Marksman hits bull’s-eye

STILL A STAR: ENERGETIC AND CHARISMATIC LIAM NEESON STARS

Tense adventure that does not degenerate into a total bloodbath.

Liam Neeson’s name alone is potent enough to attract audiences to The Marksman and this violent adventure yarn is no exception. We have witnessed this Irish actor slipping effortlessly into formula drive where, on numerous occasions, he has portrayed the solitary hero who saves a hapless victim from the bad guys.

At 68, he has lost none of his energy or charisma and imbues his character with authority.

Cast as a recently widowed Arizona cattle rancher named Jim Hanson, Neeson sees himself at loggerheads with a ruthless Mexican cartel – all because of an act of kindness.

Jim, a former Marine and recovering alcoholic, is in financial trouble and his ranch is about to be foreclosed by the bank.

This does not prevent him from putting his life on the line to save Miguel (Jacob Perez), a Mexican boy on the run from a Mexican drug cartel.

Miguel and his mother are fleeing, carrying a bag of stolen cartel money. They manage to break through the border fence on Jim’s property, but in the process, the mother succumbs to a gunshot wound, uttering a dying request to Jim to save her son.

In the exchange of fire with the cartel, their skinhead leader, Mauricio (Juan Pablo Raba), sees his brother gunned down, a prime motivation for revenge.

The big question now is whether Jim hands Miguel over to the US authorities, a simple solution, or takes on the cartel and hits the road with the youngster.

Jim’s daughter (Katheryn Winnick) is in law enforcement and implores him to give up his mad quest.

Naturally, being the solid citizen that he is, he takes the course of action that creates a tense adventure in which Mauricio sets out to track them down, killing anybody who gets in the way.

The Marksman does not degenerate into a total bloodbath, but it is violent enough to satisfy the most ardent action fan.

Where it scores is in the way director Robert Lorenz cleverly develops the relationship between Jim and the fretful boy who grows to trust a stranger.

Twists and turns punctuate the narrative, keeping interest on the boil throughout as Jim and Mauricio play a cat-and-mouse game with deadly consequences.

Although The Marksman is similar to many others of its ilk, it remains an enjoyable and diverting slice of entertainment.