From Jeremy Kibler

Not counting the neo-noir Marlowe from earlier this year, how is it that we’re just now getting the inaugural Liam Neeson action vehicle of 2023? Would anyone be able to differentiate all of the seasoned action star’s movies with a gun to their head? Most likely not. Retribution is ever so slightly different in that Neeson gets to play an everyman and not another one-man party with a very particular set of skills. And he’s in a car and on the phone. Set in real time, this race-against-the-clock thriller is by-the-numbers but watchable, and it’s better than the actor’s last two one-word titled actioners that felt downright interchangeable (Blacklight and Memory).

Neeson plays Matt Turner, a high-up American banker living in Berlin with his wife Heather (Embeth Davidtz) and two kids, Zach (Jack Champion) and Emily (Lilly Aspell). Matt is always busy working, and his family resents him for it. On this particular morning, Heather makes him take the kids to school for once. On the way, he hears a phone ringing from the center console of his Mercedes SUV. The modulated voice on the other end threatens Matt—but doesn’t ask him for his favorite scary movie—and informs him that there’s an armed bomb under his seat. Pressure triggers underneath the seats won’t allow anyone out of the car, or the bomb will detonate. The all-seeing, all-knowing caller has also targeted Matt’s associates and best friend (Matthew Modine), framing Matt to make him look like a terrorist. All Matt can do is follow instructions and make a money transfer, or he and his family will all end up in pieces on the Berlin streets. 

Retribution is a remake of the Spanish film El Desconocido, but really it’s Speed, Phone Booth, and Cellular in a blender with a little Neesoning. Newbie screenwriter Christopher Salmanpour’s script almost avoids coloring outside the lines, but at least it’s served better by the direction. Director Jaume Collet-Serra seems to make the best use of Liam Neeson, but he only serves as producer here. Instead, Neeson works with director Nimród Antal (who made the underrated Predators and Vacancy). Antal does infuse confident style and dynamic camera movements into this close-quarters scenario. A 360-degree shot inside Matt’s vehicle is particularly notable.

Neeson is a dependable presence to have in your action movie, and he’s commanding even if Matt Turner is hardly a Bryan Mills. An unflappable Noma Dumezweni holds her own in the Tommy Lee Jones’ Samuel Gerard from The Fugitive role as Interpol Angela Brickmann. Embeth Davidtz (who’s always wonderful to see and gets a Schindler’s List reunion with Neeson) is too underutilized as Matt’s wife, mainly there to want a divorce and then be concerned. 

Because of casting (and it’s a short list of actors if unveiling the terrorist is meant to have any impact), the big reveal of the omniscient extortionist’s identity isn’t hard to pin down. It’s a bit of a cheat, too, once the viewer thinks through what came before (our villain chalks it up to “misdirection”). The answer to why they’re carrying out this elaborate plan isn’t that interesting, either.

Not always as taut as it could be, this slicked-up programmer does still drum up a few thrills in terms of “what would you do if you were Liam Neeson?” The final showdown on a bridge, once all four doors have been removed from Matt’s vehicle at a police blockade, is kind of satisfying (spoiler alert: Matt gets retribution) but also silly and rushed. Speaking of silly, the final shot really lays on the sap, flashing back to each of our hero’s family members’ happy faces as if they’re posing for a family sitcom intro.

Without being the finest nor the worst of its type, Retribution gets the job done as a late-summer Neesoner. Either way, dads around the world are going to love it. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Retribution hits theaters on August 25, 2023. 

Follow Jeremy at @JKiblerFilm