'Non-Stop' directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

'SHE'S BEEN TAKEN!!'

No, wrong review...

Non-Stop, is however another film emerging from the ever developing sub genre of Liam Neeson action thrillers, of which this is a functional and respectable edition.

Neeson plays Bill Marks, an air marshal (essentially an in flight policeman) with an alcohol problem and a difficult personal life. Bill gets on a trans-Atlantic flight bound for London, meeting Jen (Julianne Moore), a businesswoman who is at a similar point in her life and then, rapidly and predictably, bad things start happening.

It turns out that one of the passengers wants a large amount of money to be deposited in his account by the agency that Marks works for. Otherwise, he will kill one person on the plane every twenty minutes until his demands are met. He makes these demands known through a series of malicious text messages.

What follows is a fun, if somewhat predictable run through the various suspects on the flight. Bill Marks investigative techniques essentially involve pointing his gun at people and waiting for them to talk, which is an effective if terrifying technique given that on a plane you are one stray bullet away from disaster.

The suspect is something of a tech genius, so he then makes it seem as though Marks himself is stealing the money and causing the hijack of the plane. What follows is a tense investigation of these allegations with Marks' allies Nancy (a flight attendant played by Michelle Dockery) and the aforementioned Jen.

Unfortunately, not everyone on the flight is on Marks' side and this results in some rather egotistical ranting by unreliable NYPD cop Austin Reilly (Corey Stoll), who believes the rumours spread by the criminal that Marks is behind the hijack.

This is where the film is at its strongest, as the passengers struggle with the panic of being held hostage at 25,000 feet. Marks himself has profoundly little control over the situation, which, as Jen observes, reflects the wider state of his life in general.

These two make an interesting pair and it's refreshing to see a romantic sub plot on screen for two middle aged characters who have already been through a lot in their lives. This is a fairly unusual step in any widely released film.

These well developed characters raise it slightly above the level of Taken, which whilst interesting was ultimately about one man on a revenge mission. Bill Marks is a far more sympathetic character who is acting to protect those around him despite the dreadful state of his own life.

Ultimately, as you can see from the picture that goes with this review, it is a film about Liam Neeson shooting things but there seems to be more of a reason for Liam Neeson shooting things, which makes it an enjoyable, interesting and worthwhile action film.