Retribution

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.

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.

Retribution (2023) : Movie Review -

Retribution Movie Review: Nimród Antal's action thriller Retribution sees Liam Neeson take the lead role. Based on the Spanish flick "El desconocido" (2015), Retribution restores all the original elements but seems too soft for today's audiences. Actually, remaking a 2015 flick that hasn't gotten a high repeat value or universal acclaim wasn't a good idea in the first place, but technically it was a safe bet. The script did not demand a huge budget, long hours, or any transformations, so it sums things up quickly. That's easy, but somebody has said the right thing: "Easy is boring". You need something exciting and thrilling just to add one more layer to your decent watch, and the product should land safely. Retribution gets to that decent point, but not to that one extra layer.

Retribution revolves around bank financier Matt Turner (Liam Neeson), who is more busy at work than his family. He thinks everything's alright with his wife, son, and daughter, but it isn't. One day, Matt is off to leave his children at school in a car, and he receives an anonymous call on a cellphone that has been left inside and is told that a bomb has been placed under each of the car's seats, set to explode if any of them leaves their seated position. The unknown caller asks Matt to do everything he says, and as we all know, he wouldn't give easy tasks. From money scams to murder, framing, and destroying one's identity, Matt's life is turned upside down. Can he get it back and save his children?

Retribution is a wannabe revenge drama that hardly has any sensible revenge theories. On the positive side, it is a very engaging hostage drama. You might have seen hostess dramas set in a godown, room, or house, but never inside a car. Retribution scores high in those attributes. One can feel the pressure that's built inside the vehicle and the way those three characters and one horrible voice behave. What goes wrong is the shortening process. The best thing about Retribution is that it's pacy and short, and the worst thing is that it's too short for a complete feature film experience. Predictability is caused by the remake factor, but it wouldn't be there for first-timers. The script has completeness intellectually but is incomplete as a thrilling ride. A little bit of extension to the storyline would have made a good difference.

Talking about performances, Retribution is all about Liam Neeson's acting finesse. This man suits the age, look, and personality of the character, but more than that, it's his own charisma that makes it look better. "I can't," says Matt, dropping his gun. Watch out for Neeson's expression and the situational brilliance provided by him. Noma Dumezweni shines in that one particular scene when she has a conversation with Matt, aka Liam. Matthew Modine will surprise you, despite limited screen space, while Embeth Davidtz underperforms, unexpectedly. The supporting roles of Lilly Aspell, Jack Champion, Arian Moayed, and others are somewhat noticeable.

Retribution's strength lies in its screenplay, even though the storyline is a bit pulpy. El desconocido showed the protagonist in a bad light as a dishonest person, while Retribution is way too mild in presenting the hero. It derives a lot from the sympathetic image of the hero, as we see his children and even the cops being too supportive towards him. It's generous and lovable occasionally-not fully, though. The technical aspects are okay, with a special mention to the background score. Flavio Labiano's camerawork is fine, and Steven Mirkovich's editing doesn't let you have a nap. Nimród Antal's return to the movies after 7 years may be alright, but I still prefer that aggressive Antal from Predators (2010). Moviemaking is far different now, so he must update himself. It's mandatory when you are remaking a so-so one-time film. Retribution is a one-time watch too, but how many people prefer that nowadays?

RATING - 5/10*

Shallow is the best word I can come up with. This is the worse character script writing I've seen for any Liam film but it is still a passable film (barely). Lots of stereotyping about the kids, wife, cops and much of the supporting cast. A few holes in the storyline, too. However, if you're a Liam fan, you'll get through it. The editing was actually pretty good but there are lots of gaps that have you wondering "what's taking so long?". I think this could have been 2-3 stars better with some decent writing and less predictability with many of the characters. It was just very shallow and Liam deserves a lot better.

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.