Movie Non Stop Box Office

You’ve got to hand it to Liam Neeson. The guy knows precisely on which side his bread is buttered. Since rising to Stallone-level status in the action world, Neeson has been on a tear, dropping into plenty of action films, only worried about the punching and kicking. The same goes for Jaume Collet-Serra, the director of Neeson’s latest actioner, Non-Stop. Despite a resolution that makes the mystery that came before it that much dumber, the film delivers top-notch action, giving us exactly what we’ve come to expect from the collaboration that gave us Unknown last year. At the very least, Non-Stop’s premise and the fury from some solid moments of suspense keep it from being just another forgettable entry on Neeson's action resumé. This time around, Neeson - who seems to have graduated from the same Scowl and Grumble Academy Harrison Ford apparently attended - plays Bill Marks, a U.S. federal air marshal who we first see sitting in his car in an airport parking lot stirring alcohol into a coffee cup with a toothbrush. Clearly this guy is fighting some demons, some of which seem to just go with this territory. Those genre-familiar demons quickly come into play after Marks has boarded his latest assigned flight. He begins receiving text messages from someone claiming to be on the plane, and if $150-million isn’t deposited into a certain bank account, this mysterious someone will kill someone on the plane. 20 minutes after that, they’ll kill someone else and so on until the money does arrive. It’s a fairly simple premise and one that Non-Stop takes its time getting around to. The screenwriters behind the film and Collet-Serra take care in setting up the supporting players just as any good mystery should do.
 
 The character actors filling those roles help immensely with people like Scoot McNairy, Anson Mount, Linus Roache, and Cory Stoll adding a nice recognition to those suspects. Even Julianne Moore as Marks’ seatmate bounces back and forth between playing Nancy Drew and serving as another of Marks’s suspects. The opening calm does the film wonders in the way it prepares you for the forthcoming intensity. Thankfully, when that intensity hits, it’s Collet-Serra directing it and Neeson making those hits spot-on. A movie set entirely on an airplane, you say? Now where have I heard of that concept before? Aside from the obvious Leslie Nielsen comedy other mile-high members include Flightplan, United 93 and Red Eye. However, Non-Stop has one asset that separates itself from other fellow flyers: Liam Neeson. Anyone who says they have never wondered what the Irish star would be like as an Air Marshal is a liar. ©Universal Pictures Marshal Bill Marks (what a name!) is a washed up mess. When the routine transatlantic flight he is escorting is infiltrated by a murderous terrorist the old alcoholic has no choice but to resort to drastic measures. When tempers rise, the only people to keep their faith in Marks are a mysterious passenger (Julianne Moore) and an air-hostess (Michelle Dockery). There are implausible narratives and then there is Non-Stop. Gigantic plot holes regularly appear to stretch credulity to breaking point. How much the problematic plot detracts from your overall entertainment is entirely up to you. As a decidedly anti-sceptic critic, I managed to have a lot of fun. Of course it is silly, far-fetched and superficial; it’s a Liam Neeson action film. Do not expect kitchen sink realism or you will damn yourself to disappointment. Firstly, Neeson is great. He can talk tough, generally look troubled, and rumble in a toilet cubicle like any scrappy fighter – the perfect fit for a John McClane style hero. Marks is certainly no shallow muscle man and the Taken star captures his tormented spirit without breaking a sweat. Also, Julianne Moore must be one of the most reliable actresses in Hollywood. This sort of material is totally beneath her but you would not have guessed that from her committed presence. To make an incredibly dull character seem interesting is the ultimate compliment to her proven skill. Although Non-Stop throws plenty of bangs and crashes at its audience, its efforts fail to surpass the epic plane-landing sequence in last year’s Oscar contender, Flight. Unfortunately for the director, Robert Zemeckis got there first and did things a whole lot better. But my own general unease over air travel is captured throughout the film, escalating from troublesome passengers to the post- 9/11 hijacking paranoia.