Non-Stop

Terror at 30,000 feet!!! There's all sorts of crazy, scary, terrifying situations out there. But what about those situations where you simply can't get away from it? Like literally, can't get away, like on a plane flying at 30,000 feet. There's a fun, little sub-genre of movies like this, including Air Force One, Flightplan, Red Eye, and most recently, Non-Stop.

A former police officer from New York City, Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a Federal Air Marshal who's been at it for years. After some family troubles years before, Marks struggles with the job, drinking heavily to the point his coworkers are aware of it as well. Boarding a six-hour flight from NYC to London, Marks is ready for whatever could be thrown at him...until now. An hour or so into the flight, he starts to receive ominous text messages from an unknown sender. His threat? Unless $150 million is deposited in a bank account, someone on board will be killed every 20 minutes. It has to be a joke, right? How could a killer get away with it? What could their escape plan be? Marks isn't sure how to proceed, but with the clock ticking, he's working against time. Can he find the supposed killer before he strikes?

I'm going to be honest here. When I first saw the trailer for director Jaume Collet-Serra's film, I will....I'll say, less than enthused. It looked exceptionally goofy, even dumb, in wasting a premise that sounded like it could be pretty cool. Now all that said, a local theater shows movies for $5 on Tuesdays so....yeah, I gave it a shot. 'Non-Stop' ends up being a lot of fun, taking advantage of a simple, straightforward premise. A killer on-board a plane? How could he possibly plan on getting away even if his plan somehow succeeds? At 106 minutes, it's basically the perfect length -- not too quick, doesn't overstay its welcome. The style is there, texts popping up on-screen as Neeson's Air Marshal interacts with the terrorist. With the exception of a quick introduction and the closing scene, the entire movie plays out on the plane as it flies across the Atlantic, almost like a stage play. Above all else, it is entertaining. It's fun, and sometimes that's all you need.

Another chapter to the Liam Neeson Badass chapter has been written. As I've written before, I'm a big fan of Mr. Neeson no matter the part, but I love him in these more commercial movies more than the more dramatic period pieces. It's like picking pizza though. There's not really bad pizza, just less good. Neeson was cut out to be an action star. It just took years to figure it out whether it was the Taken movies, The Grey, Star Wars, Unknown, and now here in Non-Stop. His grizzled Bill Marks is worn down, beaten up and struggling with alcoholism, but through it all, he still knows how to do his job and do it well, even when it seems he can do no right. Now in his early 1960s, Neeson for lack of a better description is a badass. It's fun to watch him on-screen, especially in ass-kicking mode. His weathered face, his gravelly voice, it all adds up and in a good way. Likable, believable and a hell of a good action star.

One of the biggest selling points for 'Non-Stop' for me was the catch. With a story like this, you know there's going to be a big twist, a big reveal, something that lays it all out there. There just is so deal with it. Here, the premise is a whodunit? Who is the person behind the diabolical plot that threatens to claim the lives of 150 people on-board this commercial airliner? Everyone in the supporting cast is a possible suspect so that's part of the fun. Can you piece it together before the big reveal? I had an inkling, but I couldn't peg this one. For starters, look for Julianne Moore as Jen, the fellow passenger who needs a window seat and ends up next to Neeson's Marks. Also look for Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery, Linus Roache, Nate Parker, Corey Stoll, Anson Mount, and Omar Metwally among others as assorted passengers and crew on-board who may or may not be working with the Air Marshal to find out exactly what's going on. Shea Whigham also makes a quick appearance as an agent on the ground communicating with Marks. It's a fun group with some solid variety. I was kept guessing until the very end as to who was behind the plot at 30,000 feet.

And then there's the reveal. I didn't love it, but it's a realistic ending so that's a win in itself. I was worried about some ridiculous, far-fetched twist coming out of left field. Thankfully, that never comes to fruition. So while I didn't love the ending, I didn't hate it each other. It was getting to the finale that's pretty cool. We see the responses, the contingency plans, the technology available from texting to filming video with a phone, all how it affects Marks' situation that gets progressively worse with each passing moment. This is a good, old-fashioned thriller with some nice modern touches. Uncomfortable, full of tension and adrenaline, with a lot going for it across the board. An easy movie to recommend.

Non-Stop (2014): ***/****

Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden

In the midst of awards season, director Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty is getting all sorts of Oscar buzz from Best Picture to Jessica Chastain for Best Actress. It's a movie I liked but didn't love, but I can appreciate the quality from beginning to end. The story of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden is a massive undertaking which 'Thirty' does well at tackling. How about a smaller budget straight-to-DVD version of the same story? Uh-oh, this could be bad, but here we go with 2012's Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden.

As the years pass since the 9/11 attacks, the CIA, including an agent named Vivian (Kathleen Robertson), continue to search for clues that will ultimately lead to terrorist Osam Bin Laden. When a promising clue leads to a fortress-like compound in Pakistan, two field agents (apparently unlisted/uncredited in the cast listing) set up surveillance on the compound in hopes of figuring out for sure if bin Laden is in there. As the clues comes together, Seal Team 6, including young team leader, Stunner (Cam Gigandet), and veteran right-hand man, Cherry (Anson Mount), prepare to lead a raid to take out bin Laden should the clues and identity come together as planned.

Originally shown on National Geographic TV (I didn't know that channel existed) just a few days before the November 2012 election, 'Raid' is impossible to view without thinking of Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty. It tells the same, exact story, right down to the division of the story among a handful of different stories. Where 'Zero' uses Chastain's Maya as a link to all the stories, 'Raid' has no real unifying hook other than the ultimate goal of hunting down bin Laden. It has a docu-drama feel to the too-short 91 minute movie, utilizing stock footage of the war in Afghanistan with election footage, some President Obama soundbites, quick editing of C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, and general B-roll.

Don't be confused though. While the title says this is a movie about Seal Team 6 and its raid for bin Laden, it's not exclusively that story. It certainly devotes more time to the team than 'Zero' did, but it's not just their story. The actual Team 6 story is pretty standard men-on-a-mission focus. Along with Gigandet's Stunner and Mount's Cherry, we're introduced to Mule (rapper Xzibit), Trench (Freddy Rodriguez), and Sauce (Kenneth Miller), and Lieutenant Commander (Robert Knepper). It's pretty typical stuff. The group bickers, fights, argues, makes fun of each other. The rivalry dynamic between Stunner and Cherry is hackneyed at best and feels like something you will have seen in countless other movies. The weird part? Beyond the rivalry thing, the men on a men angle, the specialists working together works surprisingly well. Kudos to first-time screenwriter Kendall Lampkin for getting that element correct.

Some scenes among the team stood out in a positive sense for me. An early mission in the desert is well-choreographed and full of tension with a surprising capper. The raid itself in the finale is nothing spectacular (especially having seen Zero Dark Thirty where that scene is perfection). Instead, it's the moments that are more personal that work. Mule and Trench talking about the mission near an airfield and how they ended up as Seals is well-written and well-acted. It's the definition of cliched, but a scene where the Seals video-message with their families right before the mission is authentic and emotional in in its simplicity. Anything new in that formula? Nope, but when the story has a finale that EVERYONE knows where it's going, there has to be something along the route to keep you interested.

Of the three storylines, the weakest is the C.I.A. angle. Robertson's Vivian -- quite the looker -- wears huge-rimmed glasses a 1960s librarian wouldn't have worn, apparently to dull down her looks (I guess?). She's joined by the always reliable William Fichtner as Mr. Guidry, a C.I.A. supervisor, and Eddie Kaye Thomas as a fellow agent with a different stance on the bin Laden hunt. These are the scenes that have the pseudo-documentary feel to them, and not for the better as they lack any real sense or urgency or energy. While I can't find their names listed in the cast, the third storyline of the two agents on the ground in Pakistan near the compound is more compelling -- by far -- than the C.I.A. angle.

I'll be giving this TV-movie the same rating as I did Zero Dark Thirty, but I'm not saying they're equally good or even on the same page. Many reviewers criticized the left-wing angle this movie takes, its lack of military accuracy on a ridiculously minute angle, or any number of other things. The moral of the story is what I go into every movie with. Did I like it? Even a little? Yes, I enjoyed this one throughout. Regardless of your thoughts, it would make an interesting companion piece to watch with Bigelow's Zero Darky Thirty.

Seal Team 6: The Raid on Osama bin Laden (2012): ***/****