Non-Stop (2014) (Spoilers)

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This week we're reviewing Non-Stop.

Release Date- February 28, 2014 (USA)

Director- Juame Collet Serra

Producer- Joe Silver

Starring- Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore

Short Synopsis:

Bill Marks (Liam Neeson), a down and out alcoholic Federal Air Marshal, thinks he's going to have a regular flight when he hops on a non-stop flight from New York to London. Not too long after taking off for London he receives a text from someone threatening to kill passengers on the plane every 20 minutes. He finds help from a fellow passenger, Jennifer Summers (Julianne Moore), to try and catch this person before he kills anyone on the flight. The only thing going across the Air Marshal's mind is keeping everyone safe without getting anyone hurt. 

** Warning, Possible Spoilers !!! **

The Good: 

This movie had a great mix between thrill and suspense. You could keep wondering who's the person on the other side of the phone until close to the end of the movie. The two bad guys, Zack White and Tom Bowen, bring an interesting mix to this suspense movie. 

• Liam Neeson played a good alcoholic. His portrayal of a man trying to make things right in a bad situation is in his wheel house of acting. It will remind you of his acting in Taken with a splash of airplane madness.
• The action scenes for this movie was pleasant. Each character made use of their surroundings properly. They brought a functional style of fighting into tight quarters. 
• Both of the bad guys gave Bill a hard time to track them down properly.The integration of technology into a thriller like this movie was exciting. They used the rules of flying and incorporated it in with cell phone texting usage. The mix of multiple gadgets came into play with this movie.

The Bad: 

The motive for the bad guys didn't make much sense. The main guy lost his father due to the tragedy of 9/11 so he wanted to increase the United States' security. In his act of nationalism he tried to create his own 9/11-like catastrophe. He hoped that framing Bill would somehow cause a big change in airport security.

The 20 minute time limit of each death made for a boring twist to the movie. The first death was lucky enough to fall just at the 20 minute mark. Bill couldn't help but disable his Air Marshall partner. The guy was acting suspiciously. It looked like he was the main bad guy. This whole fight scene was unheard by anyone else on the plane. I guess the bathroom was sound proof. 

The second death came mysteriously to the pilot. Bill found a small hole inside of the bathroom while taking a smoke break. The main question for this part was how did they get the hole into the wall without anyone hearing it. 

Bill being an Air Marshal makes me question the law enforcement

The Hypothetical:

Imagine if Moore's character was part of the bad guys. It would make the most sense. Most of the movie she spent it trailing the movements of Neeson's character. A passenger even pointed her out to being in a suspicious place at a bad time. Even when both characters met up at the end of the movie I expected her to reveal her devious plans.

It would be a different movie if the passengers of the plane didn't believe Neeson's character. If they caught and restrained him because they're scared it would have ended with the plane blowing up. Sorry if this brings up any bad thoughts or offends anyone. 

Just picture this movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Bill Marks and Jamie Lee Curtis as Jennifer Summers. Think of it as True Lies: Part Deux with a little twist.

Questions of the week: What's your favorite movie with an airplane hostage scene? Why?

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