La preda perfetta

In 1991, In New York, Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) is an alcoholic police detective. In 1999, Scudder is retired from the police and is a private investigator without license. When his comrade Peter Kristo (Boyd Holbrook) from the rehab invites him to visit his brother Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens), who is a drug dealer, Scudder learns that Kenny's wife Ann Carrie Kristo (Razane Jammal) had been abducted and cut into pieces by the kidnappers. Now Kenny wants to find the killer to revenge. Scudder initially refuses the case but then he accepts to investigate. Soon he finds that the killers have murdered other women connected to drug dealers and they get their files from the DEA. When the fourteen year-old daughter of a drug dealer is also kidnapped, Scudder heads up a group to rescue the teenager.

"A Walk among the Tombstones" is a gloomy crime film developed in slow pace, but with a complex story. The plot is realistic and the viewer follows Scudder investigation. The screenplay does not have a plot point with surprising revelations or action scenes; indeed it is indeed old- fashioned. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Caçada Mortal" ("Deadly Hunt")

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.

Intense. Much better than the current rating - 6.5 reflects.

This is a slow paced thriller, starring Liam Neeson who seems to be the new action star at the moment. An unlikely one and if you've seen Taken 3, you just hope they won't put him into to many foot chase scenes from here on out (or cut them better together). But it's not only about him, it's about other characters as well. Many on the wrong side of the law (obviously), but still not the real bad guys here.

The action scenes are little and come from time to time, this is more about telling a story (though there is not much to tell if you really think about it). There is tension and a lot of characters to keep track of on the other hand. It's nicely paced if you like your thrillers to take their time, if not you'll be bored from time to time.

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.