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This time of year is usually a barren one for us cinema-goers. Sure, you always have a couple of standout movies but for the most part; the first months of the year is Hollywood's dumping ground for weak or bad movies. How does a movie like “Non-Stop” hold up then? Let's take a quick look at it!
Drunk, depressed and overworked.
Who screens these Air Marshall candidates?!Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a miserable man. After the death of his child he fell apart and his marriage along with it. His only reason to wake up in the morning is Jim Beam and his work. Speaking of which, he is an Air Marshall with a fear of flying. He's assigned to protect the passengers on a transatlantic flight. Now, I would want a man that unstable and maladjusted to protect me as well. All seems to go well enough when suddenly he gets strange texts on his phone. A passengers on the flight threatens to kill a person every 20 minutes unless the airline transfers 150 million dollars to an offshore account. What follows is a deadly cat and mouse game where Bill must not only find this mysterious attacker but also get the plane and its passengers safely on the ground. A bomb is found and the clock is ticking.
That ol' bomb buried in blow trick. Works every time! First of let me burst that bubble! This is not an action movie. This more thriller and suspense than guns and explosions. Yes, there is an excellent set piece near the end of the film, featuring the latter but “Non-Stop” leans heavily on characters and dialog. Now, while they do build up tension fairly well and do the whole Hitchcock mystery thing, it is neither original or surprising at all. When the “big” reveal does come, most observant viewers would have figured out “the twist” already.
Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore trying to save the plot of this movie. The performances are fine. They never reach excellence though. I don't blame the actors for being on auto-pilot it's the unremarkable screenplay they have to work with. What I found strange though were the supporting actors though. Why put well known performers in throw away roles? I know Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a slave) is an up and coming actress but I think she's already proved what she is capable of. The same goes for Mount Anson (Hell on Wheels). Now, he's hardly a rookie actor. Why were the both of them barely in this movie?
Where are the doves? Don't get me wrong, while I do think this is a mediocre movie, it did what a movie should do; entertain. It has a nice build up of tension, it gets utterly ridiculous at times but at least it never gets boring. When the movie does shift gears into full action mode it is utterly breathtaking. Would I recommend you seeing this at a cinema then? No. This is one of those movies for a rainy Sunday afternoon. It's definitely a rental but a good rental at that!
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Crashing buildings, giant robots and fantastic spaceship battles. This summer, I got visual carpet bombed. Yes, all this big budget, on-screen onslaught looked pretty spectacular but it somehow failed to make a connection with me. My mind needed a little rest. After all this fast food cinema, it needed some good 'ol 'home cooking'. Cue 'Europa Report'. I've seen this film getting positive reactions all over the net. So, I decided to see what all this fuzz was about and find out if all this praise is deserved.It was meant to be man's greatest achievement. The first manned mission; heading towards one of Jupiter's moon's, Europa. We see Dr. Samantha Unger, lead mission planner for the Europa mission (Embeth Davidtz), clearly shook up and in tears trying to make sense of the last images that they received of the spacecraft 'Europa one'. At the same time, during the interview with Dr. Unger, we also see footage of the crew lamenting the loss of one of their own. From the get go it is clear, that something went terribly wrong. From that point on we get to see the footage from lift-off, the crew landing on Europa to them getting in over their heads, as they get more than they've bargained for.
You know that after a picture like this, things are going to go sour. At its core this is essentially a “found footage” film. Unlike the disastrously bad 'Apollo 18', the way this footage is presented makes sense and it used correctly. Making use of on-board camera's, handy-cam's, exterior ship camera's and helmet recording's. It is fortunately never 'in your face'. It is also thankfully devoid of the dreaded shaky-cam. The movie pulls you in immediately. It makes you feel excited as Dr. Unger, Dr. Sokolov (Dan Fogler) and Dr. Tarik Pamuk (Isaih Whitlock Jr.) present their findings and discoveries about Europa and announce the mission during a press conference.
Shiiiiiiiieeeeet.... We learn about the crew and their backgrounds through pre-recorded interviews. Captain William Xu (Daniel Wu), Rosa Dasque (Anamaria Marinca), James Corrigan (Sharlto Copley), Dr. Katya Petrovna (Karolina Wydra), Dr. Daniel Luxembourg (Christian Camargo) and Andrei Blok (Michael Nyqvist). All more than capable men and women that are specialists in their own field. You feel the electricity in the air as their enthusiasm hits you, the viewer when their spacecraft lifts off into the great unknown. These are real, likable people that act and react realistically throughout this movie. It goes without saying that all the actors bring their A-game to this and create an ensemble that you root for.
"Gimme some sugar baby"... The technology in this films is firmly rooted in reality. No crazy gadgets, propulsion systems or spacecraft designs. This might even be a model for an eventual manned mission to mars. The questions asked in Europa Report are interesting as well. Who and what are we? Where do we come from? I would even say it makes a point that some sacrifices are not in vain. It's a movie that leans towards films like 2001: a space odyssey and even 2010.At points the movie tends to slow down considerably. The film's biggest strength though, is the ability to pull you back in as soon as soon something happens. It also makes you feel for the crew as they go through their trials and tribulations. Making you feel as if you are there, going through whatever it is they are experiencing. Even at its most dire point the movie keeps its sense of wonder and hope.
After some Corona's and tequila, this is what my Friday night looks like. Great performances all round, excellent directing by Sebastián Cordero; beautiful music by Bear Mccreary, top notch visuals and best of all, a story that does not insult the intelligence. In this day and age of big-budget action, destruction and mayhem; it is refreshing to see that the thoughtful, intelligent science-fiction movie is still very much alive. The heaps of praise thrown upon this movie is more than deserved. Yes, believe the hype and go see this movie.
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thriller. Show all posts
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