RETRIBUTION (12A, 91mins) Action/thriller. Starring Liam Neeson, Matthew Modine, Embeth Davidtz, Noma Dumezweni, Jack Champion, Lilly Aspell
Director: Nimród Antal
AS WE know only too well by now, Liam Neeson has a very particular set of skills which make him a reliable prospect for directors/fans of fun but ultimately forgettable mid-budget action films.
The big man from Ballymena's post-Taken CV is peppered with two-word title 'geriaction' thrillers - The Grey, Non-Stop, The Commuter, The Marksman - in which the now 71-year-old doles out rough justice with the aid of his fists, guns, a mid-Atlantic accent and the occasional snowplough (see 2019's Cold Pursuit).
Some are better than others, but they all pretty much offer solid genre-based entertainment in which the Irish Oscar-nominee lifts the material at hand just by showing up.
Directed by Nimród Antal (Predators), Retribution is an enjoyable Speed/Phone Booth/30 Minutes or Less-hybrid which manages to shake up this tried-and-tested formula.
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Yes, it's a thriller with plenty of action, in which Neeson has got to try to save himself and his family from mortal danger: what differentiates it from the aforementioned popcorn fodder is that the only thing our hero hits in this Berlin-set picture is a punching bag (unless you count the many, many cars his character dings with his overgrown Mercedes SUV - more on that in a moment) and he has a gun in his hand for just one brief scene.
Now, before you shout "BORING" and decide to watch something else, be advised that Retribution - a remake of the 2015 Spanish film, El Desconocido, which also features Matthew Modine, Embeth Davidtz and Noma Dumezweni - is actually one of the stronger entries in Neeson's OAP (that's 'Old Age Puncher', naturally) canon, as its lack of fisticuffs and runny-shooty shenanigans free the star up to play to his acting strengths.
Although, as mentioned, he does get to treat Berlin like his own personal demolition derby in the process.
Hotshot financial wiz Matt Turner (Neeson) has made a comfortable life for himself and the family he barely has time for by doling out investment advice tailored to whatever he thinks his clients want to hear rather than actual risk factors.
"It's called 'lying'," snarks Turner's spoiled teenage son (Jack Champion) to his equally bratty little sister (Lilly Aspell).
Their spat-riddled morning school run turns into even more of a living nightmare when Turner is targeted by a serial car bomber who traps him and the kids in the family SUV: pressure plates under their seats are connected to explosives, ensuring instant fiery death if anyone tries to get out.
The bomber then feeds Turner instructions via mobile phone - chief among them, 'no police' - which he must follow under threat of death, sending the Irish-American on a series of tyre-screeching, bank account-draining errands across the German capital which lead the authorities to think that Turner himself might be behind the bombings.
All the while, he's desperately trying to work out who's behind it all, and why.
Despite its shonky CGI-generated explosions, a couple of irritating moments where characters ignore logic and a plot twist which you may well figure out long before Turner does, Retribution is a fine Friday night flick for fans of Liam Neeson, who seems to relish playing someone caught desperately out of their comfort zone for a change.
It's almost as if action and acting don't always have to be mutually exclusive.
Rating: 3/5
Retribution has a limited cinema release from today and is also available via Sky Cinema and NOW.
