Review of Non-Stop (2014) by James S — 03 Jan 2015

Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery, and Anson Mount.

Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra.

Rated: PG-13.

Air Marshal Bill Marks has been flying for a long time and boards a flight to New York thinking it will be just like any other job. Then he starts getting messages from a person demanding 150 million dollars or they will kill someone on the flight every 20 minutes. As he tries to figure out who is behind the threat, bodies and evidence against him start to pile up. With everyone thinking he is behind the whole thing, Bill has to quickly clear his name and save the passengers before time runs out.

Maybe it's just that because it's that time of year where Hollywood releases a lot of pretty weak (sometimes bad) films, so I haven't gone into a lot of movies with high hopes the last couple months (as you probably noticed from my last few reviews). Non-Stop was pretty much in the same boat, but also after the flawed Unknown and disappointingly boring Taken 2, I wasn't too sure about Liam Neeson as I once was. I like him, he's a good actor, he's one that I will see a movie if he is in it. It just looked like he was going to do the same part for the rest of the movies.

I ended up hearing some good things though so I decided to go. Yet again, I was proved wrong. Non-Stop was well worth my time. With this, The Lego Movie, and A Million Ways To Die In The West looking hilarious, it looks like Liam Neeson is getting back on track.

Liam Neeson does seem to play a lot of the same characters since Taken became a hit and Bill Marks could essentially be the same character. What saves this one is he better written. He's got more depth, more mystery, and is more interesting. We only get bits of his past at a time, so he is almost as big of a mystery as who is killing passengers.

Julianna Moore I don't tend to care for very often. She plays a lot of uptight characters that just aren't likable. Here, she.

Manages to be funny and great opposite to Liam's intense, angry Bill.

The rest of the suspects, er...cast is filled with good performances. Nothing overly amazing, but some memorable characters.

I'm a sucker for a good whodunnit, and there are plenty of twists and red herrings that leave you guessing.

There are a couple of plot holes, like a convenient actual hole that we never really learn how it got there. So a few things aren't fully explained and the big reveal is more of a lucky chance then pieces of a puzzle finally forming a picture. However it still lead up to a satisfying ending and didn't feel like a waste of time.

It's got a good mystery, acting, suspense, an interesting main character, and is very well paced. I'm not sure how good of a second viewing it would be, but it's worth a watch at least once especially if you are a Liam Neeson fan.

8 Reels Out Of 10.

"We're midway across the Atlantic. How do you kill someone in a crowded plane and get away with it?".