Non-Stop (Quick Review)

Non-Stop is the definition of a fun, summer popcorn thriller; it’s cheesy and highly ridiculous, but quite enjoyably so.  Bonus points for having the king of action thrillers, Liam Neeson, star; who after his role in Taken has become this decade’s cool, middle-aged badass (following in the lines of Willis and Schwarzenegger).  Non-Stop differs from Taken in a few ways however; for one, the side characters are…actually likable and at times kind of cool.  It helps that the film actually has some decent actors playing them, such as Julianne Moore and Michelle Dockery.  I find that in your typical thriller (even the good ones) I REALLY don’t care much about who lives or dies (as long as the asshole villain(s) get their comeuppance in an awesome way), mostly because those films never feel the need to develop anyone besides the hero.  I mean, did anyone actually care whether Mills’ daughter survived in Taken, or was top importance that he got vengeance on the kidnappers?...it was the latter for me personally.  While Non-Stop doesn't necessarily develop the side characters much (save for Julianne Moore’s character), it does flesh out some of their personalities, making them more than simple targets for the villain to kill.  I honestly wanted to see the plane crew survive in the end and even got surprisingly disappointed when one side character supposedly died, though he’s later revealed to be alive; marking one of the few times I was relieved over a minor character’s survival in an action thriller.

Another neat little aspect is the framing (the making innocent look guilty kind) of our main character.  The idea is FAR from an original concept, but presented in an enjoyable fashion; using a small setting (95% of the film takes place on a plane), peculiar tactics (why have the ransom money transferred to the guy you’re framing!?) and of course Neeson aggressively searching for the truth while shouting one liners such as “I’m not trying to hijack this plane! I’m trying to save it!  The payoff is…disappointing to say the least, but doesn't deal too much damage to the film’s build up, mainly because I wasn't expecting a good payoff.  It’s a summer popcorn thriller after all, which I enjoy not for the set ups (which are almost always tediously cliché), nor for the endings (which seem to wrap up in the cheesiest ways possible), but for the center of the bulk action which, for Non-Stop, pays off as a good popcorn thriller should.