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Retribution (M, 90mins) Directed by Nimrod Antal **
“This was all inevitable.”
Sadly the puppet-master of this taut, but tepid and thoroughly predictable thriller is right – most viewers will be able to work out who is doing the Ghostface/Jigsaw manipulating about 20 minutes in.
That’s because this third remake of the 2015 Spanish movie of the same name (prior to this there was Korea’s Hard Hit in 2021 and the brilliantly monikered Don’t. Get. Out! from Germany in 2018) is afflicted by the Scooby Doo-syndrome of a small pool of characters from which to pick our antagonist from.
You can see what attracted Hollywood to this project. A cross between Speed, Ransom, Blown Away and Nick of Time that offers the potential for high-tension, big emotional stakes and Liam Neeson to do his Taken-shtick without having to even leave his car seat.
But the producers have perhaps taken the ‘90s homages a little too far here, surrounding Neeson with a couple of actors whose heyday was in those last years of the 20th century – Embeth Davidtz (Schindler’s List, Fallen) and Matthew Modine (Cutthroat Island) – and saddling them all with a tired script by FBI: Most Wanted’s Christopher Salmanpour that feels like it’s been gathering dust since Bill Clinton was in the White House.
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In Retribution, Liam Neeson gets to do his Taken-shtick without having to even leave his car seat.
Neeson is Berlin-based veteran hedge fund manager Matt Turner. For almost two decades, he’s persuaded people to take risks with their money.
His particular set of skills? Making people feel good about losing €3m in the last 24 hours. So when his boss Anders Muller (Modine) hears that one of their long-term clients is having buyer’s remorse about the latest investment opportunity, he asks Matt, “to do your thing”.
However, Matt is somewhat distracted this morning. Asked by wife Heather (Davidtz) to make a rare appearance on the school run, the workaholic older dad is a bit rusty at corralling teen Zach (Jack Champion) and tween Emily (Lilly Aspell) into the car in a timely manner.
But while they bicker and bitch in the back, Matt notices something appears to be amiss with his brand new €100,000 Mercedes’ safety check system. Writing it off as a glitch, he drives away, only for an unfamiliar cellphone ringtone to demand his attention. By answering it though, he’s about to make his day a whole lot worse.
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Retribution trades heavily on Liam Neeson’s ability to switch between serenity and going seriously postal.
What follows is a series of set pieces that force Matt to place his family and himself in increasing peril, as both the characters – and the audience – are supposed to be enthralled by trying to work out who the caller is. Unfortunately, to paraphrase one of the major players, Retribution is “not as smart as it thinks it is”.
“Misdirection” might be “at the heart of all great magic tricks”, but it’s also central to ruining a half-decent action premise. Here, Hungarian-trained helmer Nimrod Amtal (Predators) feels like he’s just going through the motions, offering little innovation or inspiration, as he trades heavily on Neeson’s ability to switch between serenity and going seriously postal.
That it all builds to a ridiculously contrived cliffhanger is both deeply disappointing and, honestly, not unexpected.
Retribution is now screening in select cinemas nationwide.
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