Retribution – Liam Neeson’s Explosive School Run: When ‘Taken’ Meets Rush Hour Traffic

The opening scene of Retribution starts with Liam Neeson punching a boxing bag. My first thoughts were “If this movie has a fighting scene where Liam is fighting the bad guys, it would spoil it.” Thankfully, there is zero hand-to-hand fighting to annoy you, that job is solely the storyline’s.

Liam Neeson, plays Matt, who is a financiar but other than him sweet talking a client to invest with the company – Nanite Capital, we don’t know exactly what he does, except that he is the CEO’s right hand man. On a typical morning, his wife asks him to take the kids to school while she has another appointment. Unknown to him, the car is rigged with pressure plates connected with a bomb that would go off at the slightest change in the pressure. With the kids in the backseat, he receives a call from an Unknown number who informs him of the bomb. The caller forces him to do various tasks like withdraw his contingency funds, meet the a client (who is killed with a similar bomb setup) and shoot his CEO (which Matt refuses). As other partners drop around like flies, the police suspect Matt to be the killer. Who is the mysterious caller? Can Matt clear his name and save himself and his kids? This forms the rest of the story.

The movie has us wondering who the caller is and the suspense builds up well. The point where Matt drives to the location of his client and see the car blow up, makes up for adding to the mystery and establishing that the killer means business. However, there is absolutely little explanation on why that particular client. Likewise when the police arrest a random stranger in front of the bank where Matt’s wife Heather hands over 50,000 euros is a mystery you expect to be revealed, but you are left hanging. The story is full of plot holes which don’t make any sense. I could allude to the voice over the phone repeatedly telling that Matt is being watched, but when you find out who the anonymous voice is, it is very clear he isn’t watching anymore than tracking Matt’s phone. When the police corner Matt & his children, they remove the doors, ALL the doors. If pressure changes can trigger the bomb, removing four doors from a vehicle can definitely cause the explosion. Angela Brickmann, the Europol agent in charge of the investigation has zero reason to believe Matt, but suddenly decides to walk up to his car door without getting into any protective gear? Why are there so many plot holes?

Interpersonal relationships are also strung half-heartedly. Matt’s kids hate him, especially his son, but seeing his father zoom through the streets turns him around to the point where he resists getting rescued by the bomb squad. You don’t get to see any connections develop between main characters to feel sorry for either Matt or his children.

Matt finally comes face-to-face with the antagonist and unlike any sane person, he decides to kill him. No more witnesses who can corroborate Matt’s version of the story and we have to believe that the police also fall in line with his story. Sure, it was fun to see the car hang over a bridge ready to fall down and Matt unfastening his seat belt to fall into the safety of the river, but it is not a logical thing to do. Remember, Matt is an investment banker, ideally a group of people who can think 5 steps into consequences of an action.

The movie was shot in Germany, maybe a big positive point bringing a change of scenery from the typical Interstates and bridges we have seen in Hollywood movies. You would only want to watch it to find who the caller is, but you could skip the entire mid-section of the movie and not lose much.

Recommend to watch: No
Genre: Action