REVIEW: Liam Neeson’s “Blacklight” is an Action Thriller We Have Seen Many Times Before

In Briarcliff’s new movie, Blacklight, as a government “fixer”, Travis Block (Liam Neeson) has always done his job and never asked questions. However, when Block discovers his boss, FBI chief Robinson (Aidan Quinn) is hiding a deep covert operation entitled, “Operation Unity” from him, which consists of eliminating normal citizens, Block begins to see the error of his ways. With the help of journalist, Mira (Emy Raver-Lampman), Block now must stop this covert operation, and his boss, before more people, including his family, are eliminated.

If you have seen previous Neeson films, like Taken and The Commuter, you know that Neeson has become quite known for action thrillers. He seems to be typecast in roles as the guy that ends up saving the day, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Those movies have always been highly entertaining and Neeson has always done a wonderful job in them. But when the stories start to blur together and you feel as though you are watching the same movie over and over again, that once good thing can quickly turn sour. And, unfortunately, that was the case with Blacklight.The movie felt tiresome and wrung out. Like the story had been put in the washer one to many times. Writers Nick May and Mark Williams brought no originality to the story nor were any of the characters extremely interesting. The film felt like it was playing dress up as one of Neeson’s other dozen or so action flicks. One of the only interesting parts of the film was Raver-Lampman’s Mira Jones. Her character was unique and brought something fresh to the table, but instead of focusing on her unraveling “Operation Unity”, the writers opted to instead focus on the mundane chase scenes and interactions between characters that do nothing to elevating the story.

Neeson, as always, does well as the film’s protagonist Block, which is no way at all surprising because this character is not new to him. We have seen him play this same type of character over and over again. So much so, that it would have been more surprising/interesting if he wasn’t good at this role. As a viewer, it’s hard to enjoy his performance when you know exactly the type of performance you are going to get from him day in and day out. There was nothing new brought to the table this time around.

Raver-Lampman was great as Mira and was the one character I wanted to learn more about. Her ability to bring a breath of life to some of the more stale scenes was one of the most refreshing things about the film. If I am going to be honest, her scenes are some of the best scenes in the movie.

Maybe it was because it was shot during the pandemic or because I feel like I have seen this film from Liam Neeson over and over again, but this movie just didn’t do it for me. The action scenes were a little lackluster and what should of been a huge climatic ending turned into a big dull dud. I recommend passing on this Neeson movie and watching one of his older ones if you are looking for an action thriller this Valentine’s Day weekend.

Grade: D