Review of Run All Night (2015) by Maksim B — 26 Jun 2015

A typical Liam Neeson-vehicle, Run All Night is a predictable and formulaic old-school action. Without much difference from the other Neeson deliveries which have constituted the Northern Irish as one of top action actors of the last decade this is a fast-paced, solidly entertaining story-line that would easily be forgotten short after seeing it.

Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson) is an alcoholic and a former hitman for a local Irish mob boss Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris). Completely estranged from his son, Conlon spends his days drinking and relying on the money from received from Maguire. When Jimmy's son, Mike (Joel Kinnaman) becomes a witness of a shoot-out between gangs that involves Shawn's son things change in a direction that neither Jimmy nor his friend and former boss Shawn had ever expected. Shawn's son goes after Mike and when Jimmy has to choose he shoots the son of his boss. Shawn's verdict is clear and he mobilizes all his mob guys to find out Jimmy and Mike and to take his revenge by killing Mike.

This is from where the classic action starts. A night filled with car chases, decent action sequences and the commanding presence of Liam Neeson, Jaume Collet-Serra's delivery is in line with his previous similar productions (Non-Stop, Unknown) when it comes to the level of action. Unfortunately, when it comes to adrenaline-pumping and suspense, Run All Night cannot match a pleasant action such as Non-Stop. This is actually the movie's biggest issue. Even though it is bolstered by the likeable presence of Neeson and the cool supporting performance of Ed Harris the concept just fails to stand out from the other similar movies released recently.

Of course, if you are a fan of the genre this would not prevent you from being decently entertained by Run All Night, but it generic content would definitely disappoint you if you are searching for something more than a classic action or for a Liam Neeson delivery matching a classic such as Taken.