THE MARKSMAN. US, 2021. Starring Liam Neeson, Jacob Perez, Juan Pablo Raba, Katheryn Winnick. Directed by Robert Lorenz. 108 minutes. Rated M (Mature themes, violence and coarse language)
Once upon a time, the go-to stars for an action show tended to be the martial arts champions. For the past 12 years, it has been Liam Neeson, averaging an action show a year (with Denzel Washington the next in line). Think the Taken series, The Commuter, Non-Stop, Cold Pursuit… During lockdown in the US, with limited screenings, two of Liam Neeson’s action shows topped the box office, Honest Thief and this one, The Marksman.
We begin with Mexican cartel assassins chasing a mother and her young son, Miguel (Perez), in payback for an uncle’s stealing from the cartel. Mother and son are chased to the US border where they find a break in the fence, but then comes the shootout.
Neeson is Jim, a marksman and an Arizona ranger. The mother is fatally wounded in a shootout between Jim and the pursuing cartel posse at the border. She bequeaths her son to the marksman.
The drama is set because Jim is a widower (his wife dying the year before from cancer), and he is in debt with the bank wanting to foreclose on his property. Jim first hands Miguel over to his stepdaughter who works with the border police, but changes his mind, gathers his possessions, and slips the boy out from custody. The drama becomes a road film, with Jim driving across the US to deliver the boy to relatives in Chicago.
We see Miguel, grieving and at first suspicious of Jim, but the boy mellows as Jim shelters, feeds and tells him stories about top hotdogs with mustard in Chicago.
The road trip then becomes an action thriller as Jim has shot the brother of the posse leader, who is now out for revenge. The pursuer is vicious, killing witnesses along the way. Jim and Miguel are held up by a corrupt policeman but manage to escape.
Then there is the inevitable showdown where the former Marine Jim shows his strategic skill as well as marksmanship. Satisfyingly for our emotional response, Jim delivers Miguel to his relatives.
But, Jim has been wounded, gets on a Chicago bus – and the final credits come up. And the thought occurs, survival and sequel?
Madman
Released 21 January
Peter Malone MSC is an associate Jesuit Media