He’s done it again. Liam Neeson, the 61-year-old actor, keeps churring out these somewhat sub-par action flicks where he plays the almighty hero. So what sets “Non-Stop” apart from ones like “Unknown” or “Taken”? Nothing really, besides the claustrophobic effect of being 40,000 feet in the air.

Neeson plays Bill Marks, a federal air marshall first seen pouring alcohol into this morning cup of joe. After passing through security, he takes off on his New York-to-London flight. While in the air, he receives an anonymous text declaring that a person will be killed every 20 minutes until $150 million is deposited into a special account. These texts, revealing Marks’s past and threats for the money, appear as dancing notes crossing a movie screen. If I wanted to read my way through a movie, I would have bought a ticket to one of those foreign films with subtitles instead.

As Marks reports the texts and frisks fellows passengers, of course, no one believes him. The real twist in the story comes when the terrorist mastermind behind this stunt manipulates matters so Neeson’s character also appears as a suspect along with the rest of the passengers.

One brownie point for Director Jaume Collet-Serra and producer Joel Silver is the diverse and veteran cast all jam-packed into the 110-minute film. The cast ranged from Julianne Moore who plays the hero’s seat mate, Lupita Nyong’o who plays a stewardess and Scott McNairy who plays a suspicious passenger.

All in all, this movie almost takes flight by accident. Not as good as Neeson’s “The Grey” but way better than “Taken 2”. An appropriate rating for this pulse-racer would fall to a B-. Buckle up and see for yourself.