Entre les tombes

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.

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")

... 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.

Doubting whether audiences do really know the existence of this crime film due to poor marketing, Liam Neeson's name alone however has no problem at all to draw a solid walk-ins, and surprisingly it turns out to be a compelling story compared to his previous roles. Unlike the other same genre, this does not filled with action-packed scenes, but progresses steadily and methodically in details just like a real investigation in daily life, making it appears to be a chilling drama thriller. Not much of plot twists, but certain creepy moments with solid scores, riveting performance from the hero himself and the supporting casts, nasty and eerie crime heavily based on drugs and alcohol, the surprisingly "muted" ending style are more than enough to guarantee an intense, enjoyable, old-fashioned and watchable psycho- thriller.

A well produced film about an ex-drunk Investigator callled Scudder : Liam Neeson , who becomes involved into a twisted criminal case while he is going to discover the killers . Liam Neeson plays an ex-cop with alcohol problems and dark past who has to confront dangerous enemies to save himself and his young friend , a fourteen year-old street kid . As he's hired by a drug lord : Dan Stevens , that's why he's initially reluctant to investigate the assigned case , but then he changes the mind and carries out the hard investigation. He discovers several pieces of a puzzle and Scudder has to solve who is the killer and whom goes to murder . Soon after, he finds that the murderers have killed other women connected to drug dealers and they get their files from the DEA. Lives are on the line ! . People are afraid of all the wrong things . His life on the line ! .

Thrilling and nail-biting movie with noisy action , shootouts , spectacular scenes , fights , violence and amazing finale . From start to finish the fractic action , twists and turns are continuous . As always , Liam Neeson is very good as the ex-cop and private eye who is caught-up in a risked investigation with fateful consequences . Liam playing in his usual style as Private investigator Matthew Scudder who is hired by a drug kingpin well played by Dan Stevens to find out who abducted and killed his wife. Neeson at his best , returning to high-profile roles in 2010 with big-budget films with plenty of action and violence such as : Team A (2010), Unknown (2011), The Grey (2011), Battleship (2012) and Taken I and Taken 2 (2012) , Cold Pursuit (2019) and fiinally The Marksman (2021) . Liam is well accompanied by attractive secondaries , such as as Dan Stevens , Sebastian Roche , Boyd Holbrook , Brian Bradley, David Harbour , among others.

It packs atmospheric and some dark cinematography by Mihai Malaimare shot in New York , using steadicam, at times . The musician Rafael Rivera composes a moving and rousing musical score fitting perfectly to the frenetic action . The motion picture was well directed by Scott Frank. He's a notorious writer and director who has made some nice films . As his first feature directed Josph Gordon Levitt in The Lookout (2007). Scott Frank was nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special category for Godless (2017), but lost to William Bridges & Charlie Brooker for Black Mirror: USS Callister (2017). He wrote prestigious scripts as noir anthology, Fallen Angels (1993) and Frank also wrote the screenplay for Joanou's 1996 feature , Heaven's Prisoners(1996) . Rating : 7/10. Notable thriller , well worth watching . The flick will appeal to thriller enthusiasts . Essential and indispensable watching for Liam Neeson fans.