THE MARKSMAN (2021)

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Robert Lorenz
Cast: Liam Neeson, Katheryn Winnick, Teresa Ruiz, Juan Pablo Raba, Jacob Perez
Runtime: 1 h 48 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence & Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures and Encore Films
Official Website: https://www.themarksmanmovie.com

Opening Day: 25 February 2021

Synopsis: Hardened Arizona rancher Jim Hanson (Liam Neeson) simply wants to be left alone as he fends off eviction notices and tries to make a living on an isolated stretch of borderland. But everything changes when Hanson, an ex-Marine, witnesses 11-year-old migrant Miguel (Jacob Perez) fleeing with his mother Rosa (Teresa Ruiz) from drug cartel assassins led by the ruthless Mauricio (Juan Pablo Raba). After being caught in a shoot-out, an injured Rosa begs Jim to take her son to safety to her family in Chicago. Defying his step- daughter Sarah (Katheryn Winnick), Jim sneaks Miguel out of the local U.S. Customs and Border Patrol station and together, they hit the road with the group of killers in pursuit. Jim and Miguel slowly begin to overcome their differences and begin to forge an unlikely friendship, while Mauricio and his fellow assassins blaze a cold-blooded trail, hot on their heels.

Movie Review:

It’s only been four months since we last saw the man with a particular set of skills on the big screen in the disappointing Honest Thief. Now, Liam Neeson is back playing Jim Hanson in The Marksman. Not the late, famous puppeteer Jim Henson, just to be clear, but a former Marine turned rancher.

As a lonely rancher struggling to make ends meet, Hanson also patrols the Arizona-Mexico border for illegal crossings. On one such occasion, he encounters a mother and her young son, Miguel (Jacob Perez), who are being chased by a ruthless drug cartel led by Mauricio (Juan Pablo Raba). A shootout between Hanson and Mauricio’s gang soon follows, resulting in the death of Miguel’s mother. Before she dies, she entrusts Miguel to Hanson, hoping he can safely deliver her son to relatives in Chicago. Reluctantly taking on the role of a righteous hero, Hanson embarks on a dangerous road trip to Chicago in his trusty old truck, with Mauricio and his gang hot on their heels.

Neeson’s compelling screen presence is the only thing keeping The Marksman afloat. His character is still mourning his late wife, and he comes across as quiet, stoic and determined, despite repeatedly insisting to Miguel that he wants nothing to do with this thankless mission. The lanky Irish actor is probably one of the last people you would expect to see convincingly donning a cowboy hat and playing a rancher with a heart of gold in Arizona.

The narrative, on the other hand, feels tired and generic. The hackneyed plotting feels like a rehash of Rambo: Last Blood, which was already borrowing heavily from Neeson’s own Taken. There are no wild twists or elaborate setups here, just an old-fashioned game of cat and mouse that takes its sweet time getting to the finale, where Jim finally squares off against Mauricio at a farm.

The Marksman is directed and co-written by Robert Lorenz (Trouble with the Curve), a longtime collaborator of Clint Eastwood, which might explain the movie’s subdued pacing and lack of tension. In an alternate timeline, Eastwood might have played Jim Hanson, a cantankerous old rancher ready to blow your toes off. Here, we get Liam Neeson playing his own version of Eastwood.

In Lorenz’s world, the entire law enforcement system in the United States appears to be either corrupt or practically non-existent. The border patrol is compromised, and the local police in Arizona are no better. Nearly everyone in uniform seems to have been bought off by the cartel. Even a harmless salesgirl at a petrol station is murdered by Mauricio without any apparent consequences. Perhaps Lorenz is hinting at the Capitol attack, but we doubt it. The cartel is so technologically advanced that its members can even track Jim’s credit card purchases. Plot holes or plain lazy writing? You decide.

There’s also a border patrol agent named Sarah (Katheryn Winnick), who is on friendly terms with Jim and stays in constant contact with him over the phone. Yet, her character never really develops beyond that. Ultimately, it’s just Miguel and his reluctant guardian (not forgetting Jim’s dog) making their slow journey to Chicago.

There’s very little excitement along the way, as Lorenz seemingly fails to realise that audiences are buying a ticket to watch Neeson deliver some serious damage. To be fair, we do get that in the end, but it’s too little and too late for a movie that runs close to two hours. Perhaps it’s time for Neeson to be a little more selective with his scripts. A biopic about Jim Henson wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

Movie Rating:

(Since he never hits his mark here, we think it’s about time Liam Neeson the action hero rides into the sunset)

Review by Linus Tee