Liam Neeson must keep driving or his family blows up in the first trailer for ‘RETRIBUTION’.
In theaters on August 25. If they aren’t already, comparisons to the 1994 Keanu Reeves- and Sandra Bullock-starring action classic are most assuredly going to be making the rounds in the aftermath of the trailer debut for “Retribution.” Starring Liam Neeson, the patron saint of one-location thrillers set on different modes of transportation, this movie is actually a remake of a 2015 Spanish film titled “El Desconocido.” But coming on the heels of past titles like “Commuter” and “Non-Stop” (both directed by “Black Adam” filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra), it sure seems like this script might as well have been made for an actor like Neeson. It doesn’t take long to figure out why.
It’s not every day that those of us who aren’t privy to the conversations going on within the offices of studio executives get such a transparent look into the minds of Hollywood’s decision-makers. Writers know better than anyone how important elevator pitches are, summing up all the most buzz-worthy aspects of a script in one neat sentence and grabbing the attention of even the most business-minded bean counter out there. So when a trailer for a movie like “Retribution” drops, half the fun comes from imagining how those meetings initially went down. In this case, it sure looks like the name of the game was “What if Liam Neeson took things further than either ‘Commuter’ or ‘Non-Stop’ and did his own riff on ‘Speed’?”
We all know the genre. It usually involved him in some sort of life or death scenario where he has to do some bizarre things in order to save a loved one.
It is a trend that was started off by Taken, as well as the two sequels in that franchise. In the last five years alone, the likes of The Commuter, Cold Pursuit, Honest Thief, Blacklight, and Memory can also be added to that list.
For those of you who are worried that we haven’t seen a Liam Neeson action movie in about five minutes, then fret not. We’re getting one later this summer and it looks interesting to say the least.
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