Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery, Corey Stall, Lupita Nyong’o, Nate Parker, Scoot McNairy, Anson Mount, Linus Roache, Shea Wigham
Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra
Liam Neeson Kicks Ass should be an official sub-genre of movies. Once Taken hit theatres and launched his stock, Neeson became a whole new movie star. It is probably the most successful career revival ever. He’s been around since 1978, arguably became well-known in the early 90′s, struggled in the late 90′s (Michael Collins, Gun Shy, Les Miserables) and became a supporting player in the early 00′s (Gangs Of New York, Kingdom Of Heaven, Batman Begins). Taken brought Neeson back into the starring role atmosphere, and since spawned Neeson vehicles like Unknown, The Grey, and now Non-Stop. Arguably, his stock is the highest it has ever been.
Plot wise, Neeson gets offered solid concepts for his films. They’re not always executed well (The Grey, Unknown), but they are a good showcase of Neeson’s star quality. Non-Stop is the first film since Taken that is executed well enough to get excited about. There’s absolutely no doubt that this can be attributed to the impressive supporting cast that was assembled for him. Oscar winners, Emmy winners, and well recognized character actors.
Neeson plays Bill Marks, a US Air Marshal tasked with the safety of the passengers on board his flight has to deal with threats being texted to him that a passenger will die every 20 minutes until the terrorist is paid 150 million dollars. Neeson soon realizes he’s alone in this endeavor when his ground support believes he is the terrorist, and refuses to negotiate with him. Neeson has to evaluate the people on the plane, as does the audience, to try and figure out who is behind this. The reveal is pretty good, if not a little far-fetched in order to be pretty good.
Arguably, the “bad guy reveal” has a character that just seems to come out of nowhere. There’s the obligatory “why I’m doing this” speech, that kinda ruins the whole thing for me. It’s like the screenwriters had a good idea, but had no idea how to close it, or make it make sense. The first 4/5th of the movie is really solid, but once you know who the bad guy is, you feel like the whole movie is just ruined. Almost like the “reveal” in Now You See Me. Great movie… but the reveal makes no sense. Even when you watch it back, it still makes no sense. I’ve rewatched Now You See Me after my first take on the ending, and that reveal still doesn’t make any sense, nor do you get a single clue it is coming.
Non-Stop isn’t the best movie of the year, but it is a solid movie. There are enough plot twists to keep you interested, but the end is just too far fetched.
FINAL GRADE: B