Non-Stop (2014)
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Bill Marks is a Federal Air Marshall for whom every day is the same until this one. On this plane ride, he starts receiving text messages from someone claiming to be on the flight and threatening to kill passengers. In a race against the clock, he must identify and stop the killer to save everyone on board.
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36 films that influenced Non-Stop
What critics say influenced Non-Stop
“Non-Stop” is nothing but entertaining; a locked-room mystery combining elements of Agatha Christie and “Air Force One.” Neeson is Bill Marks, a United States Air Marshal suffering from one too many ailments.
This is more in line with Air Force One, although it's not as tightly wound as Wolfgang Petersen's 1997 thriller starring Harrison Ford as the U.S. President.
This film needed a more confident filmmaking hand, someone to replicate the sleekness Jan de Bont brought to “Speed” or Wolfgang Petersen provided in “Air Force One.”
In terms of danger-on-a-plane scenarios it’s superior to “Flightplan” and “Turbulence” but not as goofily entertaining as “Red Eye,” “Air Force One” or even “Con Air.”
This flick also recalls the likewise forgettable "Red Eye" and "Flightplan"—just add popcorn for a mini-film fest of rentable, plane-related entertainment that's not as smart or scary as you hope.
It's risible nonsense, blessed with plot holes that make the fractures in the fuselage seem insignificant, and not a patch on Wes Craven's Red Eye (or indeed Robert Schwentke's Flightplan ), which did these upmarket airborne B-movie thrills with far more wit and panache.
Try 2005's " Flightplan ," 2005's " Red Eye ," or even 2006's " Snakes on a Plane ," and treat this disappointing entry as the afterthought it finally becomes.
Echoing the premise of 2005’s Flightplan and countless Agatha Christie whodunits, Non-Stop is nothing less than exhilarating in the execution of its first two acts.
But the script, credited to tyro scribes John W. Richardson, Chris Roach and Ryan Engle, also bears more than a glancing resemblance to 2005’s “Flightplan,” in which Jodie Foster’s grieving widow becomes convinced that someone has kidnapped her young daughter in the middle of a transatlantic jumbo-jet flight.
In terms of danger-on-a-plane scenarios it’s superior to “Flightplan” and “Turbulence” but not as goofily entertaining as “Red Eye,” “Air Force One” or even “Con Air.”
At least they’ve watched them: such golden age wheezers as The High and the Mighty and Zero Hour (the inspiration for Airplane!
At least they’ve watched them: such golden age wheezers as The High and the Mighty and Zero Hour (the inspiration for Airplane!
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Like the 1970s "Airport" movies, the passenger list has a one-of-everything quality, including a doctor, a cop, honeymooners and a charming moppet traveling alone.
Many are over-qualified for the assignment, similar to the way stage legend Helen Hayes played a little old lady stowaway in 1970's " Airport ".
It's risible nonsense, blessed with plot holes that make the fractures in the fuselage seem insignificant, and not a patch on Wes Craven's Red Eye (or indeed Robert Schwentke's Flightplan ), which did these upmarket airborne B-movie thrills with far more wit and panache.
Like “Panic Room” (2002), “Phone Booth” (2002), and “Red Eye” (2005), it sets up a situation in which a protagonist is under threat in a confined or limited space and has to use his or her wits to survive and win.
Try 2005's " Flightplan ," 2005's " Red Eye ," or even 2006's " Snakes on a Plane ," and treat this disappointing entry as the afterthought it finally becomes.
Because of Liam Neeson’s presence, some have described “Non-Stop” as “’Taken on a Plane,” but a more apt description would be “Speed on a Red Eye,” as in the underrated 2005 Wes Craven thriller “ Red Eye .”
Recently, director Wes Craven worked creative variations on claustrophobic thrills in "Red Eye"; "Flightplan," less successfully, embarked on guessing games aboard a jumbo jetliner in peril.
The setting is a commercial transatlantic airliner, where the bulk of the narrative unfolds – think Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat,” but in a 500 mile-per-hour winged death-tube, and with a larger cast.
This film needed a more confident filmmaking hand, someone to replicate the sleekness Jan de Bont brought to “Speed” or Wolfgang Petersen provided in “Air Force One.”
Writers John W. Richardson, Christopher Roach (an episode of 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives?') and Ryan Engle pull ideas from "Speed," "United 93" and "Ten Little Indians" for the type of script they seem to believe is clever with all its 'twists,' and yet when they finally unveil what's behind it, we've chosen the wrong door on 'Let's Make a Deal.' Their terrorist tells us how 'easy' it all was, but they never get around to filling in blanks as to just how it was done (and you may be sorry to find out why it was).
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Like Nacho Vigalondo's Timecrimes (2007), J.A. Bayona's The Orphanage (2007), or Daniel Monzón's Cell 211 (2009), Non-Stop exhibits showmanship in its construction and execution alike—one gets the impression the filmmakers had good fun putting it together.
Working with cinematographer Flavio Labiano (The Day Of The Beast, Timecrimes ), Collet-Serra continually crisscrosses the interior of the plane—seemingly modeled on a Virgin Atlantic flight and lit hazy purple—with long handheld takes and down-the-aisle dolly shots.
There’s also a nice sense of claustrophobia and space in the first half, as cinematographer Flavio Labiano (“Timecrimes,” “Unknown”) works in long, unbroken shots through the cabin, sometimes out a window and back in again.
The overall feel of the movie is like a ’70s disaster flick, like Airport or, better yet, Airport ’77, the cinematic piece of awesomeness that saw a 747 sink in the ocean, with the plane staying intact and the survivors searching for options to reach the surface, eventually opting for really big balloons.
But what starts as a moderately engaging, if familiar, exercise (like Airport '77) quickly deteriorates into farce (like The Concorde...Airport '79).