Non-Stop

You’ll keep telling yourself that if the screenwriters don’t mess it up, it’s going to be a perfect aero-thriller. Non-Stop has a fast pace, a charismatic lead actor, rising paranoia and escalating suspense. But the screenwriters do mess it up, and even though the suspense remains, the film gradually loses its seriousness and in the end leaves you smiling indulgently over another silly action flick with a 1990s mentality (as you could expect from a Joel Silver production). A piece of advice: if everyone on the plane thinks you’re a terrorist and the situation gets out of hand, just tell them that your daughter died of cancer. (04/03/2014)

After a great introduction, I was full of hope and hoped that it wouldn't be spoiled... But it was. As time went on, the film became more and more futile, the various characters behaved more or less stupidly, and the repetitive "killer twenty minutes" started to look almost ridiculous as the filmmakers tried to cram in some action... By and large, Liam Neeson saved the day as the paranoid alcoholic, although he was given a much better opportunity in Unknown (not to mention the excellent The Grey). Yes, I was curious all the time with regard to "what, who, how and why", but sometimes something was just so evident that I couldn't miss it. Three and a half.__P.S. My favorite composer John Ottman unpleasantly surprised me with the bland music, which is a pity. (07/03/2014)

Hitchcock with french fries. The first half works outstandingly, but gradually the lapses begin mounting up and by the finale it’s turned into a 90s air disaster movies the likes of Executive Decision or Air Force One. But the beginning is atmospheric, actors great, Liam Neeson continues to build his hard guy aura. Collet-Serra is a good filmmaker, but nobody wants to give him a decent screenplay, so for now he’s made friends with guns and Neeson. We can at least be pleased about that. (13/03/2014)

Liam Neeson has found his niche as the character of an aging alcoholic desperately fighting for a good cause, and I can’t say I’m not a fan. This time it was not enough for four stars, though. The logical inconsistencies and melodramatic-clichéd speeches were too much for me. Having said that, I wasn’t bored, and the cast was great, so a 3*+. (01/01/2017)

I see that Liam Neeson can get himself mixed up in some great stories. After the movies Taken and Unknown, he completes his distinctive thriller trilogy with this very film. I just hope it’s not the end of the thriller genre for him, because I think he has found himself in those movies. And it doesn’t really matter that in this movie, he plays an aged alcoholic who shakes like a leaf at the thought of a stressful situation. Anyway, I can’t just talk about him all the time. The director has a great deal of credit for the high quality of this movie. If I decided to view this thriller as a crime investigation story, I’d think that everybody on the board of that plane was the killer. The camera shots of those people, their looks and even their behavior was exactly what I needed. Because I wasn’t sure about absolutely anything. And that’s why I really enjoyed this dynamic and tense movie. (29/06/2014)