Non-Stop

Liam, what were you thinking? There HAVE to be better scripts out there. Don't waste your immense talent on lightweight scripts and directors like this. This film was so bad, it is hard to know where to start. How about the Air Marshal Service hiring a drunk cop fired from a major police force? Never gonna happen. How about there somehow magically appearing a hole from the lavatory to the secured cockpit? And the air pressure being lower in the cockpit than the cabin -- which is the opposite of the real world. How about the copilot assuring the air marshal he would not unlock the cockpit door for the rest of the flight then, 10 seconds later is seen in the doorway talking to a flight attendant. How about bad guys intending to parachute from an airliner with apparently no way to do so? How about the bad guys counting on Liam Neeson's character killing another air marshal in a fight -- and, for that matter, getting into the fight -- despite the fact that supposedly Liam's character is a drunk and both men are armed? And then there are the terrible special effects. Did they think we would buy a blue screen with a model airplane behind the actors. (Either that or really weak CGI). Come on. And the acting. Oh,the acting. Sometimes they cut away from the face of a character, dub in a line, then cut back to the face. Pretty transparent cover-up of terrible acting and directing. And the actor supposedly flying the plane looked like he was playing with his kid's toy. To reduce power you pull, not push the lever, for example. No wonder he crashes an apparently flyable plane (even the gear came down and all the controls worked), and he was already in the flare to land. Beyond which, it was getting pretty boring about an hour into it. The absurd and obvious mis-directions throughout were not only obvious, they were like yelling "Hey, this guy looks like a bad guy. I'll bet it's him." The script would have read better if it was written as a thriller, not a mystery. Tell us who the bad guy is and then the audience can yell "Look out! He's behind you." Instead we were yelling, "Give me a break. This is ridiculous already." This film would be a good candidate for the next iteration of Mystery Science 3000 so at least we can get a laugh at the awesome awfulness of it all.

There is something rather compelling about action films set on aircraft. The claustrophobic confinement and obvious dangers of guns, decompressions and - erm - gravity naturally add to the sense of peril. Examples of the genre are Air Force One, Passenger 57, United 93, Airport 77/79/etc. and (at the ridiculous end of the spectrum) Snakes On A Plane. Some films in this category try to mix the action with a mystery plot (Jodie Foster's Flightpath was a case in point), although after the real-life mystery of the Malaysian Airline Flight 370 jet in recent weeks no film drama could hope to compete. Non-Stop tries to join both of these sub- genres by wrapping a mystery into an action film. It largely fails in the former and partially succeeds in the latter. Plot-wise, Non-Stop is arrant nonsense. Liam Neeson - the go-to action hero of the hour - plays Air Marshall Bill Marks: a chain-smoking alcoholic, with a tragic family past, who is the last person you would trust to wave a gun around on a flight. Bill Marks boards a London-bound 'Aqualantic' flight (REALLY? Would you REALLY want to link a transatlantic airline brand with water?). Mid-Atlantic Marks is sent messages on his secure Air Marshall network (clearly not THAT secure) from someone on the plane threatening to kill someone every 20 minutes until they are paid 150 million dollars into an offshore account. It emerges that Marks is either the terrorist himself (the account is in his name) or is being set up by someone to appear to be the terrorist. A chief suspect would appear to be one of Mark's fellow passengers in business class, played by Julianne Moore: someone living life to the full with a big scar on her chest and with nothing to lose. As the body count rises, questions arise as to who the terrorist is, why they are they doing it, how they are doing it, who will be murdered next and - most importantly - does any of this make any sense at all? Liam Neeson is in "Taken" mode and as personable and effective as always. Michelle Dockery (of "Downton Abbey") plays air stewardess Nancy, and the film is also notable for featuring Lupita Nyong'o as another of the stewardesses, before her breakout recognition in "12 Years a Slave" (one assumes that the Oscar judges voted before seeing this). Whilst the plot was nonsense - leaving more open questions than answers - it was quite enjoyable nonsense, and I should add that my wife absolutely loved it (although it should also be pointed out that Air Force One is her favourite film!). I have to confess that I found the ending uproariously funny. No spoilers, but in a number of scenes the classic lines from "Airplane!" leapt unhindered into my head: specifically "Auntie M - It's a Twister, It's a Twister"; "I just want to say Good Luck. We're all counting on you" and Robert Stack's post-crash speech to Ted Striker. Popcorn fun - but not a classic. (If you enjoyed this review, please see more on bobmann447.wordpress.com, and sign up to 'Follow the Fad'. Thanks.)

Liam Neeson is an air marshal who gets framed for a hijacking while the plane is over the Atlantic. Should be a nice little actioneer, especially what with Liam coming off the two "Taken" movies. In reality, we're treated to a slow-poke "whodunit" that never really gets anywhere. Julianne Moore is a snooze, and the assorted collection of actors never get a chance to develop (for a fantastic example of how to develop a character in a flash, see Denzel Washington's "Flight"). Worst of all, the movie never sticks to any one genre. It's an action flick, no, it's a mystery, no, it's a feel-good movie, no, it's a political thriller (main character's Irish heritage is mentioned (why???) and many a time the lonely token Muslim is presented as the potential thorn in everyone's side). Don't waste your money on this. And, Neeson needs to find better scripts.

*** This review may contain SPOILERS *** ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ If you are a 'hate America first' type of person, then this is the film for you. At it's root, the film is yet another attempt to implant the mantra of progressive elitists into the brain pan of the audience. It is a celluloid rant favoring false Hollywood ideals. As far as production values, the film is decently acted, fairly well crafted, with a story line that will initially engage you(that's how they suck you in). First, they get you involved into the story and characters. When they've got you caring and focused on the people and the surrounding events, that is when they start to slip in the messaging, hoping that it will subliminally slip under your cognitive radar. This familiar Hollywood tactic goes terribly wrong this time. Elements are introduced that will at first puzzle the audience, then annoy them. By the final act, you may begin to feel genuine anger toward the filmmakers for their no-so-subtle anti-American digs. Charlton Heston famously said that "Political correctness is tyranny with manners". You may rest assured that 'Non-Stop' is a movie chock-full of that form of tyranny. By the end of it's 100 minute run time, you will have been told how you should feel about a great many things. Things that have nothing to do with an action film. The 'action' is just a thin coat of icing over a multi-layered cake of Hollywood's political self-righteousness. If that is the type meal you commonly enjoy, then by all means, shell out your twelve bucks and go and get your fill.

Non-Stop is a great movie with a well developed storyline and a talented cast.The films story was certainly an original one,and I though I think the final half of the movie is a disappointment,the movie is still a very exciting action and thriller from start to finish.Liam Neeson is without a doubt the best actor in this film,he really carries the rest of the cast and the movie certainly wouldn't be the same without him as the very likable lead,although Julianne Moore did deliver a great performance and none of the actors were bad.The reason why I was disappointed by the ending is because it seemed like there was going to be an amazing twist,but that never happened,nothing was very shocking which I did find to be a big disappointment.Non-Stop is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to fans of Liam Neeson,thrillers and actions. On a plane headed to London,an air marshall must springs in to action after he receives text messages that someone will kill a passenger on the plane every twenty minutes unless the airline transfers $150 million in to an anonymous bank account.

Never and i repeat never, have i ever dozed off during a film; no matter how bad it is, no matter if i was suffering from lack of sleep or figuratively dying from a hangover. Never have i nodded off....until Non-Stop. This film is not intense, it isn't full of suspense, i wasn't on the edge of my seat. I literally can take nothing from this film. The one thing that did look good where those first class seats on the plane that go down to a bed, because 30 minutes into this film that's where i wanted to be. I honestly don't see why this film could garner such praise. It is lifeless and with absolute common sense, i knew exactly who the killer was. So the element of surprise was basically non-existent. The whole thing drags in, every now and then trying its very best to inject some life into a film that had been in a coma from the first minute. In typical Neeson-esque fashion, the ridiculousness goes to the extreme and then there is "The Yawn". Yes, if there where an academy award for most blatantly fake yawn, then Liam Neeson would win hands down. Cheesy one liners, preposterous acting, a soul-less plot and i type this with confidence when i say you would get more suspense by sitting at home and playing a game of Cluedo or Guess Who?

The alcoholic and discredited air marshal Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a former cop that still grieves the death of his eight year-old daughter that died of leukemia. Bill is assigned to a flight from New York to London and the passenger Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) sits on his side in the first-class. When the plane is crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Bill receives text messages telling him that one passenger will die every twenty minutes unless the TSA air flight company transfers 150 million dollars to an offshore account. Bill contacts his superior that does not believe in his words. Further they discover that the bank account is in the name of Bill. Now Bill has to find the terrorist with the support of Jen and the flight attendant Nancy (Michelle Dockery) only and soon he finds a bomb on board. But the TSA representative believes that Bill is the terrorist. Will he succeed in saving the passengers lives? "Non-Stop" is a non-stop action thriller with a simple but engaging story in a claustrophobic environment. The camera work is outstanding considering such narrow space and the performances are magnificent. The plot keeps the mystery to the very end and the viewers guessing who might be the terrorist. Liam Neeson and the gorgeous Julianne Moore are like wine, the older they are the better. If the procedure of putting a bomb in the rear of the airplane is for real, why not building a reinforced box in the location to protect the airplane structure? My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "Sem Escalas" ("Non-Stop")

When I first saw the trailer, I thought it would just be another generic action movie. However, I found myself to be enjoying the movie and was entertained. Non-Stop stars Liam Neeson as air marshall Bill Marks. The journey starts out as any other until he gets a text from an unknown person which says that he will kill one person every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred to a bank account. As the movie progresses, the stakes get higher and things just keep getting worse for Liam Neeson's character. If you haven't watched the trailer, there is a twist which would have made some scenes much better. In my opinion, don't think they should have shown that in the trailer. Along the way, there are some sweet action scenes and plenty of moments to keep you guessing. You will have to suspend a lot of disbelief though, some of the events that happened were timed so perfectly and seemed just lucky to even occur the way it did. The final third of the movie, although very entertaining, felt a bit weaker than the rest of the movie. Mainly because of the reasons of the villains -didn't really like reason. Apart from that, I enjoyed the action, the story and the ending. Plenty of action to keep you entertained and a decent story.