'BLACKLIGHT'....THE NEESON-ATOR WEARS OUT HIS VERY PARTICULAR SET OF SKILLS.......

Blacklight (2022)

             Sad. Very sad.

             Yet another paint-by-numbers, connect-the-dots Liam Neeson action movie. 

              Once upon a time, we remember this guy being a real actor. Starring in real movies. Playing real roles.  And now what is he?  

             A direct-to-DVD star of the Wal-Mar $5.00 bin. Right along side Steven Seagal  Pumping out crappy little movies that always hinge on an already worn out gimmick.....the Old Fart Who Everyone Takes For Granted But Can Kick Your Ass And Kill You With A Rolled Up Magazine. 

            Pardon me while I sigh.......

           Of course, this sorry state of affairs began with the surprise success of "Taken". And yes, we'll freely admit we had as much fun as anybody else watching middle-aged Liam knock the crap out of evil sex traffickers....deploying what he warned them was coming from"his particular set of skills".

           But that seems like a thousand years ago already.  And the "Rapidly Aging Neeson Kicks Ass" movies still roll off the assembly line with depressing regularity. 

            It's depressing because we thought someone with Neeson's acting range would not end up with a Charles Bronson career......grinding out garbage for fast paychecks. 

            Oh....almost forgot. The movie.  Really stupid, even by the standards of standard Neeson-ator movies. 

            Neeson's a special FBI fixer who rescues undercover agents who've gone bonkers or blown their cover. He does this at the service of his mentor and lifelong pal, the Bureau director (Aiden Quinn, old, tubby, gray and eons away from his 80's heartthrob days.).

           In the compulsory 'humanizing' segments, Neeson tries bonding with this cute little granddaughter, but drives his daughter mad with his hard-wired obsession with maintaining security.

             Quinn, a far right screwball, has been using two of his other agents as a vigilante death squad, taking out prominent progressive public figures. In the opening sequence they hit-and-run a high profile feminist for daring to demand stuff like equal pay for women. 

             (So basically Quinn and little team of minions will have to wipe out 70 per cent of the country to achieve their MAGA utopia......good luck with that....)

              Naturally, this doesn't sit well with the Neeson-ator, so off we go with car chases and fight scenes. And it's no fun at all watching the exhausted star actually lose some fights and give up the foot chases because......well, you figure it out.  (Hint: he's frickin' old....)

            We can only hope that one day Liam Neeson will determine he's amassed enough money from these throwaway movies to work on a real one......

             As for this one.......Zero stars.  A tax write-off posing as a movie. Don't fall for it.