Non-Stop Review
The Plot
A world weary US Air Marshal has his transatlantic flight interrupted by a text message from an anonymous source threatening to kill a fellow passenger every 20 minutes unless $150 million is paid into a designated account.
The Good
Transformed by the astonishing box office success of Taken, Liam Neeson has been enjoying a spectacular career reinvention as an action superstar. Armed with a towering 6’4” physical presence, gruff no-nonsense voice and blistering fists of fury the 61 year old Oscar winner has rapidly redefined himself. With Unknown, The Grey and the inevitable Taken sequels Neeson has emerged as one of the most bankable bad guy beating action heroes. Non-Stop continues to exploit that winning formula in a predictable but mostly satisfying fashion.
Neeson’s Non-Stop character makes sure to incorporate all the typical elements of his successful action roles. As usual he’s a troubled father using ruthless skills and uncompromising determination to single handily overcome massive odds to rescue the imperilled. As expected, he’s also routinely betrayed by those around him whilst battling inner demons and faceless adversaries. It may be familiar, but it’s also an entertaining guilty pleasure.
Liam Neeson has a rare gift for delivering dialogue with a combination of unashamed intensity and self-aware irony. As an Oscar winning dramatic actor ‘slumming it’ in genre clichés he takes full advantage of understated comedic tones, following occasionally clunky dialogue with a deadpan stare or a knowing smirk. Regularly punctuating any dangerously quiet moments of audience reflection with a ruthless piece of action also serves him well. They’re well-timed punches to bad guys and boredom.
The Bad
Non-Stop sets up an interesting premise with its claustrophobic mid-air setting but soon faces a difficult task in maintaining that simmering paranoid tension at boiling point for a feature length story. Inevitably the film quickly finds itself required to resort to increasingly unlikely plot devices to perpetuate the action. It’s ultimately impossible for the film to deliver a resolution which is inventive and original enough to be entirely satisfactory.
Julianne Moore plays ‘female lead’ alongside Neeson, but it’s a purely functional role that fails to inject any convincing emotion or drama. The character feels like a massively missed opportunity, particularly during the film’s lengthy hunt for the criminal mastermind hiding in plain sight amongst the 150 passengers.
Beyond Neeson and Moore the film does also feature a few familiar from the cast of Downton Abbey and House of Cards, but sadly they serve as little more than set dressing. Given two dimensional roles with only minimal unsatisfactory dialogue they do little more than populate the plane. It might be a crowded flight but it’s a crowd lacking in depth, drama or personality.
Ultimately the film could have easily injected more paranoid doubt into audiences’ minds, without being solely reliant on Neeson’s frantic response to anonymous threats and a few lazy plot twists.
The Ugly Truth
Without Liam Neeson Non-Stop would certainly have crashed shortly after take-off, but thanks to his innate charisma and weary workmanship it remains a watchable addition to his growing catalogue of guilty action genre pleasures. A welcome distraction in particular for any fans eagerly waiting for Taken 3.
Awesome New Godzilla Trailer Unleashed
Check out the simply awesome new main trailer for director Gareth Edwards big screen Godzilla revival. Starring Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ken Wantanabe the new trailer reveals that in fact the new film is positioning itself as something of a sequel to the original 1950′s Godzilla movie which gave birth to the long running monster franchise.
Bryan Cranston’s character seems appropriately furious about the fact that the government has apparently been keeping Godzilla’s terrifying existence secret for half a century, whilst secretly trying to kill it with nuclear bombs under the guise of ‘weapons testing’. Evidently that didn’t work and the towering monster is now getting busy leaving a trail of devastation in his wake across the globe.
The trailer demonstrates exactly the kind technical accomplishment and emotional intensity that made Edward’s low budget debut Monsters such an auspicious directorial calling card. The new film looks set to finally deliver the kind of credible western blockbuster the Godzilla franchise has long deserved, banishing memories of the generally atrocious 1997 version.
Those that found Guillermo Del Toro’s recent Kaiju battling Pacific Rim a little too cartoonish will also be pleased to see Godzilla take the ominous tone of a truly dark and brooding disaster film.
Full Godzilla trailer below:
Rupert Grint Talks Potter Romance Doubts
Speaking to Red Carpet News backstage at the What’s On Stage Awards ceremony in London, shortly after collecting the best newcomer award for his role on West End play Mojo, Harry Potter Star Rupert Grint reacted to J.K Rowling’s recent admission that she doubted whether the marriage between characters Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger would actually have worked out long term.
Young star Rupert jokes that he himself “had his doubts” about the romance with Emma Watson’s character at the time of filming, although when pushed for the reasons behind his hesitation, he admit’s it’s more based on his general anxiety over any kind of romantic scenes. He also points out that unless they decided to somehow remake or revisit the story fans will never truly know how things would have turned out for the couple and will be left to make up their own mind…
Video Interview Below:
Joey Essex Signs Essex Dance Album Deal
The Only Way Is Essex star Joey Essex has signed a new deal with major record label Warner Music to release a new triple CD dance music compilation album. The new collection will perhaps predictably be called Essex Anthems and promises to offer a comprehensive package of current and classic dance floor tracks.
Material from Rudimental, Breach, Duke Durmont and Swedish House Mafia will all reportedly feature alongside exclusive tracks by Clean Bandit and David Guetta. The release of the CD set will coincide with the reality Tv tars new ITV2 show ‘Educating Joey Essex’.
Explaining the unexpected move into music entrepreneurship the popular TOWIE star said:
‘I’m really excited about this record deal. It’s amazing to be making the ultimate dance album based on the tunes we play at Sugar Hut, Me and the label have spent loads of time choosing the tracks, mixing up new hits with classic dance floor bangers.’
Seth Rogen Set For Nintendo & SEGA Movie
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are set to make a film based around the so called ‘Console War’ between tech giants Nintendo and SEGA. The project is set to be based around the non-fiction book by author Blake Harris, which compiled the accounts of over 200 video game employees. Although the main focus of the book is arguably SEGA’s American CEO Tom Kalinske.
Kalinske is widely credited for being responsible for the unconventional marketing tactics which helped SEGA challenge the undisputed market dominance of the much larger Nintendo organisation.
Harris has had previous books Moneyball and The Accidental Billionaire both turned into successful big screen vehicles. Yet again producer Scott Rudin is on board to guide the adaptation process.