Blacklight is one of the last films in which Liam Neeson presents himself as an almost infallible and very tough action hero: which character does he play in this case? What is the story of Blacklight? And what negative record does he have in his career?
One thing is now certain, since Taken, and it is still evident in Blacklight: must not never make Liam Neeson angrynor touch his family, because the violence of retaliation will be unsustainable. Mark Williams’ film presents the actor as action-thriller herocapable of dispensing justice that is not exactly without blemish, but certainly without fear, thanks to those “very particular abilities” that take no prisoners when they are at full capacity… let’s start by looking at the Blacklight trailer!
Blacklight, the plot of the film with Liam Neeson
In Blacklight (2022) by Mark Williams the main character is Travis Block (Liam Neeson): Vietnam veteran, he is an agent of theFBI who dreams there pension, but the reality is different. In fact, Travis is still asked to help undercover colleagues, thanks to his abilities. It’s a life that’s getting closer and closer to him, because it has cost him the affection of his daughter, but there would still be enough time to become, if nothing else, a reliable grandfather. Things change drastically when he is asked to deal with Agent Dusty Crane (Taylor John Smith), who is actually hunted by the agency because he knows uncomfortable thingsthings he would like to reveal to journalist Mira Jones (Emmy Raver-Lampman). Travis understands that he ended up on the bad side, and that “he woke up one morning without knowing who the good guys are anymore”. The question is: will Block be able to rebel against those who have been his bosses for decades? He will be able to stop and unmask theOperation Unitywhich has already cost the life of an activist?
Liam Neeson from I Will Find You to Blacklight, an action second life almost finished
If you are not too young, you should remember that Liam Neeson he didn’t become as famous asvigilante action hero Of I will find you (Taken2008, directed by Pierre Morelscreenplay by Luc Besson And Robert Mark Kamen). Born in 1952, he has a prestigious one to his credit Oscar nomination for best leading actor For Schindler’s List (1994) by Steven Spielberg, but in a career that began in the late Seventies he was the protagonist of also arthouse films and much appreciated: Mission (1986), Darkman (1991), In the (1994), Rob Roy (1995), Michael Collins (1996), even appearing in a comedy like Love Actually (2003) and binding to the jedi Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). In short, his was a path of great flexibilitybut to his own amazement a film that he considered a “b-movie from home video” as Taken restarted his career in an unthinkable way, considering his relatively venerable age for the action genre. 25 million dollars budget for 226,800,000 worldwide gross were enough to open a Pandora’s box of suspense, revenge, hard boiled jokes, beatings and blind torture for the bad guys.
Blacklight: a negative record for the film with Liam Neeson
In these films, whether an innocent victim of circumstances or an expert in combat and/or killing, his character always shows off unexpected skills, on a razor’s edge: Unknown – Without identity (2011), Taken – Revenge (2012) e Taken 3 – The moment of truth (2014), then again Non-stop, The perfect prey, Run All Night, The man on the train, A quiet man, Honest Thief (2020, by the same director as Blacklight, Mark Williams), A man above the law, Memory, Remuneration. However, the barrage of very similar films has begun to weaken Neeson’s reputation, and he is about to completely rethink himself in a comedic way as new Frank Drebin In the reboot of the Naked Gun, replacing Leslie Nielsen. Whereas Blacklight holds the negative record of the worst average rating on Rotten Tomatoes for one of his action films (11%!!!), perhaps the time had come.
