On several occasions, Liam Neeson has admitted that his retirement from action thrillers was imminent, because he was quite simply getting a little too long in the tooth to convince.
The Academy Award-nominated star made fun of the fact nobody would buy him kicking ass and punching throats once he hit 70, which makes you wonder why he continues making a mockery of that promise having turned 71 earlier this summer.
In the last couple of years alone we’ve seen Blacklight and Memory go down as two of the biggest bombs and worst-reviewed movies Neeson has ever appeared in, but he still refuses to retire his black leather jacket permanently. Prime Video recently paid $17 million for the rights to Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky, though, so presumably the money is too good to keep him out of the game.
Either way, the scathing reviews being leveled at his next effort Retribution have made it clear there’s no excitement or originality anymore, even when Neeson tries to mix things up and tackle a high concept premise that’s reminiscent of an all-time classic like Speed.
The law of diminishing returns set in a while ago as it relates to Neeson doing what he’s been doing far too regularly for the last 15 years after Taken ignited his unexpected late-career reinvention, but dwindling critical and commercial returns have also had the effect of creating a growing consensus that maybe it’s finally time for the veteran to live up to his word at long last and give up the action hero ghost for good.