Yeah. Not bad. Not a movie that’s going to blow anyone’s
mind or anything, but as an enclosed space dramatic thriller, the film
works. If you’re expecting non-stop
action, this isn’t the movie for you. If
you’re expecting non-stop suspense, your mileage will fare better. I suspect that the final twist at the end is
going to catch some people off guard with how topical it is, and I’m really
unsure exactly what the film is trying to say about its subtext. I personally thought it only partially works
as a conclusion, but I can see valid arguments for why the ending makes
sense. I only wish the film had done a
bit more development in getting there.
You may wonder why I’m starting at the ending and being so
vague about it to boot. Well, the
problem with reviewing a suspense thriller, particularly one that I enjoyed and
am trying to recommend, is that telling you much of anything is going to spoil
the plot twists that essentially make this movie what it is. And because I liked this movie, I don’t want
to do that. So this review is basically
going to touch very lightly on some stuff that doesn’t delve into spoiler
territory, mostly things that I think the film could have done better. However, my criticisms are only offered in
light of an engaging mystery plot that kept me interested until the very
end. Just because I’m not talking about
the good stuff this time doesn’t mean that it isn’t there, only that telling you
about it would make the film less entertaining to watch if I did.
So, Liam Neeson plays an air marshal that gets on a plane,
as they do, and becomes embroiled in a plot where an unknown passenger is
threatening to kill someone every twenty minutes unless he has $150 million
transferred to a trust account. And
that’s about all I can tell you about the plot.
What I can tell you about, though, is the main character. Neeson is pretty much a blank slate for
two-thirds of the movie, and while I do appreciate that the film tries to do a
slow reveal as to some of his more reprehensible qualities, I think the film
reveals some information too late, making some of Neeson’s motivations seem
logical in retrospect. These aren’t so
much twist reveals as hastily added exposition to make the plot make sense. Also, co-star Julianne Moore plays a love interest/exposition sounding board for Neeson, but that’s about all there is to say about her.
As for the aforementioned climax on which this whole
experience relies, I’m still not 100% sure all the mystery threads tie together
in a satisfactory way. The film reaches
its climax just fine, and whether you find the final reveal acceptable will be
up to you, but I’m just not sure that some of the elements of the mystery are
adequately explained once the bad guy is revealed. It’s a moment that could have used an
explanatory flashback montage, because I’m not sure this film is quite good
enough to encourage multiple viewings.
And that’s about it; anything else would be telling
too much. Non-Stop is a pretty decent thriller. Not the best I’ve ever seen, but I would definitely
recommend giving this one a look. Neeson
has really been reveling in the serious alpha-male action thriller roles for
the past decade or so, and he seems to do it because he’s pretty good at it. If he wants to ride out his career on movies
of this caliber, I see no reason not to support him. Have fun!
Have a favorite suspense thriller? Let me know about it in the comments below!
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