QUALITY
Liam Neeson is a great actor. So much that he elevates what is essentially forgettable material. It doesn't hurt that Julianne Moore's in the cast, too, though it really does feel as if the two are slumming it. You watch them give the movie their all and everyone pales in comparison. It's maddening. Maddening because the film does an excellent job heightening the tension. It feels almost as if the calamity is happening in real time. (If you're at all afraid of flying, prepare to be triggered.)
But although the plane on this NON-STOP flight hurtles at a breakneck pace, the film itself barely makes it to the arrival gate with momentum intact. A better explanation for all the villainy could have made sitting through all the turbulence worthwhile.
