Run All Night (2015)

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I decided to continue my journey through Liam Neeson's action movies tonight, a journey that began with The Commuter, then moved on to Non-Stop, and rolled along this evening with Run All Night.

This was a pretty good movie. Liam Neeson turns in a reliably solid performance as an ex-mob enforcer trying to protect his son. Joel Kinnaman also does well as Neeson's son, and shit, I didn't even realize that dude was in this movie. He just popped up and I was like, oh fuck, it's Joel Kinnaman. Ed Harris is also in here as a mob boss and even Common shows up and does a good job as a hitman.

The film has a cool visual style and distinct direction, courtesy of Jaume Collet-Serra. In fact, I learned that Collet-Serra is the same guy that directed The Commuter and Non-Stop, as well as another thriller with Neeson that I haven't gotten to yet, Unknown. I guess these guys just like each other and work well together, like Scorsese and Leo. Four of Collett-Serra's last five films have starred Liam Neeson.

I really didn't expect any of these films to be worth a shit, which is why I hadn't watched them until now. I did see Taken a while back, and while I thought it was pretty good I didn't feel like I needed more of that from Liam. However, while The Commuter did disappoint me, I really enjoyed Non-Stop and I think Run All Night is pretty solid as well.

Anyone else have thoughts on Run All Night?
 
Yeh, I liked this too. But Neeson's character just a bit too unbelievably invincible in it. I dont mind him getting the upper hand, just not so easily.

A mob hitman should not be as good as a CIA man from Taken. Especially an irish mob hitman. He did not even have the element of surprise. Jean Reno in the Professional looks invincible, but he had element of surprise. Eventually Gary Oldman, and DEA did take him out.

Neeson's character ought to be more raw. His combat skills were just way too polished.
 
MadSquabbles500 said:
Yeh, I liked this too. But Neeson's character just a bit too unbelievably invincible in it. I dont mind him getting the upper hand, just not so easily.

A mob hitman should not be as good as a CIA man from Taken. Especially an irish mob hitman. He did not even have the element of surprise. Jean Reno in the Professional looks invincible, but he had element of surprise. Eventually Gary Oldman, and DEA did take him out.

Neeson's character ought to be more raw. His combat skills were just way too polished.
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I can't say that was an issue for me. In terms of the characters my biggest issue with actually with Ed Harris's character. Early in the movie he seems like a decent guy who has now mostly left the mob life behind and is a legitimate businessman. So it didn't seem right that he would be so eager to kill Neeson's son. I just had a hard time seeing him be cruel and vengeful in that way. After all, it was Neeson who pulled the trigger, and Harris knew it was in self-defense anyway.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I can't say that was an issue for me. In terms of the characters my biggest issue with actually with Ed Harris's character. Early in the movie he seems like a decent guy who has now mostly left the movie life behind and is a legitimate businessman. So it didn't seem right that he would be so eager to kill Neeson's son. I just had a hard time seeing him be cruel and vengeful in that way. After all, it was Neeson who pulled the trigger, and Harris knew it was in self-defense anyway.
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Yes that part was kind of weird.
 
I thought it was very average, held my attention but I completely forgot about it like a week after watching it.
 
It reminded me of running scared with Paul Walker and I remember liking that a lot more.
 
It's a good, but not great, film. Does a good job of balancing the action and drama. The acting is consistently decent, with pretty good character development. Probably the best part of it is Ed Harris's heel turn when Neeson is forced to kill his son. Overall it's a 7/10, but gets lost in the schuffle of the small library of action flicks Neeson had around that time.
 
I remember it being decent. Not boring and I dont regret watching it. It did kind of feel like a clash of sensibilities about halfway through. Initially Neeson was this old ex hit man that seemed beaten down under the burden of his sins. It kind of felt like a crime drama more than an action flick. Then halfway through it's like they noticed how successful his other movies where and decided "Quick, let's have him Liam Neesoning the fuck out of some bad guys".
 
Another vote for "enjoyable but forgettable". I think the cast elevated it from okay to decent, but with some tweaks it could have been genuinely good.

Unfortunately I forget so much about it I can't really offer any.
 
Good film. Similar to the Walk Amongst Tombstones one.

Like I say in most Neeson threads, you know what to expect when you go and watch a Neeson film.
 
Bob Gray said:
I remember it being decent. Not boring and I dont regret watching it. It did kind of feel like a clash of sensibilities about halfway through. Initially Neeson was this old ex hit man that seemed beaten down under the burden of his sins. It kind of felt like a crime drama more than an action flick. Then halfway through it's like they noticed how successful his other movies where and decided "Quick, let's have him Liam Neesoning the fuck out of some bad guys".
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There is a shift in the film but my interpretation was that Neeson basically shook the rust off. Early in the movie, he's a broken man with no real will to live. But once his son is in danger, then it lights a fire in him and he's ready to go kick some ass.

It's kind of like how Hulk Hogan would be down and seemingly out, but then he would rally and make a comeback and hit his opponent with the leg drop.
 
Organic Damage said:
Another vote for "enjoyable but forgettable". I think the cast elevated it from okay to decent, but with some tweaks it could have been genuinely good.
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I'd say it's good. Not great, but good.

I think the quality of the direction elevates it. In the hands of a mediocre director with the same script, we'd have gotten a generic action thriller. But Collet-Serra is skilled enough to raise the material to a higher level.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
I decided to continue my journey through Liam Neeson's action movies tonight, a journey that began with The Commuter, then moved on to Non-Stop, and rolled along this evening with Run All Night.

This was a pretty good movie. Liam Neeson turns in a reliably solid performance as an ex-mob enforcer trying to protect his son. Joel Kinnaman also does well as Neeson's son, and shit, I didn't even realize that dude was in this movie. He just popped up and I was like, oh fuck, it's Joel Kinnaman. Ed Harris is also in here as a mob boss and even Common shows up and does a good job as a hitman.

The film has a cool visual style and distinct direction, courtesy of Jaume Collet-Serra. In fact, I learned that Collet-Serra is the same guy that directed The Commuter and Non-Stop, as well as another thriller with Neeson that I haven't gotten to yet, Unknown. I guess these guys just like each other and work well together, like Scorsese and Leo. Four of Collett-Serra's last five films have starred Liam Neeson.

I really didn't expect any of these films to be worth a shit, which is why I hadn't watched them until now. I did see Taken a while back, and while I thought it was pretty good I didn't feel like I needed more of that from Liam. However, while The Commuter did disappoint me, I really enjoyed Non-Stop and I think Run All Night is pretty solid as well.

Anyone else have thoughts on Run All Night?
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I believe this was the first time I saw Joel Kinnaman in a movie. He was excellent and holding his own against Liam.
 
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