Blacklight
BRIARCLIFFIs it rude to gauge the quality of a film on whether or not Liam Neeson’s character has been killed off by the end of it? His recent run of action films always see him standing up as the credits roll, and the audience stood up some time before that to vacate the theatre or their living room. Blacklight is one for the bonfire pile of action features that came out just a few years after Neeson bowed out of the genre. No more for him, he was stuffed full of action and would go on to make Ordinary Love. How ordinary a time that looked, and how promising, too, for the man who said “that’s it” to the action genre and subsequently starred in just as many dud misfires as fellow action compatriot Bruce Willis.
But Neeson will always draw. He still has a semblance of quality and self-respect left to him, which is a shame since Blacklight tries to whittle that down to the bare minimum. Nearing 70 years of age, audiences cannot expect to see Neeson sprinting around and jumping through explosions, but he still manages a level of quality. Although the setting and subsequent fallout within Blacklight is questionable at the best of times, it is rather telling that Neeson can stand firm and deliver a performance suitable for an Academy Award-nominee. Take note, John Travolta. The sole salvation of these action-packed features is the leading performance. The name attached to the feature is, hopefully, enough to push back the generally terrible CGI or strange setpieces for explosions to filter through, as seen in Blacklight.
Redneck racists deal with explosions so Neeson can save a special agent, and that’s that. Job done, away Neeson goes to his next mission, whatever that may be. This is a far stretch worse than previous collaboration with Mark Williams, Honest Thief. At least that one was plain dull, Blacklight feels its budgetary constraints and buckles under the pressure of dealing with promising action pieces and tries to smother the film with slightly Dutch angles. A tilt of the camera and a charming Irishman at the core do not salvage much out of this one. But Neeson is still firing a few rounds, and until he stops doing so he will not lose out on much. There is creativity within the latter portion of Blacklight that makes it worth sticking around for – but just barely.
The rest is unavoidable gutter work. Neeson staggering around looking trim as ever and playing the part of the action hero, but never providing the substance. He is given the cool kills, car chases and everything else that can be so truly desirable for the leading action hero, but Blacklight relies on the camaraderie Emmy Raver-Lampman provides. Twists and turns that feel fairly equivalent for the action genre are sullied by relatively dense performances. Aidan Quinn portrays that old friend of Neeson’s heroic lead, Travis Block. Blacklight is a film that tries to pride itself on Neeson seeking out the honest answers and fighting against corruption while also caring for his grandchildren, but it is hard to do that when there’s a scene where Block fries two people with a leaky tap and some misplaced electrics. Heroic.