Darkman is a cheesy but really fun throwback to the B-movie horror days of Hollywood. Liam Neeson is wonderful and turns in a great performance considering the amount of make-up he had to work under.
Love Actually is just an all around fun, charming and heartwarming romantic-comedy-drama that features an amazing ensemble cast and even though I’ve seen this numerous times, it still doesn’t fail to make me smile.
Crash isn’t a movie I found all that great though my interest was mainly for some of the controversy and honestly as strange as the “plot” and characters were, it’s not that out of bounds at least nowadays.
The Haunting, even with its $80M production budget, was a moderate hit at the box office ($180M) and despite a spooky production design, the story was weak and the visual effects was well overdone.
Cold Pursuit is kind of standard action-thriller fair for Liam Neeson and while the script and supporting characters aren’t the strongest, it is an enjoyable enough film.
Widows is a well done and ultimately effective thriller from Steve McQueen that features some top-notch acting and an engaging story.
Batman Begins is perhaps one of the best superhero origin movies ever made, maybe slightly behind Superman but ahead of Iron Man. The performances from (most) of the cast is solid and Bale was genius casting helped by a legendary supporting cast.
Suspect is actually a pretty good 1980s suspense/thriller featuring good performances by Cher and Dennis Quaid, as well as Liam Neeson.
Battle for Incheon: Operation Chromite is a well made and interesting story from a war that hasn’t been well represented in film form. The performances seem fine though Liam Neeson did tend to chew the scenery.
A Prayer for the Dying could’ve been a great movie and instead, thanks to studio interference, we get something that’s merely ‘good’. The acting from Rourke and Hoskins was probably the saving grace, not to mention Liam Neeson’s brief role, and in the end, I was fairly entertained.
Entourage: The Movie isn’t bad in the same way as films like Transformers: Age of Extinction or Muck are but instead it’s just a self-indulgent flick where Hollywood stars can rub shoulders with one another and have a good time with it. That said, I suppose if you’re a fan of the series, which I was at one point for the first few seasons, this might be satisfactory if only because it’s serves as an extended episode.
Run All Night isn’t great but a perfectly satisfactory and entertaining action/thriller flick. Liam Neeson does employ his “special set of skills” but unlike the Taken movies, his character does get more depth and actual emotion. The writing isn’t the best, in particular developing the plot, but this is at least worth a rental.
Taken 3 is a weak sequel and really the epitome of a money grab with a template screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kasen and frenetic direction by Olivier Megaton of some truly generic action scenes. It is disappointing that the series has devolved to this level but I suppose if you like Neeson and can set aside some of the absurd plot points, Taken 3 might make for throwaway entertainment.
A Walk Among the Tombstones is an uneven crime-drama but its saving grace is with Liam Neeson who continues his success after his career resurgence following Taken. The story itself doesn’t quite work and the third act is a bit on the clichéd side, however, this might be worth a rental especially if you don’t mind a throwback thriller to the 1970s and 80s (think Charles Bronson).
The LEGO Movie is easily one heck of a fun flick with a sharp script that appeals to both kids and adults, masterful voice casting (especially Will Arnett as Batman) and the animation is absolutely wonderful.