Run All Night

There's no airplane, train, international terrorists, or snow plows, but this Liam Neeson crime-thriller is one of great quality because of the actors involved. I mean please, Neeson vs Ed Harris? Two of my favorite actors of all time, there's no question I was going to enjoy this one. But it really is the dynamic between those two that makes the movie as good as it is. Without the weight of the history between them in this story, you don't get the same impact in the 3rd act when certain things go down. I could have actually used more backstory and flashbacks then we got. There's plenty of homages and inspirations that director Jaume Collet-Serra puts in here, like Mystic River or Heat, which are two of the greatest crime films of all time. I wouldn't say Run All Night gets to that level, but it's nonetheless a thrilling 120 minute ride. And you know, that ending was pretty sweet too.

7.3/10

Before you dismiss the latest Liam Neeson action movie 'Run All Night' as yet another iteration of 'Taken', let us reassure you that there is much more to this mob thriller than meets the eye. True, Neeson plays a former man of violence with a 'particular set of skills' who is forced to employ them in order to save his family, but that's about where the similarities end. Indeed, while that franchise never quite had any ambition than as a glorified B-movie, this latest team-up between Neeson and his 'Unknown' and 'Non-Stop' collaborator Jaume Collet- Serra proves itself as an impressive amalgamation of the Oscar- nominated dramatic skills on which his earlier career was built on and his more recent kickassery.

Brad Inglesby's script starts by giving us a glimpse of Neeson after the fateful events of the titular evening – that is, lying in a forest and bleeding from a shotgun wound – before rewinding sixteen hours before to fill us in. As we soon learn, Neeson's Jimmy Conlon wasn't in a much better state before his most recent run-in with mob boss and childhood friend Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) that had led to his current predicament. An alcoholic mocked by the denizens at the local pub for farting in his sleep, the former Brooklyn hit-man was once Shawn's trusty right-hand man, but has now been reduced to playing Santa at the latter's son's birthday party for quick cash, which he spends drowning his guilt over the people he has killed and the family he has alienated through the years.

As bad luck would have it, Jimmy's estranged son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman), who only wants to take care of his pregnant wife and two young kids and to have nothing to do with his father, stumbles upon Danny executing two Albanian drug dealers. When Danny turns up at Mike's house, Jimmy intervenes to save his son and ends up killing Danny, setting in motion the subsequent series of events which will see father and son move through New York City while being pursued by Danny's men – including a professional assassin named Price (Common) who has his own grudge with Jimmy – as well as crooked cops looking to stay on Shawn's payroll.

Rather than just skip to the chase, Collet-Serra and his screenwriter Inglesby invest in a more character-driven narrative than may be expected. A pivotal scene has Jimmy confessing to Danny's murder shortly after Shawn returns from the morgue to identify his son's body, which poignantly expresses not just one father's grief (and consequent thirst for revenge) from the death of his son but also another father's paternal instinct to protect his family by whatever means possible. Whereas 'Taken' (pardon the pun) the latter for granted, Collet-Serra wisely lets the polarising dynamic between Jimmy and Shawn define the conflict that ensues, giving both characters and their longstanding friendship turned brutal rivalry both shading and nuance.

Lest it be forgotten, Neeson and Harris are both accomplished actors in their own right, and both manage to find their characters' empathetic core. Collet-Serra understands Neeson's 'particular set of skills' in playing the fallible hero, and gives his lead actor space and breadth to explore his character's vulnerabilities and motivations – even bringing in an unbilled Nick Nolte to add patriarchal weight to the proceedings. Kinnaman doesn't get enough quiet scenes with Neeson for their father-son relationship to develop into something truly compelling, but the actors share a good rapport that give the action scenes added emotional texture.

And in that department, Collet-Serra doesn't disappoint. Reining in the hand-held shots that made the last 'Taken 3' an absolute nightmare to watch even on the big screen, Collet-Serra fashions a couple of impressive sequences that make full use of its New York locale. A thrilling cop-car chase through the streets of Brooklyn easily puts 'Taken 3's' highway chase to shame, while a high-rise apartment complex on fire provides a tense backdrop against which Jimmy and Mike attempt to protect a kid witness. There is also the iconic Madison Square Garden, which provides the scene for a daring escape right after a Rangers-Devils game, and heightens the Big Apple atmosphere while keeping the gritty noir-ish feel of the earlier scenes.

It is certainly tempting to see this as yet another attempt to cash in on Neeson's newfound action hero status, but 'Run All Night' distinguishes itself with some well-filmed setpieces to satisfy the adrenaline-hungry crowd while staying grounded with enough characterisation and good acting for its audience to be rooted with the characters on screen. It is also his best collaboration yet with Collet-Serra, who seems genuinely interested at making a movie tailored to the actor's strengths than simply cashing in on a fad. Even and especially if you were disillusioned with 'Taken 3', 'Run All Night' is a good, solid slab of macho entertainment that should wash away the bitter taste of that over-the-hill franchise.

Liam Neeson again has some skills that make him very dangerous. Drunk or not, do not mess with him or his loved ones ... This has a real anti-player in Ed Harris. Someone who can hold his own against Liam. The acting is superb, the action is more than decent. The thrill works and while there is a morality to it, it never challenges the tension it builds at any time.

It has it some story holes or logic errors or whatever you want to call them. But even they are kept at a minimum. I'm also glad this isn't a remake, because the title sounded like a french movie, but has nothing to do with that. Single components may feel familiar, but in the thriller genre it's tough to invent something completely new. So it's OK to copy things that worked ... like this movie does ...

Liam Neeson, starring in his his now standard turn of several similar action thrillers. A man with a past given a chance to redeem himself with judicious amounts of crowd-pleasing violence. Perhaps it's unfair to say the Northern Irish actor could phone in this performance from anywhere in the world, as he does it so well, but one can understand those that criticize the actor for repeating himself, with the inevitable diminishing effect at the box office.

Run All Night deserves to be seen as more than just another Liam Neeson early-year actioner. It's a nasty movie with great pace and a strong spine thanks to those two prolific leads. Although it does have some flaws and may drag in between scenes, though as an action thriller it provides the necessary thrills and interest for the viewers.

Fluently put together and entertaining enough for it not to be forgotten as easily as it could have been, yet it falls short in achieving both what it could have and what it promises to, that being a remarkable and unique action thriller.

All of the problems "Run All Night" has seem to tie in together and make just one big problem: it simply does not use its potential and it does not use it exactly because of the problems it has. Firstly it does not use its well defined characters to its advantage and ultimately even fails to stick to some. Moreover way to many times the film descends into ultra-generic territory: I was watching the film, entertained and time and time again what it seemed to be leading up to wasn't as interesting as I wanted it to be, it was a situation I had seen times and times again and I was repeatedly left asking myself "so that was all?". The director also hints at a very original eye for visuals, just as the whole movie hints at a better, more intriguing and surprising film, but ultimately both fail to the delver what they promised. The visual style and editing style had some brief brilliant moments, but for the majority falls into, again, ultra-generic and fast-cut distracting action scene. Way too many times I wondered why hadn't the director shot a scene in another way which could have made it incredibly and vastly more fascinating to watch.

That is not to say that there are many redeemable qualities. First and foremost there is genuine tension mostly because of the well rounded characters for whom I had a surprisingly positive emotional connection and didn't realize so until the end. Helping this is a fantastic cast that delivers the majority of the goods. Neeson is obviously charismatic, he isn't phoning it in, he is giving a heartfelt performance that definitely delivered. Ed Harris is in my opinion one of the best actors of history possibly and this is further proof that he simply can do no wrong, he has a presence on screen that is very hard to match. Even Kinnaman, whom I have been a critic of, is delivering a good enough performance. Lastly, the story doesn't ever realize its potential as I said, but it still makes for a very riveting premise that kept me hooked until the end, despite an overlong duration.

I had a good share of fun and excitement, but I was disappointed to see such a good opportunity ending up being another average film.