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Retribution Movie Review: In this universe, two things are certain: Liam Neeson's family will always suffer in his action flicks, and the movie itself will be subpar in every manner. With Retribution, it appears that the actor has outdone himself in his role as a modern action star by creating a film that is so absurd that it will make you wonder what you just watched for 90 minutes. This is a classic example of anything being "so bad that its good," where you simply have to go along with the complete lunacy happening in front of your eyes. Liam Neeson Almost Played James Bond but Turned Down the Role for His Wife, Here's What Ultimatum She Gave Him!
Retribution is directed by Nimrod Antal and it directly puts us into the life of Matt Turner (Liam Neeson). One afternoon where he takes up the responsibility of driving his kids to school, Matt quickly finds himself being threatened by a mysterious bomber who has planted pressure triggers under his car seats which are rigged to blow. Indulging the bomber in a series of tasks that can earn him his freedom, Matt must quickly figure out of a way to save him and his kids while finding out who the bomber is.
For a movie like Retribution, I would rather advise you to just turn off your brain and coast off with the vibes because nothing in this film will really make sense. It’s a fun concept executed in the goofiest way possible. For a film that primarily takes place in a car, there is no feeling of claustrophobia or urgency involved that will have you on the edge of your seat praying that these characters make it out of their situation alive. The action just feels stale and the car chase sequences have an amateurish quality to them.
Matt is a wealthy financier who frequently neglects his family and children in order to focus more on his career, which immediately makes him unlikable. Even though Neeson did his best to make the character appear to be a badass, I was never especially rooting for him. Although there is an attempt to humanise him, the movie's writers simply do their best to ensure that he has no redeemable qualities.
Watch the Trailer for Retribution:
The dialogue rather feels more straightforward with everyone just saying it how it goes. Everything just feels so unnatural and it plays into the bigger sense of where Retribution fumbles itself because these characters don’t feel like real people. The performances are as good as the script allows them to be Jack Champion as Zack and Lilly Aspell as Zach and Emily, Matt's children, are the only other two performances that genuinely feel convincing. Noma Dumezweni also plays a cop named Angela Brickman, and it’s just your average cop-like character who just stands around and broods while doing nothing and looking self-serious. Matthew Modine plays Anders Muller here, Matt’s best friend, and he is the only one who hams up and matches the ridiculousness of what Retribution is.
It's extremely hard to screw up a film that primarily takes place in a car, but it’s almost impressive how Retribution takes that concept and decides to do nothing with it. Even the mysterious bomber who threatens Matt by putting him in many life-threatening situations has a ridiculous twist attached to him that just came off as unintentionally hilarious – and I think that is the best way to sum up Retribution. It strongly reminded me of John Cena's 12 Rounds, but at least in that movie, there was a plot that made sense. Retribution is a situation where nothing makes sense. Taken Star Liam Neeson in Talks To Lead ‘Naked Gun’ Reboot.
Even if the movie is bad, it has a charm about it. It reminds me of low-budget action films from the 2000s where you just stare at the screen and watch the mayhem happen. After the credits rolled, I pondered the exact purpose of the filmmakers here. It ends so abruptly that I audibly left out a huge “huh” and questioned my own thoughts on the 90-minutes I had just experienced. I had fun with the stupidity, but at what cost. Maybe that was the real retribution inflicted upon me after all.
Final Thoughts
Retribution is a nonsensical time that really tries to do nothing more with its fun concept. If you’re just going in for Liam Neeson then you might find something to chew on here and might even revel in its stupidity, but if you’re looking for a more capable action film then you might just stay away from this one as far as possible. Retribution releases in theatres on August 25, 2023.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 23, 2023 11:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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