Twittview: Liam Neeson as a US Air Marshall trying to stop the takeover of a transatlantic flight from New York to London. Edge of your seat suspense in trying to figure out who the terrorist is. Grade B

Once Taken became an international hit and Liam Neeson became a certifiable bad-ass, producers have been trying to figure out a way to use him in that “let’s talk quiet and kick some tail” type way. Nothing to flashy like the movies of the 80’s and 90’s.  Subtle and real with a little hint of darkness that makes you know that this guy can hurt you with a matchstick and a napkin. We saw this in Taken, Taken 2, and Unknown and now we see it again in Non-Stop.

Playing US Air Marshall Brian Mills, Neeson again captures his audience with a character that has a past that we learn about over the course of the movie. His past comes back to haunt him as he is manipulated into stopping a terrorist attack from taking place onboard the plane. As has been relevant in the trailer, if Mills doesn’t have 150 million dollars transferred to a designated bank account a passenger will die every 20 minutes. It’s this point that we join with Mills in trying to figure out who is texting him with the demands and who is the terrorist onboard.  With very limited people to trust, Mills turns toward fellow passenger Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) for assistance as they try to find the mysterious person.

Brian’s aggressive attack to find the terrorist starts to freak the passengers out as they realize that something is happening with the plane. The pilot (Law and Order vet Linus Roache) and co-pilot ( Jason Butler Harner) have to decide if Mills is helping or the real threat on board the plane. The flight attendants Nancy (Michelle Dockery) and Gwen (Lupita Nyong’o) have known Mills for a few years and many flights. They too have to decide if Mills is setting things up or really trying to solve the mystery.

Non-Stop does something with the suspense and mystery genre that is a welcome twist. Director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) and the writing group of John Richardson, Christopher Roach, and Ryan Engle deliver enough of a twist that keeps you guessing. They manage to take the red-herring and move it around as if we’re watching the shell game. To me, that wasn’t a bad thing at all. It really allowed the story to play out and keep the guess work in-play until the final reveal. I will say that the message at the end of the movie was a tad over-the-top with what was being preached told. But the meaning was there and it did bring the point of the attack back around full circle to give it an emotional push.

Rated PG-13 for action, violence, and slight adult-language with a run time of 106 minutes, Non-Stop is a good movie to take your significant other to this weekend. I can say that it is one that I want to see again to see if I can pickup any clues that I may have missed in trying to figure out the terrorist onboard.