Non-Stop

Rarely as compelling as its premise might’ve indicated, Non-Stop follows Liam Neeson’s Bill Marks, an alcoholic air marshal, as he’s forced to take action into his own hands after a shadowy figure begins taunting him (and, eventually, murdering passengers) aboard a crowded airliner. It’s a good setup that’s employed to consistently middling effect by director Jaume Collet-Serra, as the filmmaker, working from a script by John W. Richardson, Chris Roach, and Ryan Engle, proves unable to wholeheartedly draw the viewer into the deliberately-paced proceedings – with the movie’s arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by a continued emphasis on the mystery of the perpetrator’s identity (ie much of the midsection essentially feels like Clue on a plane). The viewer’s efforts at working up any interest in or enthusiasm for Marks’ ongoing exploits are, as a result, fruitless, which subsequently ensures that large swaths of Non-Stop are simply not as exciting or enthralling as one might’ve expected/hoped. (There are, having said that, a handful of standout sequences, with Marks’ tense attempts to ferret out the terrorist using just a mobile phone standing as a highlight.) By the time the lackluster ticking-clock third act rolls around, Non-Stop has established itself as a missed opportunity that squanders its appealing storyline and performances – as the movie suffers from a paucity of elements designed to capture and sustain one’s interest (ie there’s just nothing here worth getting invested in).

** out of ****