A great Liam Neeson is starring in an average action-thriller

Rating: 6/10 (4 March 2014)

"Non-Stop" is a solid action-thriller with the extraordinary lead actor Liam Neeson. I watched this movie because of him and even though he doesn't beat his best performances, Liam Neeson is absolutely convincing as cold-hearted human wreck and sorrow-ridden air Marshall. It's sad that his character isn't more developed in this movie as we never get to know whom he was talking to on the telephone in the beginning for example.
The story itself is nothing new but could have been more convincing. The movie starts in a great way when the alcoholic chain smoking air Marshall gets text messages via a secure network on a flight from New York City to London, England. An unknown criminal announces that every twenty minutes a passenger will die if the air Marshall won't send 150 million dollars to an untraceable Swiss bank account.
After an initial suspense, the story gets a little bit ridiculous when the first victims die. The first murder could have never been planned that way by the terrorists. The second murder isn't well explained either and even the third murder feels random even though it makes more sense than the first two. These are not the only plot holes in here. At that point, the story is running in circles, though. People are dying every twenty minutes, all characters are judging too quickly and the air Marshall loses control all the time. After a promising start, one just waits for something spectacular to happen but there is nothing more to this.
Of course, we will get the so-called twist in the end and know who is behind the hijackings and killings. The solution though feels half- hearted and isn't really credible. It somehow doesn't make much sense to me. For me, this moment was a little letdown and the twist is (almost) more of a deus ex machina thing than anything out-thought.
What else is there to say? Liam Neeson's acting is good and some secondary actors are doing a solid job as well but the characters represent too many stereotypes. It's the same for the story that feels as if one had already watched a similar movie before.
The action scenes, special effects and the soundtrack are well done. The numerous text messages on screen get quite annoying and how could anyone write that fast as it's the case in the movie anyway?
In the end, fans of Liam Neeson should watch this movie without a doubt. Anyone else will get a tension filled action-thriller without any big surprises. It's an entertaining movie to watch but also the kind of film that you will have forgotten in a few months. It's nothing truly impressive but still a good average effort. Instead of showing more or less convincing Hollywood cinema, I'm asking myself why the North American and European cinemas are not showing us more memorable and poignant films from Asia, Europe or South America.
I was hesitating between six and seven points for this movie. The film is not overtly original but it's entertaining and it has Liam Neeson in it. Still, I was expecting more than this and that's why I went for the lower rating. Actually, 6,5 out of ten points would have been the perfect rating for me.