The Marksman review
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The Marksman
Open Road
PG-13 108 minI got to thinking about Liam Neeson, the Irish-born actor who has become one of the biggest grossing performers in the world. Turns out the 68-year-old Northern Irish thespian got his first film role playing Jesus Christ in PILGRIMS’S PROGRESS back in 77. Ironic to think that after all these decades his MO is usually playing tough and violent senior citizens. This one, I am pleased to say, is not available for streaming at least when I saw it. By the time this issue is on the stands I’m guessing it will be. I’m hoping that is a precursor of a return of the big screen movie houses. Oh, I understand that with modern-day devices and mega sound systems for home use the industry has no doubt changed forever but I still love a huge screen and some ridiculously expensive popcorn. So not only did I hit the Cinemark I paid the extra do for the XD even though THE MARKSMAN isn’t exactly a SFX masterpiece. Anyway, as the plot unfolded, I couldn’t shake the feeling of déjà vu and then it hit me. Didn’t I just see a movie where an old guy has to escort an unruly child across the country? What yes, I did it was NEWS OFTHEWORLD.
In THE MARKSMAN Neeson is Jim Hansen an ex-marine turned rancher whose life is coming apart at the seams after the death of his wife. He runs across a Mexican girl and her son Miguel (Jacob Perez)as they are sneaking across the border fence but wait there’s more. Apparently, the drug cartel, some very bad hombres, are looking for her husband who they believe has absconded with a lot of their money. Well, the bad guys kill her and her dying wish is that he take a big bag of money and Miguel to Chicago where he has family. So that’s basically what happens, a slightly slower than necessary chase that builds up to a violent and bloody climax in the time it takes Jim and Miguel to bond. So, it has all the elements of the genre a sympathetic dead girl, a tough old man facing his last showdown and a kid. Oh yes and some really bad guys that you just can’t wait to see get their just desserts. There are also a couple of WTF moments in particular where you find out what happens to the bag of money. But at the end of the day, it does pretty much what it has to do and there’s even a slight twist to the ending, that was enough to bring it from a C to a…
C+.
WSS
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