The Commuter

The former cop and insurance agent Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) loses his job when the company where he works is downsizing. He goes to a bar where he meets his former partner and friend Alex Murphy (Patrick Wilson) and tells that he has not told the news to his wife Karen (Elizabeth McGovern). While commuting home, a mysterious woman called Joanna (Vera Farmiga) offers a game to Michael where he would locate a commuter in the train and receive a large amount. When Michael finds the money hidden in a wagon, the woman informs that he has accepted the offer and need to find the person in a few moments; otherwise his beloved family will suffer the consequences. What will Michael do?

"The Commuter" is another entertaining Liam Neeson´s action film. The unlikely story has promising beginning but the conclusion is absurd and funny. Despite the clichés, the non-stop action does not let the viewer think and in the end, "The Commuter" is a decent film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Passageiro" ("The Passenger")

The first half of this was a gripping, highly entertaining action movie in a similar vein to Neeson's previous "Non-Stop". I really enjoyed that movie and I'm a huge Vera Farmiga fan. In fact, "The Commuter" has a phenomenal cast - it's just a shame their talents aren't put to better use.

At times, it seemed very tongue-in-cheek and self-aware of its stupidity, as jokes and one-liners would randomly appear in scenes where you werne't expecting it. Things just became so unbelievable though that I started to tune-out. It all just seemed to be Liam Neeson pacing up and down a train while random phones rang.

The insanity reached a peak once a major train derailment took place and all the passengers casually started doing a spot of interior decorating like nothing happened.

If you have seen "The Taking of Pelham 123", "Unstoppable" or "Under Siege 2", then you have seen better versions of this.

The movie started off good, showing the daily routine, introducing the characters and setting up the mystery. The editing was interesting and even a little artsy, yet it got me hooked. I really enjoyed the first 30 minutes.

It was setting itself up to look like an intelligent mystery action. Having Neeson in this kind of movie spoils a lot, yet I thought this would be something different from his typical movies since he's getting older. I haven't seen the trailer though, just went to see the movie straight away.

After everything is set up, it just turns into a totally divorced from reality generic conspiracy action. The premise was indeed as silly as it gets. The ending was as unsurprising as possible. Omnipresent supervillains who can plan and predict everything by the smallest detail, control the situation without even being close yet fail at the most obvious things. The plot just plays itself, at times Neeson is not even doing anything to change the situation, it just changes by itself to adapt to his needs. This is not a well written movie. The ending had me saying "oh, no, you're not doing this...oh God".

Seeing Neeson perform ridiculous stunts was also a little confusing. No one should see an old man getting beaten like that. This just looks wrong.

Overall, next time I'll want to see a cop/witness drama routine, I'd better go re-watch 16 Blocks. At least it had characters instead of comic book villains.

SPOILER: The Commuter delivers what it promises, a Liam Neeson action movie that relies on tension and a little bit of mystery to fill out its runtime. It begins very well with minimal exposition for the set up, using images or short conversations to explain what most movies would carve out five minutes of dialogue for. From there it evolves more like a mystery with an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation searching for someone on the train. As it enters the third act, it goes full action movie with explosions, fight scenes, and massive stakes. While this was to be expected from Jaume Collet-Serra, it undermines what had been a more contained thriller up to that point.

It is shot well enough and uses an ensemble cast well, but no one besides Liam Neeson really has too much to do. Vera Farmiga and Jonathan Banks are both talented actors that are really underutilized. All in all, The Commuter is another Liam Neeson action movie that could be best described as "Nonstop on a train."

Usual comments about Liam Neeson playing Liam Neeson again. Another one of his simple action movies etc etc. But I disagree. You know why? This man never disappoints. I have yet to see the day when I'm coming out of a cinema (or my living room) saying to myself "nahh, that was bad...". Because - even when his movies does suck, Neeson himself always brings it to the table and saves the day. Never halfa$$sed day at work. And so sympathetic it always shines through in his characters. Okay. That being said. This movie has a decent storyline. Everything's not good in it -- far from it -- but he's just bringing us to the finish line one more time and I'm amazed. The guy is 66 or 67, and looks ripped for a 35 year old. Clapping hands from Sweden!