Mindless Action Movie That Blew My Mind

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2012)

What actually blew my mind about this movie was the public reaction to it. Not only does it have a high IMDb rating but it seems to be the movie that people automatically link with Liam Neeson (at least according to the recent Graham Norton Show) which would all imply that this was a great movie. But not only was it bad, it was so bad that me and my mate started laughing at the absurdity of it about halfway through. It was not a complete waste of 90 mins though, reading all the reviews written by people who hated it did provide at least 30 mins of solid laughs.
I am happy enough to ignore the stupidity of the daughter in the way she gets kidnapped as it sets up the film but from the get go Liam Neeson's character was so wooden and robotic. Maybe it was the script, the directing or the acting but it only got worse as he cuts a path of destruction through Europe with a psychotic intent of getting his daughter back any way possible. By the end it's hard to pick who is the more evil, Liam Neeson or the "villains" who make a habit of sexually enslaving women. Or maybe the person who wrote the unbelievably bad and stereotyped script...
I want to give this the lowest rating possible, but in the context of a pure action movie it's above average and that's why I have compromised for a rating of 3. But please don't believe the hype. It is not a Bourne Identity or Casino Royale. Those movies had the action coupled with some depth backed up by some good acting and that is why they were great. This movie is lacking in everything but the action. 3 Stars.