These days, it’s getting harder and harder to remember when Liam Neeson was an actor and not just another aging “action star.”
But you may recall that, 20 years ago, he was receiving his first Academy Award nomination, for his performance as the title character in the Oscar-winning “Schindler’s List” (1993). Though he lost that Best Actor race (to Tom Hanks, for “Philadelphia”), Neeson earned similar notices — and he probably should have been nominated for Oscar gold again — 10 years later for his turn as the title character in “Kinsey.”
And then “Taken” happened. The 2008 hit was good for what it was – a dopey revenge thriller that used Neeson’s forcefulness and no-nonsense performance to plow through some ridiculously contrived plotting.
Unfortunately, a series of action pieces followed. In addition to the better-forgotten “A-Team” (2010), there were two “Titans” duds, as well as “Unknown,” an idiotic 2011 mystery pairing him with Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra (“House of Wax,” “Orphan”), and the even-more-idiotic sequel “Taken 2.”
An all-too-inevitable “three-quel” to that latter movie is already in development, which left Neeson time to reunite Collet-Serra for the new plane-heist thriller “Non-Stop.” And in the meantime, his “Taken” cohorts have tried to turn another middle-aged actor, Kevin Costner, into an action star, in “3 Days to Kill.”
Keeping that in mind, let’s compare the two movies – and the two aging action stars — while still trying to judge them on their own merits:
3 DAYS TO KILL (5 out of 10) Directed by McG; written by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak; starring Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld and Connie Nielsen; rated PG-13 (intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language); in general release; running time: 117 minutes.
NON-STOP (3 out of 10) Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra; written by Ryan Engle, John W. Richardson and Chris Roach; starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery and Linus Roache; rated PG-13 (intense sequences of action and violence, some language, sensuality and drug references); in general release; running time: 106 minutes.
A little humor can go a long ways toward salvaging a too-serious movie project. Unfortunately, “3 Days to Kill” goes a little too far in that regard.
Perhaps it’s because the filmmakers (who include action veteran Luc Besson) had a more “unproven commodity” than Neeson – you know, Costner, whose career has had quite a few ups-and-downs. He stars as Ethan Renner, a secret agent who’s on the cusp on retirement, and whose one, last goal in life is to reconcile with his estranged teenage daughter, Zoey (Hailee Steinfeld).
Ethan is given that opportunity when his ex-wife, Christine (Connie Nielsen), leaves town and leaves him in charge of Zoey. However, at the same time he’s given one, last assignment to perform: tracking down and killing the world’s most wanted terrorist.
To his credit, director McG tones down his customary, quick-cut style and actually creates some thrilling, convincing action scenes. But he has trouble when it comes to the domestic sequences, turning the daddy-daughter moments into madcap, over-the-top sitcom shenanigans.
Costner, though, does seem like he’s having fun with this character and this material, as does Steinfeld (“Ender’s Game,” “True Grit”).
“Non-Stop’s” nonsensical script comes courtesy of two reality-television writers, John W. Richardson and Chris Roach (“Big Brother”), and a relative newcomer, Ryan Engle. Given that both Richardson and Roach wrote for the “smack-the-contestants-in-the-face” snark-fest “Wipeout!” as well, there’s no reason for “Non-Stop” to take itself so seriously.
Yet it’s every bit as stone-faced as Neeson, who stars as Bill Marks, an alcoholic former cop who’s become a federal air marshal. Still trying to cope with his life’s tragedies, Marks is forced to sober up – literally – during a transatlantic flight (from London to New York). As it turns out, a mysterious hijacker is planning to kill passengers unless a $150 million ransom is deposited into an off-shore account.
But the only person who knows about this, at least is first, is Marks, whose phone keeps receiving a series of mysterious threats via text messaging.
It’s a simple enough set-up, but the screenwriters and Collet-Serra go to ridiculous extremes to “thrill” audiences. Actually, “ridiculous” isn’t a strong enough word – preposterous, maybe (especially the “reveal” of the extortionist/hijacker)? And most, if not all, of the opportunities for welcome humor are squandered.
And frankly, Neeson looks like even he’s a little bored by this material (though at least he tones down that silly “accent” he’s been sporting in his performances of late). His co-stars, who include not only Neeson’s “Chloe” co-star, Julianne Moore, but also Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”), all look like they’re desperately trying to find the emergency exit.
Jeff Michael Vice can also be heard reviewing films, television programs, comics, books, music and other things as part of The Geek Show Podcast (www.thegeekshowpodcast.com), and can be seen reviewing films as part of Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off (www.facebook.com/BigMovieMouthOff).