Non Stop U/A: Action Dir: Jaume Collet Serra Cast: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore <img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/mar/2-half-stars.gif" alt="" />&nbsp;
The title of this movie should have been Non Stop Nonsense because that&rsquo;s exactly what it is. Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean it&rsquo;s a bad thing, because the film is harmless, passable escapist fun.
<img title="A still from 'Non Stop'" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/mar/01-Non-Stop.jpg" alt="A still from 'Non Stop'" /> A still from 'Non Stop'
If you&rsquo;ve watched Liam Neeson&rsquo;s Taken and its sequel, then prepare yourself for Taken on a Plane, which has simply been rebranded as Non Stop.
Non Stop has been directed by Jaume Collet Serra, who made Goal 2, the twisted horror thriller, Orphan, and last year&rsquo;s Unknown. All of these things share a common DNA &ndash; they all have very interesting plotlines that culminate in a ridiculous third act. Non Stop follows the exact same procedure. Neeson plays an Air Marshall, who sets foot on the worst flight from New York to London &mdash; he receives a message on his phone from an unknown person who hacks into the flight&rsquo;s WiFi and threatens to kill someone on board every twenty minutes. Think Executive Decision starring Taken&rsquo;s protagonist, with all the brains of a Steven Segal movie and the visual sheen of a Luc Besson film.
Since this is a Liam Neeson action movie, we get a stock set of elements &mdash; his backstory involves separation from his wife and daughter, a former career in police work, a specific set of martial arts skills, the ability to charm women on the go and an Irish accent. It&rsquo;s like the filmmakers initially pitched in the third installment of Taken and the studios just decided to make it a new franchise instead. I won&rsquo;t be surprised if Neeson appears in Non Stop 2, where he&rsquo;s stuck on a space ship with a threatening caller on the phone.
There is plenty of silly stuff in the film to enjoy, like the gigantic plot holes, the hilariously contrived motives of the antagonist, and even a crash landing. Most of the runtime is spent in letting us guess who the killer on the flight is, seeing as the &lsquo;calls are coming from inside the house&rsquo;. There is even Julianne Moore put in as a red herring with a weepy backstory accompanied by sad orchestral music and you wonder if the filmmaker is pulling your leg. When the antagonist is finally revealed, it doesn&rsquo;t even matter because you&rsquo;re so caught up with measuring the level of implausibility in the film.
Non Stop would have been much more fun had it been a comedy that satirised plane hijacking thrillers and not taken itself so seriously. None of these shortcomings mean that you shouldn&rsquo;t watch the film &mdash; it&rsquo;s just that you&rsquo;ve already seen it happen many times before.

Movie Review: 'Nebraska'

The title of this movie should have been Non Stop Nonsense because that&rsquo;s exactly what it is. Of course, that doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean it&rsquo;s a bad thing, because the film is harmless, passable escapist fun.

Movie Review: 'Non Stop'

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Movie Review: 'Non Stop'

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