Once again, Liam Neeson has impressed viewers with his abilities in an action-filled movie as an aging actor. Similarly done in “Taken,” Neeson delivers an impressive performance in “The Commuter.” With countless minutes of adrenaline-filled fight scenes that keep viewers on the edge of their seats, Liam Neeson certainly packs a punch at the age of 65 in this action-thriller flick.
Prior to the main events in “The Commuter,” there appears to be a hefty amount of setup for what happens during the film. The movie provides viewers with numerous reasons why Michael (Neeson), the protagonist of the film, ends up risking his life on the train.
The audience learns that Michael has just lost his job at a very inconvenient time, just short of retirement and still struggling financially. He then encounters a woman who approaches him with a vague yet tempting offer: Find $100,000 right now and it’s yours. But it’s not all that it seems.
The action ramps up almost immediately. Some examples of the creative and enjoyable action that follows would be Michael battling somebody with a guitar, being stuck underneath the train as it moves, and having to jump from an exploding train car into another one. As Liam Neeson’s character fights as well as strategically maneuvers on the train for his survival and cash payout, viewers see just how heavily invested Neeson’s character is in the moment.
This film does contain a few flaws that fans of action movies had reason to look down upon. One to note is just how much of a stretch the plot was overall. What if Michael didn’t accept the vague offer from the strange and shady woman? The events that occur in this film simply wouldn’t have happened.
Another flaw that I found this movie held was in the death of a certain character. In action movies, we know that a lot of people tend to die, and we gain attachments to certain characters that we like. With that, it often interests us which of our characters can survive and which we have to watch a painful death for. One character however, likely died from an exploding train after not jumping out, unlike Michael. But the movie failed to even show their death. If a movie is going to inform us that a character we like is not going to make it, they should at least make up for it with an appropriate tragic death moment.
“The Commuter” was an overall enjoyable film, with many great moments of pulse-pounding intensity coming from an aging, yet well-performing Liam Neeson. The story that unfolds is one that is unique, with viewers gaining sympathy for Michael, who finds himself in more of a rough situation than he bargains for. Fans of action movies will find “The Commuter” to be an enjoyable watch, so long as they don’t mind how much of a stretch the story comes out to be at moments.
