Non-Stop

This film is an action thriller that turns into an absurd comedy after fifteen minutes that attacks your brain neurons with utterly stupid twists behind a hair-drawn storyline and clichéd stereotypes - airplane passengers, who of course include a Muslim doctor with a beard, a little girl flying behind her father, lovers trying to have sex on the plane, a computer expert able to program a message with a virus in eight minutes, and a woman who earns the full trust of the protagonist just by sitting next to him. Liam Neeson is traditionally the ultimate badass, but his opponent, an "invisible terrorist", would have to be a thousand times bigger badass to come up with such a sophisticated plan based on a perfect estimate of the protagonist's reactions, a perfect overview of the situation and an endless number of hellish coincidences. Thanks to its unrelenting pace, at least something is always happening in the film, and given to the dynamic camera and successful action sequences, the film is nice to look at. In the end, however, it's just single-use, popcorn action nonsense, offering quality filmmaking and over a hundred minutes of demented entertainment, but also a story so dysfunctional and illogical that it is almost interesting. (11/23/2020)

Liam Neeson has found his niche as the character of an aging alcoholic desperately fighting for a good cause, and I can’t say I’m not a fan. This time it was not enough for four stars, though. The logical inconsistencies and melodramatic-clichéd speeches were too much for me. Having said that, I wasn’t bored, and the cast was great, so a 3*+. (01/01/2017)

After a great introduction, I was full of hope and hoped that it wouldn't be spoiled... But it was. As time went on, the film became more and more futile, the various characters behaved more or less stupidly, and the repetitive "killer twenty minutes" started to look almost ridiculous as the filmmakers tried to cram in some action... By and large, Liam Neeson saved the day as the paranoid alcoholic, although he was given a much better opportunity in Unknown (not to mention the excellent The Grey). Yes, I was curious all the time with regard to "what, who, how and why", but sometimes something was just so evident that I couldn't miss it. Three and a half.__P.S. My favorite composer John Ottman unpleasantly surprised me with the bland music, which is a pity. (03/07/2014)

Hitchcock with french fries. The first half works outstandingly, but gradually the lapses begin mounting up and by the finale it’s turned into a 90s air disaster movies the likes of Executive Decision or Air Force One. But the beginning is atmospheric, actors great, Liam Neeson continues to build his hard guy aura. Collet-Serra is a good filmmaker, but nobody wants to give him a decent screenplay, so for now he’s made friends with guns and Neeson. We can at least be pleased about that. (03/13/2014)

A dull echo of the 1990s, whose cardiogram will drive you straight to the pharmacy for medication. Serra and Neeson would clearly love to create a new stable of action movies combined with a paranoid thriller, but while in Unknown they didn't take a screenwriter to Berlin, the airline to London forgot the captain straight away. Serra uses a lackluster flywheel that leaves Neeson's abilities in economy mode, as well as the entire pace of the narrative. It has a unique gift for moving forward headlong, but it lacks more substantial highlights that would give me a reason to see it again. One men's rendezvous in the bathroom really won't cut it. Actually, this is the first film in which Liam's position as an action titan seemed a bit out of place. There is no non-stop perennial here. (09/10/2014)