A Walk Among the Tombstones

... is that, long before Neeson became Hollywood's most late-blooming action hero, he was an actor.

A-C-T-O-R

And a pretty good one at that.

And that is what makes this film a lot better than the other reviews would have you believe.

Yes, I confess, a guilty pleasure, I loved TAKEN. But movies like TAKEN are a crapshoot, a gamble, a party trick where you are constantly trying to find something new and different to resonate with the audience, to make up for the fact that there is little substance to the project. (As was proved by TAKEN 2, one of the worst movies I have ever seen, with some of the most glaring editing mistakes).

Here we go old school. Written by one of the best writers of the last century and directed by Scott Frank, a man who certainly knows how to frame a scene for mood and impact. (At the half way point, a girl in a red hood crosses the street in front of the villains. The scene should not have memorable, but Frank makes it so).

An "old school" classic. Three quarters of a century ago, even Bogey would have taken this part. And been the better for it.

Young "Astro" who plays the ghetto-smart TJ steals all his scenes and, for those with a good ear, even channels the speech patterns of Will Smith, from any movie Smith ever appeared in. This kid has a future.

i just need to say that the guy who handled the cinematography for this picture is a genius and deserves some recognition even though i know for a fact he is not gonna win an Oscar for his work in this movie because simply it's not the kind of movies that gets the academy awards.

as my review for the rest of the movie i thought it was good from the point of view of a guy who misses the old days of the 70's to the 90's because honestly it's became an event to watch a realistic movie these years it's either a superhero movie or some kind of an adaptation to a teen favorite bestseller. i know i personally had great expectations for it especially when i saw the trailer but it fell short of my very high expectations (i expected something like those Korean brilliant thrillers like The Chaser 2009 or I Saw the Devil 2010) however it still doesn't disappoint and it delivers some very good and realistic action scenes with practical effects for a change. god i miss the 90's.

Ahh yes...the time has come for one of my fairly recent favorite traditions...the annual release of a Liam Neeson movie where he is just being a bad a**. Ever since "Taken", the world has been re- introduced to Neeson as it's newest and truest action hero. For the most part during this little resurrection for Neeson, you know that despite any flaws the film might have, it ends up being great entertainment regardless and you overlook those things. The only minor grievance that one might have during this tradition, is that as much as you don't want to admit it, some of these Neeson movies just aren't as good.

Now before we go any further we have to discuss the exact trend of the Neeson films. I am only including the movies where Neeson is, for the most part, the only star and he is playing some grizzled, world weary, growling bad a** with a checkered past. This exempts movies like "The A-Team", "Clash/Wrath of the Titans", and ugh...."Battleship".....dear lord that was terrible....although it it is always nice to see Rihanna trying to be a bad a**, "Aloha, mother f***er!". Anyway, you get the picture. As for the examples of slightly less awesome Neeson bad a** movies, these are the ones like "Unknown", and some may even say "Non-Stop" but I actually enjoyed that one.

"A Walk Among the Tombstones" falls into that category. Many will go into this movie looking to see Neeson kicking dudes a**es left and right and they may be sorrily disappointed. "Tombstones" is more about the detective story and the darkness that the characters descend into as the film progresses. Neeson plays Matt Scudder, a retired cop/alcoholic turned P.I. after a case 8 years ago that left him emotionally and psychologically scarred. He is brought to meet drug dealer (excuse me, "trafficker") Kenny Kristo (worse drug kingpin name ever?) who wants to hire him to find the two men who kidnapped and murdered his wife despite paying them the money they asked for. Scudder, along with a spunky, homeless kid T.J, fish around for clues. Their relationship is interesting at first because it's unclear as to why Scudder continues to come into contact with this kid besides the fact that perhaps by helping this kid, he can make up for a lot of sins he has committed in his past.

The film can be slow at times, but Neeson is almost in every scene and his presence alone keeps you engaged in every step he takes. As you get closer and closer to the truth the film gets more disturbing. This film is unnerving for sure and is a mental disturbance more than anything. Even though it may not be as action packed as some of Neesons' past films (The Grey still doesn't get enough love) but it may be a pleasant surprise for other reasons. One of Americas guilty pleasures is loving serial killers (Dexter, The Killing, Hannibal, films and series, Se7en, etc.) so people may actually enjoy the film but for a completely different reason then they previously thought.

Oh, and don't worry, Liam still has some clever "bad a** one-liners" keeping up with the tradition...Can't wait till next year.

I joyously await your criticism for my overuse of bad a**.

6/10.

A Walk Among the Tombstones tells a pretty basic detective story. It doesn't necessarily offer us anything new, and that truly is the case here: it's just another episode of a private detective. Even with all of the twisted scenarios, there isn't anything else big or even daring to the picture. While some might be bothered with its lack of innovation, fans of these types of mystery films would still have the pleasure. It has been kind of rare to have such crime thrillers like this in cinemas today, and by its simplicity in storytelling, it sure does deliver things right. What matters to the experience in the end is it's a finely crafted piece of noir that nearly glosses over to the fact that it's just a relic, but a pretty decent one.

The film follows the classic roots of the genre, you won't find any sort of uniqueness around the storyline, but how it constructed each of its sequences still manage to be charming at the beginning and gripping along the way. It just lets the detective walk from one place to another to find clues and unfold questions. But it never lacks the tension, the film places its coldness to buildup an atmosphere that brings uncertainty to the fate of the investigation. The best thing about it is it's simple. It doesn't bother adding some mind-blowing or ridiculous twists, it just digs within a world where some evil can be found in any street. Settling with the characters is as well one of its finest moments, they may not have the most original arcs, but it is undeniably entertaining when it lingers to them.

The direction is predictably slick, and it totally benefits by it for making every scene of bleakness and violence emotionally effective. People shouldn't take for granted its decent camera-work that sharply displays its vital points. It gets even better when explores around its main man: Liam Neeson is now commonly used as an action hero, but here the film rather uses the better side of that reputation which is keeping the audience feel that he is a dangerous man to deal with, even without revealing much of the fists and gunpoint, it's still a totally compelling depiction of his character's cold, brooding personality.

My personal enjoyment to the film is how refreshing to see a mystery film this straightforward and unpretentiously dark in modern cinema. I mean I might as well seen one in any crime television series running today, but it's a lot fascinating to witness it in this form, plus a tone this gritty, a style so clever, and a performance from its main star that makes it more interesting. Again, you won't find anything groundbreaking to the film, but leaving that thought behind would make you realize that it is still a terrifically put together, unpredictably told crime thriller. And I bet that's already enough for this sort of entertainment.

Liam Neeson towers in this film, very believable and a brooding presence of regretfulness and one making a living without a path anymore in life but one whose street savvy and street instincts are still honed.

While still living with a moral code, his past and need to look out for the small guy, gets him dragged into a case where there are elements playing from various side, and one which raises a question on to what you should or should not do in the case of kidnappings, with Scudder(Neeson) showing how to take control and push forward.

This is a great detective thriller, keeps you engrossed, great script, strong acting and thoroughly enjoyable and