Jungle
The Commuter

The Commuter

Movie
Director(s): 
In Theatres: 
Jan 12, 2018
Grade:
B-
Running Time: 
105 minutes

It didn’t matter in a plane, it doesn’t matter in a train, if you see Liam Neeson you encounter pain. Marking his fourth collaboration with director Jaume Collet-Serra, Neeson stars in what may very well be the last action film of his career. I true, he’d be going out on a high note as The Commuter injects some welcomed mystery into the standard Neeson action formula for a rather enjoyable ride.

 

Former police detective Michael McCauley (Neeson) is now working a less dangerous job as an insurance salesman and has been commuting to the city by train every day for the past 10 years. But on this one day in particular he finds out that he is being let go from his job just five years before his retirement. With a mortgage to pay and a son about to go off to college, Michael struggles with how he is going to tell his wife. While on the train back home, however, the mysterious Joanna (Vera Farmiga) sits nexts to him and presents him with a situation, telling him that there is someone on the train who doesn’t belong and if he can point that person out he’ll get $100,000. He’s initially reluctant to go along with what he believes to be just some kind of game, but when his family is threatened and people on the train start dying, he quickly learns that there is a deeper conspiracy going on. But is one life worth the risk of everyone else on the train?

 

Despite his age, there’s doubt that Liam Neeson still has plenty of ass kicking left in him. I was honestly surprised at how well the action scenes were choreographed and shot because I half expected them to be nothing more than quick cuts and shaky camera ala the Bourne films. Instead, Neeson remains the centerpiece of all the action, both delivering and taking some rather brutal hits. There’s one impressive fight sequence in particular between him and another passenger that lasts for a couple of minutes and is made to seem like a one-shot. It’s entertaining, although things do come to a somewhat abrupt stop towards the end as the story tries to wrap everything up nicely.

 

Half the fun of The Commuter is the mystery of Neeson trying to find the person who doesn’t belong on the train. It’s like if Murder on the Orient Express was an action movie. It’s just a lot of action-packed fun. Sure, things get a little out of control with the story’s ridiculous conspiracy theories, but that’s somewhat to be expected. This is a Liam Neeson action movie, after all. You know exactly what kind of film you’re getting. It’s nothing groundbreaking by any means, but The Commuter no doubt provides an entertaining and action-packed joy ride that’s worth taking.

Matt Rodriguez
Review by Matt Rodriguez
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