Story:
A mysterious hijacker takes control of a passenger aircraft on a trans-Atlantic flight, demanding $150 million in ransom money to be transferred into an offshore account.
Review: Bill Marks (Neeson) is a grizzled veteran with a face lined with years of (being a cop followed by a Federal agent) experience and good Scotch. A reformed soak, he however is someone who would go to any lengths to do his duty with not a shred of self-doubt. The pretty Jen Summers (Moore), who sits next to him during the flight, enigmatically discloses very little of what she does, apart from saying that she "flies a lot".
movie
But just when everyone settles down comfortably for the journey, Marks starts receiving ominous messages on his phone via the plane's Wi-Fi, which conveys to him that a person will die every 20 minutes unless he arranges for the money transfer.
movie
Every trick in the plane-hijack-movie handbook is thrown into this by-the-numbers film, along with some interesting twists and turns. There are several standout scenes - the hand-to-hand combat sequence in one of the toilets in the plane, shot from multiple angles, is particularly harrowing. And the contrasts in the film – shots of passengers calmly sleeping, often alternating between frantic behind-the-scenes scurrying, are also interesting.
The narrative successfully keeps you guessing about who the perpetrator really is. Could it be a certain bald passenger in Economy Class (Corey Stroll, from House of Cards) who keeps thumbing his phone suspiciously? The airhostess Nancy (Dockery)? Or the passenger with the bushy beard and shifty eyes? Or – to Marks' great doubt – Summers herself? At one point we even begin to wonder if Marks himself is unhinged. 12 Years A Slave's Lupita Nyong'o is restricted to a sideshow but this is Neeson's vehicle – or shall we say plane ride – all the way.
If there's a film that is pretty much true to its name, then this one is it. Another variation on the classic theme of a plane hijack, the movie is relentless with not a wasted second.