A One Mann’s Movies review of “Retribution” (2023).
Liam Neeson’s pension pot is just a little bit fuller after this one. But he really needs to have some much better movie roles than in “Retribution”. The movie had some nice story elements – elements that attracted me to it initially – but it is ultimately extremely silly and illogical.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Matt Turner (Liam Neeson) is a high end stock broker going through a rough patch in life: his losses at work are mounting; his marriage to Heather (Embeth Davidtz) is on the rocks; and his kids Zach (Jack Champion) and Emily (Lilly Aspell) are at each other’s throats. But the day’s going to get a lot worse. With other car bombs going off across Berlin, Matt gets a call from the terrorist while driving the kids to school that says his car will explode if he, or the kids, try to get out of it.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Infrequent strong language, moderate threat, violence, injury detail”. This is quite an interesting classification difference. I don’t disagree with the BBFC, but it’s unusual for a film to get a 12 in the UK but an R in the US. I’m not sure what the US censors saw that I didn’t!)
Talent:
Starring: Liam Neeson, Embeth Davidtz, Jack Champion, Lilly Aspell, Matthew Modine, Noma Dumezweni.
Directed by: Nimród Antal.
Written by: Alberto Marini & Christopher Salmanpour.
Twitter Handle: #Retribution.
Running Time: 1h 31m.
Matt Turner (Liam Neeson) and his kids in the crosshairs. (Fortunately, he can drive away faster then a marksman can squeeze a trigger! LOL). (Source: StudioCanal)
“Retribution” Summary:
Positives:
- Neeson actually turns in a good performance.
- The “Speed” type thriller concept is a good one.
Negatives:
- Eye-rollingly predictable.
- A plot: the more you look at it the less sense it makes!
Review of “Retribution”:
With a concept like this, how could you screw it up?
Back in 1994, “Speed” made a star of Sandra Bullock and grabbed the public’s attention with its high-octane story of a bomb on a bus that would go off if they tried to stop. There have been some attempts at similar movies (e.g. 2010’s “Unstoppable” with Chris Pine and Denzel Washington) but nothing as quite on-the-nose as this Neeson action thriller. And, fair dues, it made me want to watch it. The movie is actually a remake of a 2015 Spanish film called “El desconocido” (which I haven’t seen, but would like to). If the filmmakers had procured a better script, this might have been a much-needed hit for Neeson, who actually turns in a pretty good acting performance.
Predictable as hell.
Sadly, the movie is horribly predictable. I correctly predicted WHO the bad guy was going to be and I even predicted, to a degree, HOW our beleagured hero would get out of the pickle he was in. When you get to a key “twist” reveal, I actually rolled my eyes!
A script full of dodgy dialogue and head-scratchingly illogical behaviour.
Interactions between the members of this family are clunky and unrealistic. Then, when we get into the action, Matt Turner seems to be inexplicably silent in protesting his innocence to investigating officer (Noma Dumezweni), which makes no sense at all.
Even more bizarre is the motive for the protagonist’s actions which, on reflection, make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE AT ALL! There would be a much simpler kidnap scheme that would get them what they want!
Finally, seriously irritating my physics brain, is a finale that ignored some basic laws of gravity and how pressure switches work!
Summary Thoughts on “Retribution”
It’s a Liam Neeson action thriller, so you know to park your brain at the door. And the concept behind the film is good. But unfortunately, the execution is lacklustre and uninspiring.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Retribution”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzQn0-WH4WM.
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