Free Flights for Everyone!

Rating: 5/10 (2 March 2014)

Greetings again from the darkness. Hollywood is a true believer in the theory that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. The constant attempts to capture the same lightning bolt in the same bottle would be kind of funny, if not so frustrating for us movie-goers. Liam Neeson's surprise hit with 2008's Taken spawned not just a Taken sequel, but now two movies from director Jaume Collet-Serra - this one and the disappointing Unknown. Oh well, it's easy money for Neeson and it's not the worst early year release.
It's been 20 years since Liam Neeson's Oscar nominated performance in Schindler's List. Rather than a great actor, he might best be described as a familiar screen presence ... a guy we can somehow relate to most of the time. Well, at least until he unleashes his particular set of skills ... this time in an airplane lavatory! The set up for this thriller is quite promising. Neeson plays an alcoholic US Air Marshal looking and sounding quite beaten down by life in the first few minutes. Once on his flight, he receives a text informing him that someone onboard will be killed every 20 minutes until $150 million is transferred into his account. It's a combination hijacking, extortion, whodunnit murder mystery and blackmail story. Unfortunately the three first time screenwriters (one of whom "wrote" for the WWE) botch every possible twist and turn. With a plane full of suspects, we play right along with Neeson as he begins the process. We've enjoyed the claustrophobic approach to movie thrillers before in such movies as Flight, Air Force One, Flightplan and even Phone Booth.
For whatever reason, this plane never feels cramped and the tight spaces only come into play with the aforementioned lavatory fight scene, and even that seems like the most spacious airplane restroom of all-time. Even the multiple drop-dead deadlines aren't really played for full effect, and the decent supporting cast isn't given much to do, save for looking suspiciously at Neeson.
Julianne Moore co-stars, but mostly her role consists of disbelieving stares and a tilt of the head. Corey Stoll (House of Cards) gets a few juicy scenes, as does the always interesting Scoot McNairy. Unfortunately, Oscar nominee Lupita Nyong'o, Shea Whigham, Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), and Nate Parker have little to do, and the absolute wasting of Anson Mount is a crime.
If you are skittish about flying, there is no reason to see this one, though the convoluted motive and lackluster reveal might help you forget the story takes place on an international flight. The one thing we do learn is that Liam Neeson can take a fire extinguisher to the head and bounce right back up without a mark. Let's add that to his particular set of skills, while we less than anxiously await yet another collaboration between Neeson and this director coming in 2015.