The Marksman
OPEN ROADRemarkable it is to still be high-tailing it through the streets of some flash city in a fancy car and guns in the boot, Liam Neeson is calling time on the action genre. He has paid his dues with real diligence and has given it his all. Rumour has it that these are the final offerings he has for the genre, which has served him over thirty opportunities to carve out his action niche. He has done so with style, and part of the cinematic landscape will be worse off when he hangs up the day-saving antics for good. These are the last orders, and The Marksman is the dregs of that final swig.
Savour those hoppy flavours; this is the last ride of an old warhorse. Neeson’s age does not appear to be a detriment. He is as capable now as he was in Taken. Here, he blends that protective father role with that of a sudden guardian. Think Man on Fire but instead of a compelling drama about how far one man will go to defend the innocent, and it is Neeson working on a cattle farm to pay for medical bills. His wife is ill. Perhaps this is a lost sequel to Ordinary Love, a film that audiences could well assume Neeson is far more interested in making.
Nevertheless, the lovingly crafted drama does not pay the bills as it used to, which is assured by the existence of The Marksman. “I would be fine if the government would get its shit together,” Jim (Neeson) quips. Filibuster here, cartels there, guns in-between, and an ageing action star to connect those three dots. The action is serviceable for what it is worth but bogged down by the wavering prose and uncoordinated storyline.
If this is the final outing for Neeson, then what is his legacy and impact on the genre? The Marksman may be sluggish and slow (unlike its leading man, who is enjoying his twilight years with the exact energy and tenacity as his glory days), but it offers the quintessential highlights of the modern action blockbuster. Jim is an honest man, leading a simple life and wanting to do right by his family. Honest Thief was the same. A dark past provided him with the tools to prepare for combat, as it did in Taken and Cold Pursuit. “I don’t scare easy,” Jim says at his first encounter with the cartel. That he does not, he never has. Neeson has always presented a cool, calm and collected exterior with the ultimate command of any scenario.
That will be his legacy then. Where Arnold Schwarzenegger was the buff brute and Jackie Chan the genre-blurring stuntman, Neeson is the reliable dark horse. His ability to capture relatively simple characters in less-than-engrossing films and elevate them to the next level was a task of Herculean effort and skill. He was the catalyst that carried the action genre into the modern era, and as he abandons the system he nurtured for decades, he takes with him any chance it could bounce back. Who could replace such a reliable icon? Despite his frequent inclusion in all things action, there was a level of competency and care not found in the Bruce Willis or Steven Seagal products. Neeson has parted the genre, and we are all the worse for it, despite The Marksman being a rugged, simplistic piece that combines poor politics with petulant players, good and bad.