There was a collective cheer among film lovers when Liam Neeson rebooted his career as an action hero, if only because it meant giving the actor a bigger stage on which to ply his trade. But while the “Taken” series has helped raise his stock within Hollywood, even Neeson must realize that his continued involvement in these genre flicks has begun to veer towards parody. His latest movie, “Run All Night,” marks his third collaboration with Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra (“Unknown,” “Non-Stop”), and though it’s not any better or worse than their previous action-thrillers, it’s become so tiresome watching the actor play the same character again and again that the film is even more forgettable than usual.
Neeson stars as Jimmy “The Gravedigger” Conlon, an ex-mob enforcer for childhood friend/crime boss Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) who’s become a shadow of his former self, drowning his sorrows in booze to dull the memories of past sins. When he receives word that his estranged son, law-abiding limo driver Michael (Joel Kinnaman), witnessed the murder of some clients by Shawn’s sleazebag son, Danny (Boyd Holbrook), Jimmy is sent to keep Michael quiet. But Danny refuses to listen to his own father’s instructions to stay low and decides to clean up his mess by killing Michael, forcing Jimmy to shoot Danny instead. Though Jimmy is adamant that he was only protecting his son, Shawn swears to kill them both as retribution, and with the cops and Irish mob hunting them down, Jimmy and Michael must go on the run until they can clear Michael’s name.
