Neeson basks in ‘non-stop’ action

MANILA, Philippines - “I will find you, and I will kill you.” Taken star Liam Neeson is back making intimidating phone calls in his latest action thriller Non-Stop. But with two Taken films under his belt and one more on the way, how could the thrill of Neeson shouting into phones and vowing revenge be reinvented? Well, according to the team behind his latest film, the solution is to combine Taken with Speed and set the whole thing on a plane.

Non-Stop follows Neeson as Bill Marks (which is eerily similar to his Taken character, Bryan Mills), a US Air Marshal on a non-stop flight from New York to London, who must spring into action after an unknown terrorist, aboard the same flight, threatens to kill one passenger every 20 minutes unless the airline transfers $150M into an off-shore account. The journey gets far more tensed as Bill is also maneuvered into an impossible position, made to seem like he himself is the hijacker.

Neeson may be past middle age but he has become Hollywood’s favorite vengeance machine, a quietly lethal force to be reckoned with when it comes to settling scores on screen. Critics have noted, since the death of his wife Natasha Richardson in a skiing accident in 2009 â€” he has been rescuing women in distress, battling his way through platoons of bad guys and taking no prisoners, always exuding the appeal of a man of substance — ripened by age and tempered by intelligence.

Non-Stop keeps you on the edge of your seat and you watch the film perplexed about the culprit, because at some point, you think everyone is a suspect. House of Wax director Juame Collet-Serra heightens the suspense as he says, “No one has ever guessed right (who the hijacker is). And at least no one has come to me and told me ‘I guessed it and I was right.’ People always tell me I changed my mind five times and I was always wrong. And I think that’s very good and very interesting.”

“This was a really good script, ” says Neeson. “When I read it, I read from page one all the way through. I just didn’t stop. It was a non-stop read. It was wonderful.” The Hollywood actor compares Non-Stop to his blockbuster film Taken, which had a $226,830,568 worldwide gross.

Non-Stop also stars Julianne Moore, Nate Parker, Oscar nominee Lupita Nyong’o, Michelle Dockery, Anson Mount and Scoot McNairy. Fasten your seatbelts as the airborne action thriller is scheduled to take off tomorrow, Feb. 26.