Directed By: Jaume Collet-Serra
Run Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
Bill Marks (played by Neeson) is a US Air marshal on board a flight to London when he receives a text from an anonymous stranger threatening to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless 150 million dollars is wired to a designated account. Agent Marks then has to protect the passengers while trying to figure out who the terrorist is. To make things tougher, TSA suspects that Marks himself is the terrorist.
There were several things about this movie that didn't seem quite right. First, the flight crew knew each other really well. Added to that, they all knew Marks well, too. How many times have you been on a flight only to hear the attendants introducing themselves to each other? There are thousands of flight attendants. They don't all know each other. And they certainly don't know the air marshals that well. Second, 150 passengers made for quite a small plane. And all of Coach was contained in one cabin. Small. Third, I'm not sure passengers would get that riled up that fast over a little search (I would think people would try to be more helpful). Fourth, the turbulence seemed to happen at very opportune times, like someone was controlling it. And I'm pretty sure anyone who got slammed up to the ceiling due to that turbulence wouldn't be walking around so well afterwards. Next, I was flabbergasted how many people tried to take down one person without success and in the end, one tiny guy took out the same big person. Finally, don't get me started on the ending.
On one hand, I liked that Marks was flawed... but on the other hand, it greatly disturbed me. I understand that he was grieving and an alcoholic, but the fact that he drank in his car before the flight and also ordered a drink during the flight seemed like they were really trying to nail home a point (and I'm pretty sure even an alcoholic air marshal wouldn't be dumb enough to order a drink on a flight where the flight attendants know he's an air marshal).
Perhaps it's the military child in me, but I had such issues whenever the passengers had issues with what the air marshal was asking them to do. Perhaps it's just me, but if there a reason to suspect someone on the plane of doing something bad and I know that bad person isn't me, what's the harm of indulging the air marshal, particularly if that indulgence helps him catch the bad guy. And you know a free bad guy on an airplane won't end well for the passengers, which is yet another reason to comply with the air marshal.
This movie is definitely suspenseful. There's a great deal of mystery. It's well acted. But it's also a bit ridiculous. I liked it and yet I didn't. It's definitely not one I'd own and probably not one that I'll see again. It did hold my attention.
Bill Marks (played by Neeson) is a US Air marshal on board a flight to London when he receives a text from an anonymous stranger threatening to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless 150 million dollars is wired to a designated account. Agent Marks then has to protect the passengers while trying to figure out who the terrorist is. To make things tougher, TSA suspects that Marks himself is the terrorist.
There were several things about this movie that didn't seem quite right. First, the flight crew knew each other really well. Added to that, they all knew Marks well, too. How many times have you been on a flight only to hear the attendants introducing themselves to each other? There are thousands of flight attendants. They don't all know each other. And they certainly don't know the air marshals that well. Second, 150 passengers made for quite a small plane. And all of Coach was contained in one cabin. Small. Third, I'm not sure passengers would get that riled up that fast over a little search (I would think people would try to be more helpful). Fourth, the turbulence seemed to happen at very opportune times, like someone was controlling it. And I'm pretty sure anyone who got slammed up to the ceiling due to that turbulence wouldn't be walking around so well afterwards. Next, I was flabbergasted how many people tried to take down one person without success and in the end, one tiny guy took out the same big person. Finally, don't get me started on the ending.
On one hand, I liked that Marks was flawed... but on the other hand, it greatly disturbed me. I understand that he was grieving and an alcoholic, but the fact that he drank in his car before the flight and also ordered a drink during the flight seemed like they were really trying to nail home a point (and I'm pretty sure even an alcoholic air marshal wouldn't be dumb enough to order a drink on a flight where the flight attendants know he's an air marshal).
Perhaps it's the military child in me, but I had such issues whenever the passengers had issues with what the air marshal was asking them to do. Perhaps it's just me, but if there a reason to suspect someone on the plane of doing something bad and I know that bad person isn't me, what's the harm of indulging the air marshal, particularly if that indulgence helps him catch the bad guy. And you know a free bad guy on an airplane won't end well for the passengers, which is yet another reason to comply with the air marshal.
This movie is definitely suspenseful. There's a great deal of mystery. It's well acted. But it's also a bit ridiculous. I liked it and yet I didn't. It's definitely not one I'd own and probably not one that I'll see again. It did hold my attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment