JOIN USNon-Stop
English ****
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Anson Mount
Horror and action-thriller movies have in common the element of surprise and the quality of keeping a viewer rapt with anticipation.
With the movie Non-Stop, Director Jaume Collet-Serra, known for Orphan and House of Wax, has deviated from his regular genre of psychological thrillers and horror films to a satisfactory end.
Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is onboard a non-stop flight from New York to London. As a US federal air marshal, Bill’s job is demanding in that he must constantly exercise vigilance. Especially when a passenger threatens to kill someone on a plane every 20 minutes.
Seated next to Jen Summers (Julianne Moore), Bill begins to receive anonymous texts on a secure network. The incognito terrorist demands that 150 million dollars be wired to a certain bank account.
On a crowded plane with over 250 people, Bill must identify the terrorist who has a meticulously planned strategy to make it look like the air marshal is attempting a hijack.Bill looks increasingly guilty in the eyes of the TSA and flight crew when the bank account number the terrorist provided turns out to be in his name.
The marshal arouses even more suspicion when people he accuses turn up clean on background checks and his alcoholism and tortured past comes to light.
The movie is fast paced enough for a viewer to frequently change their mind about who they think the culprit is, making the movie rivetingly unpredictable.
Owing to Collet-Serra’s horror-movie background, Non-Stop seems to have been directed so that the audience will have knee-jerk reactions with unexpected camera shifts.Liam Neeson’s repertoire as a “hardcore” on-screen personality comes across perfectly in this movie, just as it did in box-office hit Taken.
However, there is too little Julianne Moore in the movie and probably not enough violence for Taken fans. Watching an entire movie that is set on an airplane, inside a theatre may also have one feel spatially restricted.
If you’re going to watch two Hollywood movies in theatres this week, this should be one of them. Waiting for it to come out on TV or DVD though, will not take much out of the Non-Stop experience.