Given the can't stop/won't stop pace that Liam Neeson has brought to churning out later-in-life action thrillers post-"Taken," there's something particularly appropriate about his latest, "Retribution," which involves a guy who can't stop moving. Set in Berlin, the "Speed"-like conceit possesses a crisp and efficient stupidity before, predictably, running out of gas.
Neeson is again an ordinary bloke thrown into extraordinary circumstances, this time playing Matt Turner, a banker who is clearly a little too preoccupied with work to suit his wife (Embeth Davidtz, reuniting with Neeson on screen 30 years after "Schindler's List") and two children (Jack Champion, of "Avatar: The Way of Water;" and Lilly Aspell, previously seen as the young Diana in "Wonder Woman").
As (very bad) luck would have it, Matt grudgingly agrees to drive the kids to school, only to get a phone call from a mysterious, computer-altered voice telling him that the seats are wired with bombs, and that the car will blow up if any of the three of them try to exit the vehicle.
Understandably skeptical at first, Matt soon receives a demonstration that the terrorist isn't kidding around, forcing him to drive all over the city while trying to decipher who could be responsible for this elaborate plot, what might have motivated him and how to save himself and his children.
This kind of ticking-clock scenario -- against an unseen threat that seemingly manages to be everywhere at once -- has a long history, but it's a savvy way of constructing a concentrated thriller on a budget, relying on Neeson's knack for approximating the kind of everyman who, as foreign as this situation is, might have the inherent tenacity and grit to the rise to the occasion. Annoying at first, the kids also become a bit more tolerable as the ordeal drags on.
Director Nimrod Antal ("Predators") and writer Christopher Salmanpour don't reinvent the wheel; indeed, the whole exercise pivots on creating an excuse to put Neeson behind it and, essentially, leave the driving to him.
"Retribution" isn't the kind of movie destined to stay idling in theaters for long, but soon enough it will cruise onto a TV service alongside other Neeson vehicles with economical titles, like "The Commuter," "The Ice Road" and "Cold Pursuit." Once there, if history's any guide, his fans -- particularly those willing to engage in the necessary suspension of disbelief and critical thinking -- will be agreeably entertained.
Of course, by then he'll probably have starred in three more movies just like it.
"Retribution" premieres August 25 in US theaters. It's rated R.
