s Best of 2014 list? I highly doubt it. But it is an example of a very fun and entertaining action thriller that allows the audience to just sit back and play along. It helps to have such a strong anchor as Neeson. He is comfortable with these roles and when given good material he can provide us with a really good escape. While “Non-Stop” has some obvious flaws it is an easy movie to recommend and it’s one I wouldn’t mind seeing again. Now lets see what Neeson has in store for us next.
keithandthemovies.com 
Very nice review Keith, glad you had a good time with it. When I first saw promos for it, all I could do was laugh. But I too was pleasantly surprised by the guessing game the narrative provided for most of the film. I scoffed at the ending quite a bit, but beyond that there wasn’t much to hate on here. It could have been much worse.
The ending was a bit goofy wasn’t it? There were also a few corny lines of dialogue sprinkled here and there. Still it was a very good time.
Great review Keith. Liam Neeson has become quite the everyman version of an action hero, a reputation well deserved. 😀
He really is good isn’t he. He just has that certain something that you can’t deny.
Lots of fun but of course preposterous. I’m a big fan of Neeson, way back to Darkman.
Oh yes. I remember him in Darkman. I really liked that movie!
Good review Keith. I’m fine with these types of Liam Neeson movies, just as long as they stay fun and exciting. That’s all they need to keep on doing for me to still have faith in them.
Thanks man. No arguments here. There is certainly a place for them (as long as they aren’t like Taken 2)! 😉
Good stuff man, glad you liked it. Not sure I’ll get around to it at cinemas but I’ll definitely give it a whirl when it’s on TV. Looks like a decent bit of fun.
It really is a lot of fun and the time zipped right by. It’s definitely worth catching up to. A good old-fashioned flick. Did you happen to see Taken 2? This is a big step up from it.
Yeah I did see Taken 2 and thought it was terrible. It was just a cash in. Glad this is better though.
I quite like the first Taken movie, but more as a rental. This one fits in that same category I think.
I think I like this when I little better than the first Taken film. I definitely like it better than Taken 2! That movie just did nothing for me. Plus it had one of the goofiest moments in cinematic history.
Good review Keith. Sounds like an entertainment feast.
It’s a lot of fun. It has it’s goofy moments and sometimes you will be shaking your head but it’s still a good time.
Excellent review! Sounds like it isn’t a bad watch, and I just may check it out sometime!
It really isn’t bad at all. I have to admit it’s a little better than I expected. It’s a lot of fun and it keeps you guessing.
Fun action movies are usually entertaining, so I just might check this out!
Are you a fan of Liam Neeson? He is his usual awesome self in this one. It’s amazing how he has embraced these roles. But then again he’s really good in them.
I do enjoy him a hell of a lot! In that case I will have to check this out. He did just sort of slip into them, but he is really, really good at it!
I keep seeing all those favorable reviews so I may give it a shot, although I suspect all those fine supporting actors have nothing to do and Neeson is just running around with a gun 🙂
Well you’re partly correct. The supporting players don’t really have a ton to do. But this is more of a thriller than an action film. So Neeson really doesn’t spend a lot of time running around shooting. I think that might be what I found more refreshing. It definitely has its bouts with silliness. But in the end I had a really good time with it. Give it a shot if you get a chance.
Nice review. Saw it last week and thought it was enjoyable. Sure it was pretty corny at parts but Neeson does really sell the material.
Glad you liked it too. Neeson definitely sells it well. At the end of the day it was just a good time.
Well at least he can send and receive text messages while in-flight. Good review 🙂
LOL. Well I do know this will never be shown as the in-flight movie. I promise you that.
Thanks for checking it out. It’s actually a fun little movie.
I really enjoyed this film. Much more than I expected to. It gradually builds suspense in an effective way and keeps you guessing until the end. Nice review!
Thanks Mark. It was a lot more fun than I anticipated. I can really get into these types of movies as long as they’re competent and fun.
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