Mémoire meurtrière

As far as modern Liam Neeson action thrillers go this one is defiantly up there with the better ones. He plays an aging assassin who is tasked with a target who winds up being a young girl, he later discovers that the family that hired him runs a child prostitution ring, and the girl was a part of it. As expected, he goes after them, but with the catch he's slowly suffering from Alzheimer's. The final act takes a few twists and turns one wouldn't expect and the additions of Guy Pearce and Monica Bellucci along with some solid gore defiantly help. The underlining theme of there's no justice for the rich is pretty good too.

Ok, I'm the first to hold up my hand and say that after Taken Liam Neeson keeps churning out movies that are so so and usually his movies recently have been straight to video movies that are light on story and action.

This one however took me by surprise and was great. The whole cast are invested in the film and take the work seriously and that portrays to the screen well, Guy Pierce is great as a grizzled FBI agent fiercely trying to reconcile his past as well as doing what's right within the law.

There were a few unanswered pieces that could have been answered but all in all a great movie and I'm glad this one was light on the shaky cam.

I guess Marty Campbell wished to do the same with Neeson as he did for Mel Gibson, back in 2010, with EDGE OF DARKNESS. Same kind of lead role, gloomy, desperate, so that's a perfect character for a more than aging actor as Liam Neeson. But EDGE OF DARKNESS was much better however, and Martin Campbell is maybe here not so dedicated or inspired as he probably was twelve years ago. The topic of the aging contract killer is not new anyway and it's then always difficult to create surprises, but the ending, though being not that surprising, remains worth watching the whole film. That's my opinion. And for once, Liam Neeson is nearly shown as a supporting character, because in this movie, there is no real lead one, and no one could deny that Neeson as here the most interesting role he had since a long time; nothing to do with SCHINDLER'S LIST however; I mean since he began his action movies, since TAKEN actually.

Well, I have to say that Liam Neeson keeps pumping out good movies these past many recent years. So I have to say that when I sat down to watch "Memory" from writer Dario Scardapane and director Martin Campbell, I was harboring some expectations.

And "Memory" delivers. Yes, this is another coin in the piggybank movie from Liam Neeson. The storyline was nicely written, and it was more than just your average action thriller, because "Memory" gives you something to think about with its storyline, and also gives you some great characters.

The cast ensemble in "Memory" was good. Liam Neeson was just brilliant in this movie and this particular role, and I will say that it was refreshing to see him in a role such as this. The movie also have Guy Pearce, Taj Atwal, Harold Torres, Monica Bellucci and Ray Stevenson on the cast list among others. The entire cast pulled together and performed quite well all throughout the entire movie.

"Memory" is a very engaging action thriller, especially because writer Dario Scardapane immediately sweeps you up and takes you on a thrill-ride with lots of ups and down, and throws enough curveballs at you to keep you in the dark.

If you enjoy action thrillers and Liam Neeson, then "Memory" is a must-watch movie. I was genuinely entertained by this one. And I dare actually say that it is without a doubt one of the better movies with Liam Neeson, and that says a lot, because he has been putting out a lot of good movies over the past couple of years.

I can and will warmly recommend you sit down to watch "Memory".

My rating of "Memory" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

"Justice comes down to him." From The Marksman

Vigilante revenge is riddled through American thriller films, and nobody does it better than Liam Neeson. In an interview, he believes audiences love seeing the big old guy kicking butt for the rest of us stuck home from covid, retirement, or whatever.

In Martin Campbell's Memory (the 78-year-old Casino Royale director like Neeson still has his mojo), he plays Alex Lewis, a contract killer telling his sponsors he's done, but they refuse to accept his offer. Because his current contract involves murdering a 13-year-old girl, Beatriz (Mia Sanchez), he's not going to do it, period! Per usual, Neeson's hardcore vigilante has his limits: Involving children is a non-no, and it's an immediate softener for the audience. Plus, such a code allows the essential Neeson to emerge-a good guy underneath his "special skills."

This refinement of past assignments, this surfacing of a standard that brooks no trafficking in young people, is a moral advance for an immoral assassin. The audience immediately sides with the hit man and shows no sympathy for the rich people doing the reprehensible trafficking. Memory's loaded with sympathy for Alex, especially when he connects with FBI agent Vincent, played by Guy Pearce (a nice touch as we remember him in that classic thriller, Memento). Both are tough men on the opposite sides of the law, who have a sympathetic side that ingratiates without sapping the tough guy the audience has always savored.

The strongest leitmotif is that of memory, or the lack thereof, so that the early-onset Alzheimer's plays a technical part of the plot and a thematic reminder that combating trafficking is going to involve memory, not just of the computer kind. One memory Alex never loses is the murder of young Beatriz, for whose violent end Alex was not responsible.

Along the way, this layered thriller comments on the limits of justice and the questionable answer of vigilantism. While the film leans toward the latter, so too does the stock Neeson character, whose sympathy we have when we see how free the bad boys and girls go.

They still need to be wary of old men with dementia-it's those hidden skills, Baby. "HIS MIND IS FADING. HIS CONSCIENCE IS CLEAR," says the memory poster.