Great emotion and topic; weak film technique

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2009)

So i went to see this movie with my friend, hearing beforehand that it was going to be more than any other action movie. So true! This movie takes action sauce and pours in a dash of real drama and a glob of rough, true-world topic. There are scenes that you will watch and burn with rage at the appalling business that the antagonists are engaged in. Your eyes will widen and your spine will chill faster than you thought possible at the action's thrills and surprises.
I had some issues with this movie, though. The cinematography is not up to par with many movies i've seen. There are several action scenes that are missing a huge chunk of quality. Pierre Morel fails to take advantage of the camera's ability to enhance the emotion and give the audience a blow-away experience. He makes the same mistake with the editing and the sound mixing. Timing kills certain pieces of the movie that could have turned out incredible.
I will admit, though, Neeson does a darn good job with his character in this film. His character is both brutal and loving, a hard-trained killer spy and a real genuine father at the same time, something i have barely ever seen from any other actor in any other movie.
Go see this for the subject matter and the acting. Despite its lack of effective film technique, it is still very worth watching.