The Best Liam Neeson Action-Thrillers
Watch the incomparable Liam Neesons kick some ass
When Liam Neeson told his daughter’s kidnapper that he had “a particular set of skills” in 2008’s Taken, his career and our perception of him were transformed forever. While you may have known him as Oskar Schindler or Qui-Gon Jinn before, Neeson unlocked a new lane as an unlikely aging action hero. Since 2008, he’s typically starred in at least one or two action-thrillers per year, even into his 70s.
Who knows how much longer he will keep pumping these movies out, but we’re enjoying them anyway. This weekend Neeson stars in a thriller set in his homeland of Ireland called In the Land of Saints and Sinners. For today’s recommendations, here’s a few Neeson action-thrillers that are worth the watch.
Billy recommends…
Taken
Anything other than Taken feels like we’re being disrespectful. This Liam Neeson action trend is one of the weirdest phenomenons of 21st century cinema. He wasn’t an actor that was in a lull and he had all the prestige most actors envy. Neeson had developed himself throughout various genres up until Taken, but hardly ever action movies. This turn has still never been more effective than in the completely absurd Taken.
Bryan Mills is a retired spy who is comfortable keeping that life behind him. He understands the risks now that he has a family. And the time he spent on his career has fractured many relationships. In an attempt to connect with his teenage daughter Maggie, he loosens up a bit and helps her go to Europe. TO FOLLOW THE BAND U2! Somehow the most unrealistic part of this movie has nothing to do with Liam Neeson being in an action movie. While on the trip Maggie of course gets kidnapped and this is where action movie making takes over.
Neeson fully encapsulates a grizzled veteran that hasn’t lost a step. Every goon coming after him stands no chance and justice will be served. At the expense of hundreds of dead bodies, we get a fun action movie that exploits every trope you can think of in tantalizing fashion. It takes a special actor to immerse in genres like these and Neeson is one of the best at doing that.
Streaming on Hulu
Drew recommends…
Non-Stop
In the words of two Neesons-loving valets, “What about Non-Stop, though?” This airplane thriller stars the incomparable Liam Neeson as an alcoholic ex-cop turned Federal Air Marshal who boards an international flight. Pretty soon he starts receiving texts from an unknown sender saying someone will die every 20 minutes unless this person is wired $150 million. Neeson has to locate the threat before passengers start dying. It’s the kind of premise that hooks you in from the jump.
The 2010s was a fruitful decade for Neeson’s collaboration with director Jaume Collet-Serra, a genre specialist that really knows how to shoot action and suspense. Non-Stop may be the best of their four films together because it begins as a Hitchcockian mystery before ramping up to a white-knuckle action thriller on a plane. Plus, Neeson is joined in this claustrophobic space by great actors like Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, and Corey Stoll, all of whom are probably overqualified for their parts. The last half-hour may be outlandish, but you go with it because of Neeson’s grounding presence and Collet-Serra’s skill behind the camera.
Available to rent digitally on demand
Run All Night
If you’re looking for a Neeson double feature with Non-Stop, you could go with The Commuter, his 2018 thriller that moves the action from a plane to a train. However, 2015’s Run All Night is a little better and gives you a different side of the Neeson action experience, albeit with the same director. Teaming up with Collet-Serra yet again just one year after Non-Stop, this one heads to the streets of New York City where Neeson plays a mob hitman – nicknamed “The Gravedigger” – that must go on the run to protect his estranged son (Joel Kinnaman) from his friend and feared mobster (Ed Harris).
Whereas Neeson often plays a semi-regular guy that gets mixed up in a crazy situation (Unknown, The Commuter), sometimes he is a former criminal drowning in regret. In Run All Night, his character has done unforgivable things for the Irish Mob, and he tries to atone by doing everything he can to save his son from the same life. It may seem like Neeson is playing the same guy in all these movies, but the differences in his characters keep the Neeson action genre fresh.
Run All Night is a perfectly solid NYC gangster flick with a fast-moving story, riveting action, and a stable of good character actors. If you want to see all of that, as well as Neeson fighting his demons and looking for redemption, it’s not one to be overlooked among the many, many other Neeson action thriller options.
Streaming on Max
Links
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