Liam Neeson spent two decades as a respected dramatic actor, nominated for Schindler’s List and starring in Michael Collins and Rob Roy, before Taken made him an unlikely action lead in his mid-fifties.
The pivot created an entire subgenre of older men with particular skills, and he has made a substantial number of them since, with diminishing returns he has discussed openly.
Schindler’s List remains the performance, playing a man whose motives are never fully explained even to himself.
His wife Natasha Richardson died in 2009 and he has spoken about working continuously afterward as a way of managing it, which recontextualises the volume of the later output.
Ahmed BestStar Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) rates 4 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. Lucas had not directed a film in twenty-two years, owned the company outright, and answered to nobody. The result opens with a trade dispute, gives…
Alan RickmanMultiple intertwined London relationships unfold across the five weeks leading up to Christmas, from the Prime Minister to schoolchildren. Love Actually is Richard Curtis's 2003 British romantic comedy depicting multiple interconnected London relationships unfolding across the five weeks leading up…
Ben KingsleySpielberg's 1993 Holocaust drama. Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, Fiennes as Goeth.
Famke JanssenThe original is among the strongest compressed action thrillers of its decade. Sequels decline predictably.
Chris HemsworthMen in Black: International is the franchise reboot that replaced Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Art Marcum and Matt Holloway wrote.
George KennedyThe Naked Gun is the spoof comedy franchise that defined what the genre could be at its highest level. David Zucker directed the first three films.
Brendan GleesonKingdom of Heaven is two different films. The theatrical cut is a confused 144-minute medieval action movie that critics dismissed and audiences ignored.
Ciaran HindsNicholas Clay plays Lancelot. What makes the film unusual is that Boorman shoots the legend as the legend instead of as a historical drama.
Liam NeesonThe 7.5 rating is honest evaluation. Taylor Kitsch as Lieutenant Alex Hopper.
Famke JanssenTaken is the best pure action film of the twenty-first century. Pierre Morel directed it in thirty-six days in Paris on a twenty-five million dollar budge.
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