Whenever Liam Neeson is in a movie, we think of a no-nonsense man hunting down criminals to their last breath with out-of-this-world tactics. His is a name that is synonymous with big roles like Jack Bauer and James Bond.
Here, Liam plays the role of Matthew Scudder who retired from the police force after accidentally killing a young girl while he was chasing robbers from a bar.
Matthew attends a programme to help him stop drinking. Years later, one man, Kenny (Dan Stevens) wants Matthew to hunt down the men who killed his wife.
Thumbs up
Casting Liam in any crime movie is a plus. We are also drawn instantly to the action, where Matthew confronts robbers in a public shoot-out.
Thumbs down
Some flashbacks could otherwise form a progressive story. For instance, being a crime and a thriller film, it is disappointing that a flashback was used to show the kidnap of Kenny’s wife. It loses its thrill when Kenny explains how his wife was taken.
The story is way too simple, two sociopaths who kidnap women for a living. There are no dots to connect, no builds up. The two serial killers do not challenge Matthew; he is left tracking them when there are no tracks to be uncovered. He has to wait for the guys to call him, he tells them to meet face to face to pay the ransom, which is how the villains are tracked.
Verdict
For a thriller, this movie offers little to look forward to; no surprises. What they did perfectly was to offer moral lessons about the effects of alcoholism and the road to recovery.
