The Best of Jaume Collet-Serra

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2015)

The collaboration between Liam Neeson and the director Jaume Collet- Serra spans three movies : "Unknown"(2011), "Non-Stop"(2014) and "Run All Night"(2015). Having seen all of them, I can certainly say that "Non-Stop" was the most enjoyable, at least to me. Although the plot is a bit generic, during the film some characters are given more depth and some twists happen.
Liam Neeson is Bill Marks, a ex-NYPD cop turned into a US Air Marshall. With an haunted past, Bill is a sour man who refugees himself in alcohol to continue living his life.
All the film takes place on a plane travelling for New York to London. When the plane is crossing the Atlantic, Bill receives a text message from an unknown passenger who threatens to kill one passenger at every 20 minutes if 150 Million Dollars are not wired to an account. Bill will do anything that it takes to protect his fellow passengers.
As I remarked above, the plot is a bit generic. However, the ensemble cast is very solid, turning this movie into something more personal than the usual action flick. Liam Neeson reprises the role he has been doing for the last couple of years : The Badass. Although and despite other movies, in this one his character is given depth and real emotions. Julianne Moore is quite god as Jen Summers, a passenger with a troubled past; Scott McNairy is also very solid portraying the deceiving character of Tom Bowen; Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong'o are remarkable as the two flight attendants; Nate Parker is a bit of a comic relief as Zack White; Jason Butler Harner was truly a revelation, as I had never seen him in other feature, as Kyle Rice.
The scenes are directed very cleanly and Collet-Serra strengthens the thriller with close-up shots and very well directed action scenes which happen on very closed spaces, almost claustrophobic (30 minutes in and will be astonished by one of those scenes). The soundtrack also provides the movie some more intensity.
In the end, "Non-Stop" is an excellent action movie with twists and turns and an amazing cast. I was quite surprised with it, never thinking it would so good.
Give it a shot and you won't be disappointed.