Run All Night

If Hollywood has taught you anything in recent years, it's that you don't get on the wrong side of Liam Neeson. If you even so much as glance at his daughter, you'll receive a punch in the face. And in Neeson's latest outing as an angry father with children who keep getting themselves in trouble, little has changed. Indeed, Run All Night shares 90% of its DNA with all three Taken films, films which have given Mr Neeson plenty of time to hone the 'particular set of skills' for which he has become famous in recent years. But one can't help wishing he'd settled down in the country and replace his gun with a copy of Reader's Digest.

The set-up for Run All Night is pretty familiar territory. Liam Neeson plays washed-up Jimmy Conlon, a man with a dark and violent past. Disowned by his son (Joel Kinnaman) and depending on drink for emotional support, it appears that Jimmy is well and truly paying for his sins. But when his son witnesses a shooting and is pursued by the full-force of Jimmy's old mob-boss friend (Ed Harris), Jimmy sees an opportunity to atone for the past.

So what you effectively have is a re-run of Taken, although this time it's Liam's son in trouble, rather than his daughter. The violence is just as potent and bullets fly like they're going out of fashion. But I have to say that the action sequences are well-crafted and bold (something that was lacking in the second and third Taken films). One gripping sequence in a high-rise block of flats is especially well-conceived, with lasers surging through the smoke and chaos of an entire city police force chasing after Jimmy and his son.

Alongside the violence, there seems to be an attempt on the part of director Jaume Collet-Serra to construct an emotional integrity to characters which, otherwise, would be forgettable and distant to the audience. I'm not saying that this is characterisation worthy of Shakespeare, but at least there is a genuine attempt to crack the macho and aggressive veneer of the genre. And it is, perhaps, the self-referential humour which appears now and again that helps to add depth to the narrative.

From a plot perspective, Run All Night holds few surprises, is rather contrived and Jimmy's character arc is a simple A-to-B affair. Many of the set-pieces are ridiculous and, as a whole, the film is unremarkable. I always feel a little sorry for Neeson who is a strong screen presence (look no further than Schindler's List, for example) but seems to end up in action films which offer little apart from punch-ups and chances for him to sedately announce his violent intentions in his gravelly Irish tones.

You'd be forgiven for double-checking your cinema ticket if you go and see Run All Night. No, you haven't walked into a re-release screening of Taken. Liam Neeson really is at it again. Run All Night is fun at times, predictable at others and rather mediocre as a whole. Not the most ringing endorsement, I have to admit. 

Clapperboard Rating: * * *