“Non-Stop:” More Intense Than Fetish Night?

Hey guys, it’s Andrew B — you may know me as a fan of cheesy internet memes, thanks to a contest last year on this very blog.

After joining Lucky on an incredible trip to Finland this past July, I found myself planning to visit Seattle recently, so I emailed to ask if he had time to hang out. Apparently unable to think of an excuse for why he couldn’t make it, Lucky said he’d be glad to get together.

He suggested we see the new thriller Non-Stop, which takes place on a transatlantic flight. Here are my thoughts on the experience.

The movie theater we went to was strange to me.

The floors weren’t sticky, the bathrooms didn’t smell like corpses, and the seats were like nothing I’d ever seen. If I were going to put this in airline terms, I might say that it’s a first class experience, and all the other movie theaters I’ve been to are like flying coach. However, it seems more appropriate to compare this theater to international first class, and liken all other theaters I’ve visited to a trip in the cargo hold on Air Koryo.

The seats were *enormous,* and reclined to a nearly flat position. There was a huge menu of food and drinks, which they bring to your seat. The restrooms looked like something out of one of Saddam’s palaces. Usually at the movies, I’m just happy if I don’t feel mice scurrying under my feet (yes, that’s actually happened). This time, I wanted to stay until the cleaning crew kicked me out. (Do you guys have theaters like this near you? I haven’t seen anything resembling this near my home in the DC area.)

Anyway, on to the film itself.

(Warning: I’m going to try to use as many flight-related cliches as possible in this post — have your airsick bags ready.)

The takeoff roll was short, as the film got airborne right away with a compelling opening. The hero, played by Liam Neeson, clearly has a turbulent past, and we catch glimpses of his struggles at the very beginning. Like the air in a pressurized cabin, this storyline seemed a bit recycled, reminding me in many ways of other films in this genre (Flightplan, Flight, and the classic Snakes on a Plane — really the Citizen Kane of movies that take place in the air — spring immediately to mind).

However, I wouldn’t call it predictable — there were more plot twists than there are stopovers in a mileage runner’s convoluted itinerary. Another highlight: the special effects (especially toward the end, when the aircraft and its passengers encounter some minor mechanical difficulties due to much of the aircraft disintegrating) were as dazzling as the gilded premium cabins on Emirates.

If you’re wondering how Lucky felt about the movie, I’ll try to clue you in.

Lucky apparently rarely sees movies while on the ground, and prefers to watch mainly lighthearted comedies while in the air. So his reactions to this rather heart-pounding film were almost as enjoyable to witness as the movie itself.

The night before going to the movies, through no fault of our own (long story) we wound up at a local bar’s “fetish night.” We should have known we were in trouble when we walked up to the bar entrance and saw four men dressed as dogs hailing a cab (and I think they were leaving because the scene was a little too intense for them).

The things we saw inside the bar were a little outside our comfort zones, to put it mildly. At this point I got to witness a Level IV Lucky Freakout. Although he’s had quite a bit of life experience (having lived on this planet for nearly 24 whole years), the scene was more than Lucky was able to process, so we left.

Lucky’s reaction to Non-Stop, as someone who is accustomed to more soothing cinematic fare (pretty sure he considers Must Love Dogs to be high on the adrenaline scale), was a bit milder than his response to fetish night — but not by much. I’d say his freakout during/after the movie was more of a Level III Lucky Freakout, but still fun to behold.

Based on his reaction and my own impressions, if you like intense action and thrills (especially ones that take place at 40,000 feet), I’d say you should go see this film.