Liam Neeson's last action film is a fresh take on the revenge genre.
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Yes, Liam Neeson is starring again in yet another ‘Dadsploitation’ film. No, he doesn’t have a special set of skills this time. In fact, in his new role as Nels Coxman, a snowplow driver and respected citizen in snowy small-town Kehoe, Colorado, he has never hurt anyone before, until his son is murdered, purported at the hands of a drug syndicate.
In this remake of the 2014 film In Order of Disappearance, Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland (who also directed the original) shakes up the standard-issue vengeance film plot and evolves it into a refreshingly self-conscious, dryly funny depiction of violence.
The violence is initially bloody and graphic – Moland does not shy away from the deaths, and there are many. As a marker for each, Moland cuts to a tombstone-like screen with the deceased’s name and nickname. This symbol is meant to be solemn, but becomes a bit more light-hearted as the bodies pile up. In the movie’s later half, Moland eventually cuts to them without showing a character’s death, suggesting an abundance of deaths beyond the movie’s ability to keep up.
In another inspired move, the focus on supporting roles is a fresh take that differs from the usual go-it-alone protagonist style in similar films. Apart from main drug lord and villain Viking (Tom Bateman), whose motives are fully fleshed out, all the other characters also receive significant turns in the spotlight. Neeson’s presence doesn’t loom as large compared to a standard revenge flick.
According to Neeson, this is his last action role. Unfortunately, as has been widely known, the actor caused a furore during the promotion around the film’s release by sharing an ill-received, racist anecdote about looking for a black man to beat up because a black man had raped his friend. With that aside, the film, viewed in isolation, is certainly worth the price of admission.
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