The Commuter – Liam Neeson hits people on a train

I know that ‘shared universes’ are very popular these days with film franchises, so I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that, along with the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe,’ there’s also a ‘Liam Neeson Shared Universe.’ In this dimension Liam Neeson just wanders from one situation where he has to fight people to rescue his family.  If you’re familiar with the film ‘Taken’ (which kind of reignited Neeson’s career as an elder action hero) you’ll know he’s more than competent at saving the day in middle age.  In that he had to rescue his daughter (and beat many people up along the way).  This was followed by the inevitable sequels and some other films that were basically ‘Taken,’ but with a different title. ‘The Commuter’ is one of these.  However, just because it’s effectively the same movie with a different coat of paint doesn’t make it bad.

There’s not an awful lot I can say about this film that I haven’t summed up in the title – Liam Neeson hits people on a train.  It’s pretty much your standard action movie and by no means perfect.  Whenever he’s on the train (which is most of the time!) the outside world speeding by looks severely computer-generated.  He gets into fights and takes punishment that would put down a Terminator, there’s an attempt at adding moments that you won’t see coming (and you’ll definitely see them coming) and parts of the plot that just probably wouldn’t happen in real life.

Yes, for all its numerous faults, it actually kept me very entertained.  It’s not overly-long and if you’re either a fan of Liam Neeson’s ‘Taken-type’ movies, or just modern action films in general, then this is something to eat popcorn to.  Seeing that Liam Neeson has now beat people up on planes and now trains, I’m guessing the logical progression for his career will be for him to find himself trapped in the back of an Uber with a terrorist at the wheel and he must fight for his survival (and most likely his family’s, too).  And, I’m guessing I’ll probably find some enjoyment in that, too (I have low standards!).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that