Non-Stop (PG-13)

Liam Neeson’s career has taken quite a dramatic turn over the past decade. He’s gone from turning in award-nominating roles in dramas to becoming one of the top action stars. Starting with 2008’s “Taken,” Neeson has had a string of films where he plays a similar role: a gruff middle-aged man on a mission to protect others. “Taken” was a fresh surprise, but it’s already starting to feel stale in “Non-Stop,” his latest action thriller. The movie is devoid of character, story, and most importantly, tension.

Neeson plays Bill Marks, a U.S. Air Marshal who is assigned to a flight from New York to London. Despite being an air marshal, Bill has a fear of airplane takeoffs. He is also an alcoholic, which is always something you want in someone tasked in protecting a plane and its passengers from a terrorist attack. Mid-way through the flight, Marks receives a text on his secure phone stating a passenger on the plane will die every 20 minutes unless they receive $150 million in a bank account. Marks must now figure out how to keep the passengers safe without giving into the demands.

“Non-Stop” has many dumb moments, but the dumbest of all deals with the threat of killing a passenger every 20 minutes until they arrive in London. At most, twelve people would die before landing. Immediately this takes away any tension from the endless shots of Marks’ watch counting down the next 20 minutes. Even the first death is so far-fetched it’s ridiculous. There’s absolutely no way the killer could know it would happen. Granted, there is something that appears later to throw things off, but for a flight with likely over 200 passengers on board, it’s not really the best threat a villain has issued in a film.

The film wastes its talent due to poorly written characters that have little dimension. Neeson pretty much phones it in. His character isn’t sympathetic despite a backstory that tries to get us to think otherwise, and his judgment suffers because of the drinking. Julianne Moore’s role as Jen Summers, a passenger who’s adamant about having a window seat, doesn’t do much. She helps out Marks because he decides to trust a random passenger though he has no idea if she’s the real killer. Even though Moore is generally a good actress, the material doesn’t give her much to do with the role. Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong’o star as flight attendants, but their roles are very limiting. Nyong’o is barely on screen, a shame considering the amazing performance she gave in “12 Years a Slave.” Though Dockery has been in a couple films before, this seems to be her break-through Hollywood role. Unfortunately, she’s stuck in a role that doesn’t allow her to give the range we’re accustomed to seeing in “Downton Abbey.” Anson Mount, Linus Roache, Scoot McNairy, and Corey Stoll round out the cast of talented actors who do what they can with the restraining roles their characters provide.

John W. Richardson, Ryan Engle, and Chris Roach’s script shows they don’t have the talent to create good tension or characters. Richardson and Roach were producers for various reality shows, though Roach had some writing credits for the WWE. The film had potential to be something more if a more talented screenwriter was available.

Jaume Collet-Serra has had an uneven directing career at best. In “Non-Stop” he tries to take a concept of airplane films that were popular in the ‘70s and put a thriller twist to it. Unfortunately, “Non-Stop” fails to thrill the audience by relying on old clichés and having paper-thin characters that don’t resonate with the audience. This film could’ve been a much better thriller if it had a script that was better executed. As long as Liam Neeson continues to turn in these types of roles, audiences will flock to the theater. Until they start performing poorly, don’t expect Neeson to take on an interesting project anytime soon.

– by Mike Surerus