Contrarreloj

Of course there was no doubt about me having to sit down and watch this 2023 action crime thriller as it had Liam Neeson on the cast list. Sure, I had never even heard about the movie prior to watching it, not that it really mattered, as it was a Liam Neeson movie.

The storyline in "Retribution", as written by Alberto Marini and Christopher Salmanpour, sort of was very similar to the 1994 movie "Speed", except that it was lacking the high speed and adrenaline. It was watchable, for sure, but it was not a top notch movie for Liam Neeson. The storyline was a bit too much of a copy and paste of "Speed", except it was in a SUV and had a slightly different plot.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and while Liam Neeson didn't have a particular set of skills in "Retribution", then he still carried the movie well enough to make it a watchable movie. There are a couple of other familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Modine, and Jack Champion.

I found "Retribution" to be somewhat lacking in thrills and excitement, and the movie's plot and storyline was a tad too linear and predictable for my liking. Plus, the fact that if you've already seen "Speed", then you have essentially also already seen director Nimród Antal's "Retribution".

Watchable for what it was, "Retribution" didn't impress me, nor did it revolutionize the action crime thriller genre. In fact, it didn't bring anything new at all to the genre. And on that account, my rating of director Nimród Antal's "Retribution" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

It's not a great movie by any means. I did not know walking into this movie it was a remake, but I sure hope the original was better. But what this movie lacked in dialogue, acting ability, characters, it made up for in story.

The overall plot of the movie is good. I love a good low budget thriller, and that's exactly what this was. Liam Neeson had to be this movies biggest expense, because everything was shot in a Mercedes Benz (btw this movie did not make me want to buy that car). The story was not completely predictable and it had some good moments that were fun to watch in a theatre.

But that's it. Other than that, the acting is terrible. The dialogue for the first 15min of the movie felt like it was written by AI and I almost left. And every character is as bland as an off brand cereal from Walmart.

Listen, if you like Liam Neeson thrillers, go see this, but don't expect anything spectacular. It will entertain but it does not go beyond its surface level plot line.

When I walked out of the theater I almost felt... empty... but I don't wanna say that the movie is bad, but... then again, I don't wanna say the movie is good either. It's your standard Liam Neeson thriller (with a little less action), but has the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. Luckily, the movie is only an hour and a half long, so it's not excruciatingly long. The main twist of the movie was sort of surprising, but at the same time made sense in the grand scheme of things, so I guess it could be considered 'predictable' depending on who you ask. I guess at this point I'll just throw it smack dab in the middle. As a I wrote before, not good, not bad. 5/10.

Some films are so bad they're good. Tommy Wiseau's 'The Room', or Claudio Fragasso's 'Troll 2,' are hilarious because of their ineptness, and are therefore really entertaining. Others are less enjoyable, but have redeeming qualities, such as the striking visuals in Alex Proyas' overblown 'Gods of Egypt,' for instance. Then, there are films that are just awful, with nothing to offer the viewing audience beyond boredom and disappointment.

Nimród Antal's 'Retribution' is one of the latter. An unoriginal slog, the film follows Matt Turner, a financier and family man. One day, while driving his children to school, he notices a strange phone ringing beside him, and answers it. The caller turns out to be an anonymous fiend, who tells Turner he has placed a bomb under his seat that is triggered by pressure plates and a radio frequency. The caller demands that Turner follow his instructions to the letter, otherwise the bomb will be detonated; sending Turner and his children on an explosive ride through the streets of Berlin.

It is, essentially, 'Phone Booth' meets 'Speed,' with a dash of Steven Knight's 'Locke,' but is no way as fun as that combination sounds. A dull remake of a much better film, Dani de la Torre's 'El desconocido,' Antal and screenwriter Chris Salmanpour fail to make the venture exciting, thrilling or in any way engaging. Salmanpour's dialogue is so stilted and full of exposition it makes that heard in Robert Lorenz's 'The Marksman' sound like Shakespeare. The narrative is predictable, featuring a twist so obvious it may make your eyes actually roll.

Furthermore, the characters involved are all stereotypes with little to no personality. Turner is a wet-blanket, who is difficult to root for, while his children are breathing cliches. Secondary characters are no better, and everyone involved acts without logic or common sense. How the film was greenlit for production, considering it is so boring as to be qualifiable as a sedative, is astounding. It plays like a cheap TV movie from the 90's or early 00's: forgettable, monotonous and hardly worth the time one has to invest in watching it.

It is an unexceptional, tiresome picture in every regard, featuring passionless cinematography from Flavio Martínez Labiano, which does nothing to aid proceedings. He makes Berlin- a notoriously interesting location- look flat and dreary, while his utilisation of shots and angles is conventional and uninspired. Similarly, composer Harry Gregson-Williams seems to be just going through the motions: his bland score reflects a lack of interest in the subject matter.

Moreover, Steve Mirkovich's editing is mediocre, if not downright poor. Mirkovich has cut some films brilliantly in the past: his work on 'Con Air' created tension and momentum, as it did on 'Big Trouble in Little China' and other projects. Here, though, he fails to generate the fast pace required for a thriller to work. The film plods along at a pace that would irritate a snail, going glumly from scene to scene with little to no energy or drive.

In fact, the only half-decent aspect of the film is star Liam Neeson's performance. Neeson does solid work, but Turner is a role that requires nothing from him, and he appears as bored as his audience at times. In the last few years, he has been making dodgy career choices, seemingly lured by big paycheques and nothing more. Although one can't fault him for wanting to make a bundle for relatively easy work; this might mark the nadir of his career thus far, and might actually hurt his bankability.

He should have avoided it like the plague, as should prospective viewers. Alongside Neeson, Jack Champion and Lilly Aspell, starring as his children, do forgettable work, while Noma Dumezweni does the bare minimum as a Europol agent on Turner's tail. Also, slumming it in a thankfully small role, is Matthew Modine, who is over the top when he isn't wooden, and seems embarrassed to be associated with the project at all.

At the end of the day, Nimród Antal's 'Retribution' is a boring waste of time. Based on an exciting film from Dani de la Torre, something was lost in translation when screenwriter Chris Salmanpour penned his adaptation, as there are no thrills, tension or entertainment value whatsoever in the finished product. Although Liam Neeson does solid work, this may be one of the most mundane, unexciting films he's appeared in- and in the last few years, he's been in a lot. Featuring nonstop nonsense and nothing more; this film is so forgettable, you might actually forget it as you're watching it.

I went into this not knowing anything about it; I didn't know it was a remake nor what the plot is. Turns out, it's a contained thriller that's quite well-paced, managing to wring enough tension and suspense out of its simple premise with strong editing.

Neeson and some of the other cast members really do give it their all, and they bring life to the film that makes up for the bland direction and cinematography.

While most of the time the movie is compulsively watchable, what really holds it back is the script. It's bad.

It's a strange kind of bad that really does feel like this screenplay was generated by ChatGPT. Nearly all of the dialogue is stilted and generic, and the story moves kind of haphazardly, as though a machine were calculating what was the next appropriate action movie plot point to throw in next.

I guess it's better than many of the other beige action flicks Neeson has churned out over the years, but it's still far from good.