A Walk Among The Tombstones (2014) — Review
No, this is not another Taken film, but it does seem close. This film is darker than that franchise, and is an improvement that shows off its star — Liam Neeson’s — immense talent even more. It is an old-school action film, and Neeson is plain and simply awesome.
A Walk Among the Tombstones: Neeson is Matt Scudder, a former cop turned private eye. After first refusing the job, Scudder finally agrees to help a known drug dealer find the men that not only kidnapped his wife, but killed her after the ransom had been paid. Scudder soon learns that this is not the first time the group have done this, and when they kidnap another girl, he sets out to find them and make them pay.
Any review on this film should begin with: Liam Neeson is awesome. There is no denying it. He has been very kick-ass in his film role choices, and he more than deserves all of the roles he has been getting lately — not to mention all of the attention. He is not just a brilliant action-genre actor, but has shown over the years that he can pretty much play any role they throw at him. With A Walk Among the Tombstones, he is more than capable of turning a generic good-guy-bad-guy action film into something more than just entertaining.
However, the film couldn’t be as good as it is without a good script. The story — based on the book of the same name by Lawrence Block — is full of moments of suspense and plot twists that make the finished product more than just shooting and car chases.
The look and feel of the film is gritty and noir-esque, which makes it more interesting. The director Scott Frank (who also wrote the screenplay for the film) hasn’t done as much directing work as he has done writing work, but with the cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr., they have created something striking.
It is not usual for films made from books to be successful, but this one is doing quite well for itself. It has been a long time in the making — since around 2002 — and it was back then said that Harrison Ford was originally going to play the lead. Ford is a great actor too, but the novel’s author had always pictured Neeson among his top choices for the lead character.
Reviews have been adequately positive. There has been much praise for Neeson’s acting, the directing, and the script. The cliche aspects have also been criticised, though its improvements of the story and perfecting of the genre have compensated for this.
Action films have always been popular, and A Walk Among the Tombstones is an action film done right. Parents and guardians might not want to have it on while their kids are in the room — due to the violence, etc. — but it’s nothing overly gory. Enjoy!
4 out of 5 stars
Originally published at excerptsfrommycranium.wordpress.com on January 21, 2016.
