Non-Stop

NON-STOP is another movie featuring Liam Neeson in his newfound 'hard man' role following on from the success of TAKEN. This time around, he's a boozy Air Marshall working a routine flight who suddenly finds himself caught up in a murder mystery involving ransom demands and some high-octane action. Pretty soon it's a race against the clock to stop the murderer from committing any more crimes.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film, given the middling reviews; after all, Neeson's last film UNKNOWN was a disappointment. The good news is that NON-STOP is a lot better, a film that holds it together for the most part. The main thing is that it keeps you watching throughout with nary a slow moment in sight. Neeson is on strong form as the grumpy antihero and I particularly liked his brutal treatment of the suspects - no nice-guy pussyfooting around here, just blunt force when needed. Inevitably the scriptwriters throw in a few fight scenes to keep action fans happy and they all work very well. The script is tight and focused and kept realistic as possible, only becoming over the top in a few moments.

The film isn't perfect, but the problems tend to be minor. I could have done without the SHERLOCK-copying on-screen texts, and I could have also done without the disappointing Julianne Moore once more forced down our throats in a role she really isn't suited for. In fact, not many of the supporting cast are that great, apart from maybe Linus Roache. Still, this is a film which is all about the plot and for the most part it works; I know I enjoyed it.

This is an action-thriller starring Liam Neeson as U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks who, while boarding a flight to London, receives text messages from an unknown assailant, threatening that if he doesn't transfer $150 million to an account, a fatality will occur on the plane every 20 minutes unless Marks complies with the money request.

The film starts off with some intrigue, showing Marks depressed, consuming alcohol and having a couple of run-ins with some passengers before he boards the plane, already giving the audience the impression that Marks is a disturbed person and making us eager to know what his background story is. Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) sits next to Marks on the plane, whose background story is also a mystery until later on in the film, providing us with another interesting subplot.

However, the main plot and action come almost immediately after the plane takes to the air when Marks starts receiving the threatening text messages. What follows is a suspenseful game of cat and mouse as Marks attempt to find the perpetrator and, when the casualties start to mount, it becomes a thrilling roller-coaster ride.

The screenwriter team wrote an exhilarating story that really captures the audience attention from start to finish and Jaume Collet-Serra directed a solid plot that kept the movie's pace going strong, leaving no room with unnecessary fillers that tends to drag the story. There are a few camp and corny moments here and there, but the acting was realistic and believable enough to keep the movie dramatic and engaging.

Overall, it's a great action film that is full of twists and turns that will make you glued to the screen and have you guessing the unpredictable outcomes. Highly recommended.

Grade B+

I saw an advanced screening of this movie yesterday, and I was absolutely blown away. I had hoped it would be a fun thrill-ride, but I did not expect it to be as exciting and involved as it was.

My favorite part of this movie, was the fact that it takes a plot that is implausible, and makes it as plausible as possible. You can definitely tell that the writers did their research on air marshals, airplane mechanics, etc. There was not one moment in this film that I was bored, and it was filled to the brim with twists, and turns.

There definitely is a lot that went into this movie, and even though it'll have you thinking more deeply about the security of airlines, most of all it's just a really, really fun ride.

Not a bad movie. I think I enjoyed this more as Liam is one of my favourite actors. Definitely not Taken standard but comes close.

Liam Neeson is an action legend in his own right & has made some of the most entertaining Action Thriller's of the about the last ten years, we've had Neeson vs wolves in the snowy wilderness survival Thriller The Grey & we've had his iconic kidnap & revenge Taken Trilogy & his memory loss Mystery with Unknown & his troubled grizzled Detective Crime Thriller, A Walk Among The Tombstones & his Survive the night chase Thriller, Run All Night, all excellent Neeson flicks. So it's definitely safe to say that Neeson is an action Hero legend just a later in life ageing action hero but already he's one of the greats in my opinion & i just totally enjoy his films as he takes out plenty of villains & saves the day, he makes high class slick, big budget action Thriller's that are a perfect night time watch as a "Popcorn" flick.

Non-stop is a smart & stylish suspenseful Murder Mystery Thriller with some good action scenes but it's mainly in the Thriller genre just like Neesons other Mystery Thriller flick "Unknown" with the same Director (Jaume Collet-Serra) who obviously has a great working relationship with the ageing action star as they've made so far four films together with Unknown, Non-stop, Run All Night & The Commuter. Here Neeson plays another troubled & rugged type of character with a very sad backstory as an Air Marshall named Bill Mark who gets thrown right into a deadly mystery aboard his flight with a terrorist messaging him about a passenger with die every twenty minutes if his demands are not met. Neeson does give such a good paranoid & frustrated performance & has created one of his best characters in my opinion.

The suspense is high & very claustrophobic as our hero is stuck on the plane wondering up & down the aisles & looking at the passenger's wondering who it is. I liked the quiet & lonely night time atmosphere. This is a smart Mystery & an exciting one too & it has a nice night time feel to it & a slick look & a great supporting cast with an excellent Julianne Moore in a good solid role here with some nice character depth & back story as Jen, a passenger who helps our hero & we have an off duty New York Cop named Austin played by Corey Stoll & he's a good character here too & there's also solid performances from Scoot McNairy, Nate Parker, Michelle Dokery & Lupita Nyong'O. Non-stop is a fun popcorn Thriller that keeps you guessing & wondering who is doing this & why? How many terrorists? It's a clever story & also frustrating as Neeson's Character is constantly being look at as the terrorist himself as things keep happening & pointing directly at him by the clever terrorist. Just an enjoyable Neeson thriller & he's so good at them.