Two of Liam Neeson's upcoming movies have been panned by critics, with a scathing review claiming one could be named "worst film of the year".
The Ballymena star is the lead in Retribution, a thriller based on 2015 Spanish movie The Stranger, and plays a man battling to save himself and his children after a bomb threat.
The New Zealand Herald titled their review of the movie, which hits Irish and UK cinemas on October 13 "Liam Neeson's Retribution may be in the running for Worst Film Of The Year."
US magazine Rolling Stone said the film, directed by Nimród Antal, suggests "Neeson may want to consider retiring from the everyman action-hero beat for good".
The New York Times said Neeson's "gravitas alone can’t salvage the frustrating plot contrivances and ridiculous dialogue that make the characters sound dumber and dumber the more they explain their motivations".
The reviews come as The Hollywood Reporter also panned Co Donegal-shot action thriller, In The Land of Saint and Sinners, which is expected to release in cinemas next year.
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The movie, directed by Robert Lorenz, and co-staring Belfast actor Ciarán Hinds, was screened earlier this month at the Venice Film Festival.
Neeson plays a retired assassin who clashes with an IRA cell in a remote Co Donegal village during the height of the Troubles.
The Hollywood Reporter said of the movie: "The paddywhackery’s as thick as the Oirish brogues."
The review adds the film is full of "Emerald Isle stereotypes" and is "overwritten, overripe and likely destined to be streaming fodder".
