Bullet Points: Non-Stop
After spending a good chunk of the past few weeks watching Michael Dudikoff movies, I’m finally back to watching non-Dudi films and I thought that checking out one of Liam Neeson’s newer flicks might be a good place to start. Non-Stop may have gotten lost in the shuffle of the other Neeson films that he’s released over the past half-decade but it might be one that you should be paying attention to when it eventually does show up on Netflix.
Synopsis: Air Marshall Bill Marks may have boarded a plane for the last time. Marks’ life has been in disarray since the death of his daughter and the loss of his wife. A steady diet of hard liquor helps him through his days but his reliance on the hard stuff may also spell his doom. A mysterious hijacker contacts Bill via a secure network with demands for a ransom less he starts killing passengers at a rate faster than the BMV. Bill’s history of substance abuse coupled with his erratic behavior lead authorities to believe that he is the lone culprit and he’s forced to fight against both them and the hidden terrorist.
What’s in a name: For a film titled “Non-Stop” there sure are a lot of quiet moments in the film. Neeson is a pretty old dude to be running around like he does but he keeps it looking good and even at 63 I would take him over the current crop of “action stars”. There could have been a little more action spread out or maybe a scene at the beginning of him training. You can’t beat a good montage.
A Unique Cast: While the film stars Liam Neeson and Juianne Moore, it also boasts supporting actresses Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong’o from Downton Abbey and 12 Years a Slave.
Fighting Irish: Neeson is able to use his real Irish accent throughout the film since his character is said to have been born in Northern Ireland. I don’t really know why they went this route other than a random comment that he “might be from the IRA”. Maybe Liam just got tired of using his American schtick.
Hello Broadway: Non-Stop would probably make for a pretty fun play. Nearly all of the film takes place on board the plane so it would be pretty easy to have all of that on a stage instead. Let’s make it happen people!
The Verdict: Non-Stop is a pretty decent action/suspense flick. If you’re a fan of Liam Neeson’s work in all of his Taken films or the other action movies he’s done recently that all look like Taken then you’ll probably enjoy Non-Stop as well. It won’t make your list of ‘favorite action films of all time’ but it also isn’t terrible.
