Run All Night

 

Two or three times a year, I will to go to the theater and just sit through a Liam Neeson bad ass action film in which he throws off the mob or some other high-end action star. It all started in 2008 with Taken and I never let up after that. I won't necessarily say I have an issue with Neeson playing this type of character because he can surely do it but after a while it has becomes tiresome to the death, but I don't see these films with him ending any time soon. Not much has changed for Neeson in his latest action film, Run All Night.      


Jimmy Conlon (Neeson) has been a washed-up father to son Mike Conlon (Joel Kinnaman) and who's never even seen his grandkids. After Mike lands himself in trouble with Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), a high end mob guy, Jimmy sees it as a way to finally to be that father to his kid that he never was and will do whatever it takes to do this.

If you go into Run All Night expecting something different from Neeson, you are going to find yourself way off. The plot ,especially it's ending, is convoluted on so many levels. It's not like we've never seen this Mike character who is trying to get beyond his past faults either.

                              

You are rooting for Mike to change his ways here. You do feel a type of sympathy for him and you really respect how he is changing his ways. The plot is impressive and thick with a lot to it. Harris is convincing and somewhat chilling in his villain role. Vincent D'Onofrio even shows up as a detective character with a large past grudge towards Jimmy. Here, it seems like he trying to go back to his famous Law and Order character but D'Onofrio will always be likable no matter what role he is in.

This plot is convincing is because it has the feel of a throwback 70's/80s action film. It is set in a rough part of New York City in what is sometimes described as Hell's Kitchen. It is set at Christmas time which makes me me think that it has some Die Hard inspirations in it. Joel Kinnaman has a personality that sure fits the rough/edgy part of New York setting of this film. He also has pretty interesting relationship with a young boy named Curtis (Aubrey Joseph) which helps drive the movie. Kinnamen's character is kind of all over the place at times but his interaction with Curtis is some good chemistry between the two and a chance for Mike to be a father figure. This is one aspect to Run All Night that could have been expanded upon.

                                                                                

We always go into Liam Neeson films expecting action and Run All Night has some of the most impressive scenes in the realm of the Neeson action films. From absurd apartment action scenes, mob action that's really rough and gritty to the final action scene in the woods involving a slow-mo film technique, this is some very worthy movie action. There are scenes that are very original and maybe one of the few reasons to watch this again.


Run All Night is no doubt formulaic. That said, it is very impressive when a film like this is good even when you've seen things like this so many times before and probably will again. It's nothing to literally run all night for but a good sprint will do.

3.5/5