An uninspiring, badly written mess of a movie

Rating: 3/10 (28 July 2014)

Usually, when I see a bad movie that had good reviews, I keep quiet and seek for reviewers who had similar to mine experience after watching a given title, just to confirm I wasn't alone thinking that title sucked. However, Hollywood keeps pushing these dumbed-down plots in order to get to wider audiences and I need to shout out my disapproval to such strategies. In case you don't have time and energy to read the whole review, here's what you can expect from "Non-stop"- a thriller taking place in one location (a passenger jet flying from New York to London) with passable story being raped by numerous plot holes, bad acting and characters you don't care about. Here's a list of things that ruined the film for me:
-right before take-off, we meet a kaleidoscope of Hollywood cliché characters that you've seen in so many other bad movies- a black guy who dresses like a human Christmass tree and tries to be a douche by refusing to follow orders from an Air Marshall (that is before Liam Nesson's intentions are actually questionable, a Muslim guy in religious outfit that everyone looks at like he was carrying a bomb (which turns out to be the most helpful person on a plane and a know-it-all doctor), a neurotic woman that desperately needs to tell her whole life story to the person sitting next to her, a man with rapist glasses that has " I am a psychopath" written on his forehead, an uninformed, disposable flight attendant who doesn't know how to behave in emergency situations (according to the script writer, airlines only train their personnel on how to pour drinks and smile like idiots), a NYPD cop who has a fight with main protagonist only to be his best friend at the end of movie and finally the main character played by Liam Neeson, which must be the biggest joke of them all- an emotionally unstable alcoholic with highly questionable methods of dealing with security threads...
-an idea that a Federal Air Marshall carrying a ridiculously cliché black briefcase can board a plane without any screening at the airport is just plain dumb- does the script writer think TSA would allow for such a security hole- everyone, including the pilot, flight attendants, Air Marshall pass through clearance before boarding a plane (please correct me if there is a chance I might be wrong)
-when Liam Neeson asks one fellow for help breaching a federal secure phone line to send a bugged MMS and the guy manages to do it in just 8 minutes or so, DOESN'T IT RING A BELL, Air Marshall???? Maybe, just maybe, he is the one sending these messages in the first place, or at least is helping someone else do that. Damn, do directors really think everyone going to the movies these days are complete morons?? -when the two Air Marshall officers meet in the bathroom, wouldn't you think they could work something out rather than trying to kill each other right away (by the way, the bad guy has a perfect sense of timing, what if they fought 5 minutes longer, he would text them it's overtime???)
-like I mentioned before, Liam Neeson character is an alcoholic with a history of violence (we learn that at some point in the movie) and horrific past (how did he get a job as an Air Marshall in the first place) and what is even funnier, both pilots and one flight attendant knows about his problems, but not only refuse to report this obvious security issue but also listen to whatever he says in questionable situations)
-the thing that grinds my gears the most was when Liam finds out a bomb stacked in what appears to be a 10 pound cocaine bag. A bomb that happens to have, you guessed it, a glowing red display counting down time to explosion. I've seen it so many times and I still cannot believe anyone buys this bullshit- why would a terrorist ever use a time-bomb when he can detonate it remotely (he has skills to breach a secure line but he can detonate the bomb using a cellphone?). There is even a scene where you can clearly see a cellphone taped to the bomb- but no, the bad guy choose a timer set to just the right amount of time for a hero to come up with a plan. And it is all in a clear acrylic box so everyone can take a close look on how the bomb has been put together. Pleeeeease!!!

hijacked plane's pilot receives a direct order from British military to keep the altitude but instead listens to an alcoholic Air Marshall, threatening lives of everyone on the plane

-I am not an aviation expert, but if a commercial plane can make a clean landing with a huge freaking hole in the rear, please tell me because I am clearly missing something
-the last scene is hilarious- check how everyone sliding down the emergency slide cross their hands just like in drawings on the plane safety card. Not only you would see a wide smear of feces on that slide from people who almost died just seconds earlier, but also wouldn't you be like "Screw you and your hand crossing protocol, let me get off this damn plane NOW!"
-when you learn hijackers motives at the end of this painful experience they call a thriller, your jaw will drop to the floor, that's how ridiculously stupid these motives are
I could go on and on, but the point is, "Non-stop" represents a category of films I call dumb,uninspiring mess offering nothing but a feel of being viewed (by producers and directors alike) as a mindless consumer that would not question the stupidity being exposed to at the screen.