Non-Stop - Film4

Liam Neeson's on the look-out for a murderer
(Image credit: Myles Aronowitz)

Liam Neeson is in top action-man mode in this full-throttle airborne thriller. 4/5 stars

The film lives up to its title in spectacular style as Neeson’s whisky-soaked air marshal quickly finds his fighting spirit when a blackmailer on a flight from New York to London threatens to kill a passenger every 20 minutes - unless $150million lands in a secret account.

Problem is, all the signs are that Neeson is the culprit and he has his hands full not only with finding the real villain but with convincing people it’s not him…

Ideally cast Neeson gets top-flight support from Julianne Moore and Corey Stoll, as enigmatic fellow passengers, and Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong'o, as plucky flight attendants.

A stratospherically preposterous but absurdly enjoyable mix of whodunit, ticking-bomb suspense and turbulent action.

Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.