Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Non-Stop review

Liam Neeson has very particular set of skills. Skills he has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make him well suited for a movie like Non-Stop. If you mess with Liam Neeson, he will look for you, he will find you, and he will probably kill you. If you like the idea of Taken on a plane with a dash of Hitchcock-style mystery, then you’ll love Neeson’s latest, Non-Stop.

Non-Stop does everything it can to keep the plot moving as fast as the plane it’s in.

Recommended Videos

Liam Neeson’s second action movie with director Jaume Collet-Serra is a lot like his first. In 2011’s Unknown, his amnesiac character tries to solve a deadly mystery that challenges his very identity and sanity. There’s no amnesia in Non-Stop, but there is some déjà vu.

Set almost entirely on an airliner crossing the Alantic Ocean, Non-Stop puts Neeson in the role of Bill Marks, a burned out U.S. federal air marshal who not only hates flying, but views what he does as a glorified desk job. (Air marshals fly undercover as passengers on random flights to ensure the safety of everyone on board in the event of a crime or problem in-flight.) Marks can’t stand his life anymore and wants out; he smokes and drinks on and off the job, and he is an unhappy, lonely man.

On a routine flight from New York to London, things change. Marks gets a mysterious message on his secured government texting line demanding he deposit $150 million in a specific bank account or a passenger on the plane will die every 20 minutes.

Like a Ron Burgundy fight, things escalate quickly. Marks’ superiors believe he’s responsible for hijacking the plane because the bank account is in his name. With his back against the wall, he must prove his own innocence by finding the person responsible. Every passenger is a suspect; guns are drawn; there’s a lot of yelling; a great fight in a plane bathroom; and yes, a bomb.

The bathroom scene is especially intense. Airplane bathrooms are a claustrophobic experience for one person. Add 6-foot-4-inch Liam Neeson and you are asking for trouble, but somehow, through a series of quick cuts and changing angles, two grown men have a believable brawl in this confined space. Most scenes on the plane, which was created from front to back in a sound stage, feel authentic.

Non-Stop never elevates itself beyond B-Movie status, but it’s a damn fun B-Movie.

Marks is a familiar Neeson character – a capable hero with a troubled past – but the actor’s performance and presence, as usual, helps elevate what would be a much duller movie in his absence. An amazing supporting cast joins him, lead by Julianne Moore, who plays Marks’ seatmate Jen Summers. Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) is a flight attendant who knows Marks, and Scoot McNairy (Monsters, Argo) turns in a believable believable performance as a distraught passenger accused by an air marshal who must appear to be losing his mind.

Toward the end, the plot rises above the realm of believability. Collet-Serra manages to keep the mystery alive for most of the film, however, challenging us to figure out who did it with precision rarely seen in Hollywood films.

Everyone onboard the plane is a possible criminal mastermind, including Marks and Summers, both of whom we begin to doubt as the evidence piles on. There are plenty of suspects, including a suspiciously large number of white men wearing glasses. Why do white men with glasses seem like they’re up to something? Or maybe Non-Stop takes place in an alternate reality where contacts were never invented.

Nonstop-screenshot-22
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Collet-Serra has created a film that lives up to its name. Every minute of it is engaging, from opening to credits. While other action films waste time on long, predictable sequences, Non-Stop does everything it can to keep the plot moving as fast as the plane it’s in. Collet-Serra also toys around with many of the different racial and lifestyle stereotypes you sometimes see on movies with planes, but never succumbs to predictability.

Non-Stop’s script is engaging, but the payoff takes an extra swig of Coke and mouthful of popcorn to accept. Liam Neeson the real reason people will see this though, and he delivers his gruff action character flawlessly. Non-Stop never elevates itself beyond B-movie status, but it’s a damn fun B-movie. Sit back, enjoy, and don’t think too hard after the credits roll. You’ll have a good time.

Trailer

Jeffrey Van Camp
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…
Steams says it wasn’t hacked and your account is safe
A Steam Deck sits in a dock, as Ender Magnolia plays on its screen.

Yesterday, news broke that more than 89 million Steam accounts had been put up for sale on the dark web, prompting users to rush to change their passwords. Steam says that's false and that you don't need to worry about your account. Although there was a leak, it wasn't one that would compromise the security of your PC game library.

Steam says that although a leak did take place, it was not a breach of the Steam systems. "We’re still digging into the source of the leak, which is compounded by the fact that any SMS messages are unencrypted in transit, and routed through multiple providers on the way to your phone," the announcement reads.

Read more
Roblox creators can now sell physical merch in-game
A laptop with a Roblox wallpaper.

Purchasing in-game items is nothing new to Roblox, but now users can shop for actual physical merch and receive an avatar item on top of it. Eligible creators can bundle digital items with physical purchases, according to Roblox's announcement, and it opens up more avenues for creators to generate revenue in-game.

"Our vision for the future of shopping is an experience that’s more exciting and social than the traditional online shopping experience. On Roblox, you can explore virtual stores, try on clothes, and share the experience with others," the post reads. "This naturally builds interest and purchase intent. Now we’re taking it one step further, bridging the gap between virtual and real-world shopping by enabling Roblox users to purchase physical items."

Read more
All Elder Scrolls games in order, by release date and chronologically
A mage looking over morrowind in Elder scrolls online.

There are few fantasy worlds as fleshed out and deep as the Elder Scrolls' Tamriel. We were first introduced to the series in the early '90s, and now eagerly await Elder Scrolls 6 to show us a new chapter of this tale. Until that upcoming video game makes its way to our PCs and consoles, we love to revisit these games to see how they have evolved and reimmerse ourselves in the lore. Similar to the GTA games, you'd be missing out on over half the games if you think there are only 5 Elder Scrolls games out right now. Surprisingly enough, every single game is considered canon and contributes to the ongoing story of the world. While you could always jump into whatever game looks most interesting, we think playing either in release order or chronologically is a better approach. This is the official order for the entire Elder Scrolls series in release and chronological order.

All Elder Scrolls games in release order

Read more