Non-Stop (6/10/2014)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some language, sensuality and drug references.

Starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Scoot McNairy

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown and Orphan)

Non-Stop is action packed, but certainly not the best Liam Neeson film.

During a transatlantic flight from New York City to London, U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks (Neeson) receives a series of cryptic text messages demanding that he instruct the airline to transfer $150 million into an off-shore account. Until he secures the money, a passenger on his flight will be killed every 20 minutes.

OK let’s be honest, Liam Neeson’s rise to action hero status began with Taken. In that film he was a father doing whatever was necessary to find his daughter. In this film, he’s an Air Marshal doing whatever was necessary to protect a plane full of strangers. So while there is plenty of action, because it’s not personal, it lacks heart.

Besides a lack of heart, Neeson’s character is too flawed. He has a troubled past and is in danger of losing his job. I generally like flawed or vulnerable characters, but having him so flawed weakens the movie.

But the weakest part of the film is the explanation at the end of the film when the bad guy is revealed. I was floored by the amount of words that were used to explain the plot of the film…and that the bad guy is the one explaining everything…while the plane is falling out of the sky. It’s just nonsense.

Then there is the acting. This movie has Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong’o. Not one of these women is crucial to the movie’s plot. I think the filmmakers thought we might suspect one of them as the “bad guy” but that never happens.

I never really found myself rooting for Neeson, partially because I knew he was going to win in the end and partially because the director didn’t give me a character to cheer for. So I’d say “skip it” on this one.

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
There is no sex or nudity in this PG-13 action film. There is 1 F-word, around 10 S-words and a dozen or so mild obscenities. The whole film has an intense tone with a lot of violence.

CONVERSATION STARTER:

1. How would you describe Bill Marks when we first meet him?


2. What do you think makes him take his job so seriously?


3. His duty as an air marshal is to keep people on the plane safe, as a follower of Christ what is your duty?


4. Read Mark 16:15
   
   And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
   
   Are you willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill that duty? Why or why not?


5. Who is someone you can share the gospel with this week?