Non-Stop may come off at first as a dark, broody thriller. We spend our first few moments with Liam Neeson's grizzled Air Marshall in his car, on a dreary gray morning, as planes descend in slow motion. As he pours himself a double whiskey into a Styrofoam cup and swirls it with a toothbrush it feels like we're watching film noir.
It's a good setup for the start of a mystery, the airport. Everyone is going somewhere, and all the characters our boy checks out on his way to the departure lounge will play a part somehow. We're already sizing up different personalities we encounter as he smokes by the drop-off point and washes his face in the restroom. Little single-serving friend encounters we all have in airports, or indeed train stations or docks, that give you a glimpse into someone's life. The talkative yuppie, the overtired white collar worker... The more investigative amongst the viewers are already trying to guess the villain, of course. It's fun to try in this one actually, they do a damn good job of misdirection. The departure lounge is a seething mass of faces and looks, suspicious glances and warm smiles. Each character we'll inevitably see more of in the film is shown in both good light and bad in the same setting from one shot to the next. You really don't know who the inevitable troublemaker will turn out to be by the time the plane is in the air and the tension starts to mount.
As someone with a marked distaste for flying, I'll say Non-Stop did the perfect job of reminding me what it feels like to take off in one of those big ugly boats. The gut-churning slow grind as the wheels kick into motion, some dodgy redhead to your left trying to start a conversation. The waitress forgetting your order. The lurch as the plane leaves terra and some asshole starts texting you about how he's going to kill a passenger every twenty minutes until you arrange for him to be paid one-hundred fifty million dollars. We've all been there. How our man handles his situation is where the movie shines, and goes from Touch of Evil to Con Air in a few crazy twists.
Bill, our plucky but troubled Air Marshall, is not the suave sophisticate we've seen in these sort of films recently. 'The Bourne Transatlantic' this is not. He sneaks to the bathrooms to smoke and drink and think about Ireland as soon as the plane takes off, and his investigation into the killer on board starts off wonkily at best. It's a closed cabin, how difficult can it be? His text message exchanges with the hidden enemy float across the screen like an airborne Sherlock and this is done enjoyably enough to never make it feel repetitive, or even time-killing. The film moves so slowly in places it actually feels like real-time, but never becomes boring. Non-Stop manages to snag that clever Casino Royale tension of keeping you on edge when nothing is actually happening on screen for some time.
It all goes to shit fast though, and the bone-crunching punch up in the 3x3 airplane bathroom reminds you this is Liam 'Wolfpuncher' Neeson we're dealing with here after all. The fight scenes are well choreographed, fast paced, cramped and exactly like what you expect it would be to start one mid-cabin. For a moment there, after Bill makes an ugly mistake costing a life, we are really dunked in his headspace and forced to wonder is our man a little unhinged? Will we have THAT twist? Little time to puzzle it out, as the flight full of passengers quickly descends into confusion and anger. Bill and his quickly recruited posse of mystery solvers have to find out who is sending the messages before any more casualties come up with no leads.
If you're starting to think our man Bill must be speculating to himself a little too much, he has a few sidekicks on board to loosen up the tension. A cute too-smart-for-her-job stewardess always willing to help, and a kooky at first glance redhead packing an unnecessarily dark and convoluted backstory. Neither of these relationships felt quite real, with suspicions falling all over ever moment. It's good to have a range of possible suspects, but I don't believe anyone will really consider the villain to turn out to be any of Bill's sidekicks for too long. Not when there's all those lingering red-herring shots on the bald tough guy in coach to think about anyway. The third of Bill's unlucky Bat-gang is our Co-pilot who I felt we should have seen more of in the first and second act, before he has a chance to shine.
The glimpses into the various other souls aboard are some of the film's highlights though. Bill is in virtually every scene, so it does feel a welcome respite when we see someone else speculating on the mystery for a moment. We meet an NYPD agent on leave, the urban youth, a young woman out philandering. Vast stereotypes one and all, but entertaining ones nonetheless. The fears of the common man against national security, and the inherent lies therein, are explored. It's good to see that show through in what is essentially a light hearted movie. There's serious business to touch on with the TSA's bewildering security measures, and we're reminded when the passengers don't simply trust the Air Marshall because he's the authority on board. He is confronted, he is caught on tape, passengers don't take him at face value. It's actually realistic in this respect. He has to use every trick in his book, and watching Bill's sudden transformation into 'cop-mode' when one of his sidekicks shows some spine was hilarious.
As our adventure into the skies with Marshall Bill winds into the third act, the film does really come into its own. The techno-babble is fun, the quirky passengers are diverse and enjoyable to watch. Our villain is well hidden, enjoyably played, with some very interesting motives that could very well push buttons in certain circles. Can a national tragedy that the American people are very sensitive about be used for a villain to self-justify his motives? There's a darkness there that I haven't seen explored in film before, one that shows some courage on behalf of the writers to try for, even if it may touch on delicate subjects for some viewers. When the film devolves into all out action for it's last hurrah, it is well played, well executed and great fun to watch. It doesn't overstay it's welcome either, it's over in a flash of fun and almost super heroism on the part of the tough ol' Air Marshall. There's a ticking clock, there's guns blazing, there's even a few dangerously corny one liners thrown around. It rounds up to a finale that isn't forced, just fitting. (And a long shot on Neeson's smiling face that is truly spine-chilling to behold. Is that what he looks like when he flirts? Mother of God...)
I don't know if Non-Stop was intended to be as funny as it is. It has action moments bordering on Pierce Brosnan Era James Bond, and moments of pure comedy gold mixed into the dialogue. Although it has a enjoyable action movie basis with a solid mystery subplot, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and doesn't overstay its welcome in any of these areas. For a genre stale with repetition and a seriousness that is awfully out of character, Non-Stop feels like a welcome return to form to an era of playful action movies, with big heroes, crazy shootouts, and silent comedy from a stony faced hero.
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