Race Against Rotten Tomatoes: Liam Neeson's Latest Action Flick Shatters Negativity, Sparks Excitement!

Summary

Liam Neeson's latest film, "Retribution," continues his streak of low-rated movies, receiving a disappointing 30% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Neeson's streak of eight consecutive Rotten films signals a significant drop in the critical acclaim for his action movies. Despite their box office success, the accumulation of negative reviews and declining audience ratings might indicate the nearing conclusion of Neeson's action hero era.

Retribution continues Liam Neeson's negative streak on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, a remake of the 2015 Spanish movie El desconocido, is directed by Nimród Antal, known for Predators and Stranger Things. Neeson portrays Matt Turner, a financier who receives a call about a bomb in his car while driving his children to school, thrusting him into a gripping game of cat and mouse.

As the release date of Retribution approaches on August 25, the film has already made its debut on Rotten Tomatoes. Currently, it holds a less-than-stellar score of 30 percent. While this may fluctuate as more reviews are added over the weekend, such a low rating suggests that it is likely to remain unfavorable. This would mark Neeson's eighth consecutive film with a Rotten score. His last positively reviewed film by critics was the romantic drama Ordinary Love in 2019.

Is Liam Neeson's Stint As An Action Hero On Its Last Legs?

Prior to 2008, Liam Neeson was primarily recognized for his work in dramatic films such as Kinsey, Les Misérables (1998), and Schindler's List, the latter of which garnered him an Oscar nomination. However, his career took a turn in 2008 with the release of Taken, where Neeson portrayed ex-CIA agent Brian Mills, who relentlessly pursues the rescue of his abducted daughter. This marked the beginning of a new chapter for Neeson, as he went on to star as an action hero in over twelve films, including Taken 2, Taken 3, Unknown, Non-Stop, The Commuter, and Cold Pursuit.

In 2015, Neeson's string of high-energy action films even resulted in a parody movie titled Tooken, featuring Lee Tergesen as "Bryan Millers." While many of Neeson's action flicks have enjoyed commercial success at the box office, they have often faced negative feedback from critics, a trend that dates back to the initial release of Taken, which received a marginally positive rating of 59 percent. Nonetheless, the audience ratings for Neeson's action films have also experienced a decline in recent years. From Taken's impressive 85 percent in 2008, ratings have dropped to 31 percent for The Ice Road and 49 percent for Cold Pursuit, both of which received even lower scores than their corresponding critical assessments.

Retribution is not the only movie that portrays a negative streak in action genre. Other titles like the crime drama Marlowe and the 2020 romance Made in Italy also contribute to this list. However, action movies are still predominantly featured on the list, yielding consistently negative outcomes. Despite the success of Taken, which has led to profitable action ventures for the actor for fifteen years, his career in this genre might soon come to a close if these unfavorable results persist.