Broody Liam Neeson’s Memory a predictable, lamentable, instantly forgettable action-thriller
HE’S the Kiwi director responsible for reviving the James Bond franchise – twice.
But while Martin Campbell has both GoldenEye and Casino Royale on his CV, he was also at the helm of such farragos as Green Lantern, Beyond Borders and No Escape.
And while last year’s Michael Keaton and Maggie Q-starrer The Protege offered a potent reminder of his ability to deliver an above-average action movie, sadly Campbell’s latest outing offers only predictable plotting and fitful thrills.
At least part of the problem of Memory lies with its leading man. Liam Neeson has been drawing from the ‘‘ageing, brooding hitman/criminal/ government official’’ narrative well far too many times in the past few years (Blacklight, Honest Thief and The Marksman to name three from the 2020s alone), and even the most ardent fan of one of Northern Ireland’s finest exports will struggle to find something original or compelling about his Alex Lewis here.
Based on a nearly 20-year-old Belgian movie, The Memory of a Killer (which was itself inspired by Jef Geeraerts’ 1985 book
The Alzheimer Case), Memory sees the in-demand contract killer reluctantly drafted in for one last job in his brother’s home town of El Paso, Texas.
However, when he discovers the real reason for eliminating Ellis Van Camp (Scot Williams) is that he has footage of the son of businesswoman Davana Sealman (Monica Bellucci) sexually assaulting a young teenager, who is also on Lewis’ proposed hit-list, he goes rogue.
‘‘You don’t know what you’re playing with,’’ he’s warned.
‘‘Oh, yes I do. The girl stays alive – you’re answerable to me,’’ Neeson says in that most menacing of post-Taken tones.
Naturally, this being a grittier kind of D-grade action-thriller and not aimed at mainstream multiplex audiences, they ignore him and she is disposed of offscreen.
Cue rather obvious righteous revenge, aided by troubled FBI child exploitation task force agent Vincent Serra (Guy
Pearce) – who just happened to accidentally kill the girl’s sextrafficking father and blow an 11-month investigation in the process – and hindered by the
story’s occasional reminders that Lewis’ cognitive function is somewhat impaired.
(In a conceit that viewers will either find hilarious or headslappingly annoying, he writes reminders on his arms a` la Christopher Nolan’s Memento, which starred an actor by the name of Guy Pearce.)
Grim and grimy, if the Bondstyle dispatching of a Lewis onenight stand doesn’t appal, then the one-dimensional nature of all the female characters crafted by screenwriter Dario Scardapane (Netflix’s The Punisher television series) really should.
Memory will begin streaming on Prime Video on October 7.