"Blacklight", 2022

Retirement only dreams: Review of the action movie with Liam Neeson "Blacklight"

Political thriller about criminal structures inside the FBI is lame on both legs: Neeson finally lost his physical prowess

The sudden death of a congressional candidate reveals a shady plot among FBI agents to eliminate their opponents. An elderly Travis Block (Liam Neeson), tormented by paranoia, works for the FBI as an unofficial agent and plunges into the dark games of the secret services. He contacts Dusty Crane (Taylor John Smith), a young agent who seeks to expose the conspiracy and tell the truth about corruption and contract killings to local reporter Mira Jones (Emmy Raver-Lampman). The FBI Director (Aidan Quinn) feels threatened and is willing to go to any lengths to thwart the revelations.

Having started his career as an action hero in his sixties, Liam Neeson has not stopped since then, experiencing various incarnations of a retired military man - he is filming, one might say, in the same film. "Blacklight" is the second work in tandem with director Mark Williams ("Honest Thief"): the 69-year-old actor again takes up arms and uses his combat tools in an attempt to defend the truth. With each new work, Neeson's performance looks more and more desperate, as the British star finds it increasingly difficult to go for risky stunts - the latest releases of "The Protector" and "Ice Drive" are proof of this. Williams' new picture is not far from The Honest Thief, which in its scope was more like a cheap TV production - A "Blacklight" is made of much the same material, but with an emphasis on political intrigue, twisted into a corruption spiral in the upper echelons. The retired professional, it is not difficult to guess, will once again have to run, shoot and, in the meantime, save his daughter and granddaughter, who were encroached upon by the villains.

All this, of course, was up to some point exciting and exciting, until the action movies (including Neeson) turned into a rudimentary and, frankly, dead genre. "Blacklight" is easy to fit into the scheme of a straightforward action game about espionage and exposure: there is a difficult hero in his seventies - either an incorrigible paranoid, bullying his family with his fears, or a cautious professional who knows firsthand the dark sides of political elites and special services. There is a straightforward investigation necessary to connect several plot blocks that at first move apart and indistinctly - only by the climax you can figure out what's what (unless, of course, you lose the fuse by the second hour). For the record, there's a bit of combat drive, represented by a couple of gunfights and car chases so clumsy that without them, "Blacklight" reputation looked a lot more sane. All this is melted down into some kind of critical array in relation to American power, which is concentrated not in the White House, but in the work of gray cardinals. This paranoid-conspiracy discourse is the basis for the entire plot outline of "Blacklight", whose most pressing issues (primarily the question of power) are resolved by a banal gunshot.

The idealistic pursuit of truth - the zeal with which journalists dig up the shady intrigues of the FBI, is cut off at the root at one moment: the film ceases to be a story about the influence and struggle of the fourth power, but degenerates into a clichéd "beshka". Neeson's hero cannot fight for the sake of the idea of ​​justice alone, so the plot finds a dubious but understandable support: the family of a freelance agent is kidnapped - now the fight has quite clear motives. Revealing the truth about the crimes of the special services (eliminating political opponents and interference in the form of honest journalists), the plot not only acquires intrigue and adventurism, but sinks even deeper: the script reveals its total incapacity. Where a thoughtful political thriller about a conspiracy and state surveillance could have turned out, an empty and sluggish product comes out that has no momentum, no energy - only the crunching of joints and the veteran's shortness of breath are heard. There are no memorable scenes in this cold, polished action movie (the final fight ends with a mediocre car chase!), And Neeson refuses to leave his comfort zone and switch the actor's autopilot mode to something more serious.

"Blacklight" is a lifeless and frankly unsuccessful entry in which there are attempts to play on the country's pressing problems. This is the story of America defeated by the media, where Donald Trump's political fate was decided by Twitter, and where the intelligence agencies are trying to regain control and power using the dirtiest methods of force. But this concept meets tedious implementation: Williams' action movie lacks edginess, scope, and a bolder approach to the arsenal - the film seems to be created from a pile of materials, coached from proven genre burly men, but not assembled into something digestible. Well, about Neeson ... The most apt remark was left in one of the scenes, when the minor character insists that it is time for the elderly agent to tie up with dangerous work. “No, not an option,” Neeson replies. This means that we are in for a whole series of adventures from the 69-year-old actor, point blank refusing to retire and sheath his gun. Perhaps now is the best time to pay attention to the recommendations of colleagues.

This article was sponsored by Father Bart