172.
The Commuter
8/10
Liam Neeson gets back onto the screen in front of me for his last action film, which turns out, won't be his last action film. This time, is doesn't take place on a plane, there's no moment of boat warfare, or even a little bit of car chase. Instead, we are treated to a movie set aboard a train. Every film that I have seen Neeson is before, may well have been a kick ass movie, but at the same time, it has the regular occurrence that we know who the main suspect is every time. Is this going to be a movie that we wish was 'Taken', or taken away from us altogether?
Liam Neeson plays a 'normal' commuter, who takes the train to work every day, speaking to the usual other commuters and spending time with his wife and son, before even making it to the train station. Funny thing is, when he gets on the train that we are spectating for his life, shit is about to go to pot. Michael, Neeson's character, works as an insurance salesman, who is being laid off on the day we meet the guy. He heads to a pub, where he meets his mate, a police officer named Alex Murphy, played by Patrick Wilson. Wilson is a major character in the horror franchise that I love, The Conjuring movies and he is married, in these movies, to a woman played by Vera Farmiga, who we have already seen in the trailer. Is there something behind the scenes or what?! Alex was a detective, around the same time as Neeson's character, MacCauley, who is a ball ache to type, so will remain as Neeson. The two ex-partners meet and chat about how they don't like a fellow colleague, Hawthorne, played by Sam Neill. It seems pretty weird that Sam Neill would play a part role, so there's more to come from him. He even comes over to talk to the ex-partners, trying his best to integrate. Alex believes that that gang are all corrupt and in it together and because he doesn't choose to be, he is an outcast in it all. On the train home Michael MacCauley is joined at the seats with a woman named Joanna, who is played by Farmiga. After a friendly chat, she starts to ask him weird questions about the type of person he is, before revealing that there is a compartment in the train's toilet, with a bag containing $25,000. She tells him that he can have it as long as he finds someone under the name 'Prynne', before the train reaches its last stop. Just as she leaves, she even hints that she knows he needs the money and the fact that he used to be a cop.
He sounds finds the money and decides to take the option up of finding this person on the train, who doesn't belong. After a while, he attempts to leave the train but is stopped and handed an envelope that contains his wife's wedding ring. He tries to ring her, but gets no answer, moving on to try and get a message to his fellow commuter that we have already met once. He writes on his paper, telling him to phone the police, but once this man gets off, he is pushed in front of a bus by an unknown assailant. This leaves Michael no choice, but to track down Prynne. We see him going from carriage to carriage with no luck, looking at everyone who doesn't belong and even asking little questions. Usually, the person they are looking for ends up being someone we caught a glimpse of and the camera ended up elsewhere. Michael thinks that he has found the person, so plants a tracking device on their luggage, before ringing his cop mate, Murphy and explaining the situation. Murphy tells him that Prynne is a lead witness in a massive case and will likely be killed if found. They witnessed a suicide and is set to be stopped by these people or put into witness protection. Michael breaks the air-con, moving everyone into one carriage, as Prynne reveals herself as a young girl, after Michael had gotten an innocent man killed. Prynne's real name is Sofia and when Michael asks about the fact that she didn't go to the police, she answers with the fact that it was the police who killed that guy and it wasn't a suicide.
Joanna gives one final call, for him to kill Sofia, which he refuses so she sets of an explosion to derail the train as it heads towards a curve. Michael, doing the most Liam Neeson thing he could do, climbs outside and unhooks the final and full carriage, to give them all more of a chance. It finally comes to a stop and the police surround them, thinking that Michael is holding them all hostage. They send Murphy in to talk to him and once everything pans out, it turns out that Murphy is the killer that the witness recognises. There is a fight and Michael takes the police identifier from Murphy and keeps it on him, causing the snipers to believe that Murphy is the target, getting him killed and leading to the freedom of the passengers. They all leave, as Sofia walks over to the FBI and explains everything that went on inside the train. Sam Neill's character comes over to Michael, telling him that they have watched Murphy for a while now, even offering him a job back but Michael only worries about his family. A few weeks later, we see Joanna sitting down on a train, as Michael sits opposite her, revealing his badge, just as the movie ends. He's back on the force.
This wasn't your normal Liam Neeson films, that may have gotten a little too much now. This time, I didn't know who the real bad guy was until right at the end, which still ended up being a surprise, as many guesses would have been elsewhere. This could also be the same for guessing who Prynne would be. There was plenty of action and some good fight scenes, which have pretty much become the norm for a Neeson movie. It is by no means a classic and I didn't rush back for a second viewing, but at the time, it was some good escapism and a decent action movie. It all ended with a massive, over the top train crash, which only added to the character of this type of movie, which ended up being a decent trill-ride, but not totally derailed.
He sounds finds the money and decides to take the option up of finding this person on the train, who doesn't belong. After a while, he attempts to leave the train but is stopped and handed an envelope that contains his wife's wedding ring. He tries to ring her, but gets no answer, moving on to try and get a message to his fellow commuter that we have already met once. He writes on his paper, telling him to phone the police, but once this man gets off, he is pushed in front of a bus by an unknown assailant. This leaves Michael no choice, but to track down Prynne. We see him going from carriage to carriage with no luck, looking at everyone who doesn't belong and even asking little questions. Usually, the person they are looking for ends up being someone we caught a glimpse of and the camera ended up elsewhere. Michael thinks that he has found the person, so plants a tracking device on their luggage, before ringing his cop mate, Murphy and explaining the situation. Murphy tells him that Prynne is a lead witness in a massive case and will likely be killed if found. They witnessed a suicide and is set to be stopped by these people or put into witness protection. Michael breaks the air-con, moving everyone into one carriage, as Prynne reveals herself as a young girl, after Michael had gotten an innocent man killed. Prynne's real name is Sofia and when Michael asks about the fact that she didn't go to the police, she answers with the fact that it was the police who killed that guy and it wasn't a suicide.
Joanna gives one final call, for him to kill Sofia, which he refuses so she sets of an explosion to derail the train as it heads towards a curve. Michael, doing the most Liam Neeson thing he could do, climbs outside and unhooks the final and full carriage, to give them all more of a chance. It finally comes to a stop and the police surround them, thinking that Michael is holding them all hostage. They send Murphy in to talk to him and once everything pans out, it turns out that Murphy is the killer that the witness recognises. There is a fight and Michael takes the police identifier from Murphy and keeps it on him, causing the snipers to believe that Murphy is the target, getting him killed and leading to the freedom of the passengers. They all leave, as Sofia walks over to the FBI and explains everything that went on inside the train. Sam Neill's character comes over to Michael, telling him that they have watched Murphy for a while now, even offering him a job back but Michael only worries about his family. A few weeks later, we see Joanna sitting down on a train, as Michael sits opposite her, revealing his badge, just as the movie ends. He's back on the force.
This wasn't your normal Liam Neeson films, that may have gotten a little too much now. This time, I didn't know who the real bad guy was until right at the end, which still ended up being a surprise, as many guesses would have been elsewhere. This could also be the same for guessing who Prynne would be. There was plenty of action and some good fight scenes, which have pretty much become the norm for a Neeson movie. It is by no means a classic and I didn't rush back for a second viewing, but at the time, it was some good escapism and a decent action movie. It all ended with a massive, over the top train crash, which only added to the character of this type of movie, which ended up being a decent trill-ride, but not totally derailed.
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