Liam Neeson often plays the role of a “dominant” father, using his fists to save his family in many previous films. In Retribution (Vietnamese title: Punishment 2023), the Irish actor has to sit behind the wheel for most of the film.

In Retribution , Liam Neeson plays Matt Turner – a bank manager on the way to take his two children to school. 

A phone call from a stranger informs him that a bomb has been planted under the seat, and he and his child will only be alive if they follow crazy instructions. The work is the third remake of the Spanish film El desconocido (2015), after the German version (2018) and the Korean version (2022).

In Retribution , Liam Neeson continues to play the “angry” father trying to rescue his child

When Liam Neeson doesn’t use his fists

Liam Neeson  seemed nailed by Taken (2008), where he played a former agent hunting down his daughter’s kidnapper. After Taken , the filmmaker intentionally invited Neeson to participate in similar roles and scripts.

In fact, Retribution is not too far from the above story line. The difference is that Matt Turner is just a white-collar class, not an elite agent or veteran. At the age of 71, perhaps Liam Neeson wants to choose a role with less fighting and more emotional development. 

Instead of focusing on filming punches and dangerous blows, Retribution has close-ups depicting the main character’s miserable, moody face as the three roles of husband – father – honest person collide. acrimonious.

Unlike previous roles where Liam Neeson’s character often instilled fear in criminals, this time, he is passive behind the wheel. 

Retribution forces the main character to use his speaking skills and cunning to compromise with the villain. The deep, masculine voice and eyes filled with thoughts hidden beneath the crow’s feet of age make Liam Neeson’s acting more realistic and rich in emotion.

Liam Neeson has a lot of space to express his emotions in the new movie

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Compared to Liam Neeson, the remaining actors are only at the level of serving the story line, not creating a highlight. 

Lilly Aspell and Jack Champion, who play the two children in the car with Matt, don’t have much of a chance to express themselves, as most of their lines are complaints and calls for help.

 The two Gen Z actors also appear to be lacking in acting when sharing the same frame with a veteran face like Liam Neeson.

According to Bilge Ebiri writing on Vulture , the film’s camera angles are its weak point. Instead of focusing on the interactions of three characters in one frame, ” Retribution often includes three shots: close-up of Matt’s face, close-up of the girl’s face, close-up of the boy’s face. This creates drama and emotion. necessary emotions, but also lose the connection between the roles.”

The oldness of the script

The original El desconocido was successful because in 2015, telecommunications devices were not as developed as they are now. In 2023, when everyone owns a smartphone, it’s hard to imagine that an “economic fox” like Matt Turner couldn’t find a way to catch the bomber. 

The new script has the line “Don’t be foolish to try to contact the police, because I know everything”, but that alone does not explain why the Turner family did not try to record or livestream to prove their innocence. .

Similarly, the screenwriter, rigidly following the old “playbook”, missed the opportunity to introduce new dangers of the 4.0 era such as  artificial intelligence , deepfake (face fake tool)… It’s one thing for a villain to commit evil in a crude way, but the police have no flexibility in rescuing hostages, asking for the truth is unreasonable.

The film possesses many outdated technological details

Lionsgate

To create a surprise, the filmmaker decided to change the reason the villain attacked Matt and his associates. However, the villain’s motivation therefore becomes faint and silly, no longer carrying enough weight in the second half of the film. 

This change also makes the psychological struggle between the two characters, which was a highlight in the old versions, become boring and somewhat dogmatic.

On The Atlantic , writer David Sims said Retribution is a metaphor for Liam Neeson’s twilight career: “A man in his 70s is stuck in a car, similar to Neeson being stuck in action movies with content.” similar to each other”.

 Overall, Retribution is a film with an average script in Liam Neeson’s career in the past few years. But Neeson is the type of veteran actor whose audiences will go see his movies for himself, not because of the content.