LONDON: Directing Liam Neeson in films like “The Marksman” must be a dream. All the seasoned actor needs do these days is look grizzled, make zero attempt at an American accent, and prove surprisingly effective at dispatching bad guys. And if it ain’t broke, quite frankly, why fix it?
“The Marksman” sees Neeson star as Jim Hanson, a former US Marine (so… he has a very particular set of skills) who scratches a living on his failing ranch along the Arizona-Mexico border. He’s mourning the recent death of his wife, forever hungover, the bank is chasing him for payments, and his relationship with his stepdaughter is strained.
“The Marksman” is directed by Liam Neeson. (Supplied)
When Hanson catches Mexican immigrants illegally crossing the border, he reports them to the authorities. But he does it in a kind way while offering them water, so we know he’s definitely a Good Guy. When he stumbles across Rosa and her son Miguel, however, Jim ends up in a gunfight with cartel gangsters, fleeing with Miguel after (bizarrely) promising Rosa he’ll keep her child safe. The unlikely pair head for Chicago, where Miguel has family, with the violent gangsters in hot pursuit.
It’s clear what director Robert Lorenz (who, it’s no coincidence, has worked extensively with Clint Eastwood) is shooting for here: A good man taking a stand against injustice. Unfortunately for Lorenz and Neeson – not to mention audiences – there’s little in the script that rises above trite action-flick cliché, and it’s impossible to create any tension with regards to the outcome of blazing gun battle when one of the participants is played by Liam Neeson.
Instead, “The Marksman” is a buddy movie/chase thriller without any surprises. Hanson makes a series of strangely naïve decisions — particularly given that carefully explained background — that enable the chase to keep going, and the movie rumbles towards a final act that is so predictable it’s (almost) funny.
There’s nothing wrong with this film, per se. It’s just that we’ve seen it already. Dozens of times.
