Movie Review: Blacklight

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

A typically fun Liam Neeson thriller. 

When you see Liam Neeson's name above a movie title, you exactly what to except and this movie gives you exactly that. His films for thew last few years have been extremely similar and this one really follows suit. Liam's character works for bad people, discovers that they are corrupt and using him and he gets revenge. There is nothing new or shocking here, but no one bought a ticket for this movie excepting groundbreaking cinema. I for one knew what I was getting and enjoyed watching it. 

Much of what makes these movies work is the main character. The character is very likable and easy to sympathize with. This is both because of the position the script places him in and due to Liam Neeson's natural charm. It is easy to see why Neeson is so often typecast in this type of role and that is because he is darn good at playing it. He is excellent at the action and suspense scenes, but he also incorporates enough humanity to make us truly care about this character. This along with how truly evil the villain (Aidan Quinn) is, makes it hard to not root for this guy and when that happens, we find ourselves enjoying the clichés instead of groaning at them. The action scenes are also quite excellent. Director Mark Williams (who also directed Neeson in Honest Thief (2020)) paces the action scenes very well without ever letting them either drag or feel rushed. Instead, they are exciting and fun the whole time. The story while cliché is fun and proves to be enough to hang the action and character moments on. 

If I had one thing I hated about this movie, it would certainly be the scenes with our main character's granddaughter (Gabriella Sengos). These scenes felt too cutesy and if there is anything I don't want in a Liam Neeson thriller it is cutesy. These scenes were so obviously meant to make us go "aww" and want to see our hero be able to spend more time with his adorable granddaughter. Yet it is so obvious in its intentions and clumsy in its execution that it can come off as feeling emotional manipulative. 

This is not high cinematic art by any means, and no one is going to leave in awe of what they just saw. Yet this film is not trying to be anything spectacular, and no one is excepting that from it. Instead, this provides audiences with an enjoyable trip to the movies and sometimes that is enough.