You’ve never seen Liam Neeson like this before!!! Unleeeesssss you’ve seen Taken, Unknown, or Non-Stop – but otherwise, Neeson is breaking new ground in his acting career. Well… except for his roles in Taken 2, A Walk Among the Tombstones, and Taken 3. But I swear: besides those six previous films, Neeson is killin’ it. He pioneers the role of an aging hitman, a character no one in Hollywood has ever played – except George Clooney in The American, Jean Reno in The Professional, Jason Statham in The Mechanic

The film starts with Bryan Mills (Neeson) needing to save his daughter from Albanian mobsters; she was captured while vacationing in Paris, then… Wait, wait, sorry that’s Taken. In this film, Neeson is Jimmy Conlon, and his son Mike (Joel Kinnaman) needs saving. Mike’s in a tough spot after witnessing the son of a kingpin kill two Albanian mobsters. (Albanians are the new Russians, I guess?)

Before the killer can turn the gun on Mike, Jimmy shoots the guy.  The killer’s vengeful kingpin father wants payback and travels to Istanbul to take out Neeson’s family so… No, shoot, that’s Taken 2. This time, Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) is the vengeful kingpin father, and they’re in New York City.

So for one night, Jimmy and Mike must run around the city, battling Shawn’s henchmen, including one particular assassin played by Common. He can bend bullets around people’s heads thanks to adrenaline… Oh, no, that’s Common in Wanted, my bad. He’s actually more like a hired hitman who’s part of a corrupt LAPD force, scheming to frame Keanu Reeves and… ugh, sorry, sorry, that’s Street Kings. But this time, Common is a cool-handed killer who’s one of several assassins trying to take out a rich magician at the top of a hotel-casino in Vegas, and… dammit, that’s Smokin Aces. Hold on a sec, let me check out Common’s IMDb page… (computer typing sounds)… Okay, his name is Price in this movie. Yeah I think that’s right. And from his techie assassin-like hardware, Price looks like a top-dollar killer. Fortunately for Shawn, he’s willing to kill Jimmy pro bono.

Throughout the vengeful cat-and-mouse escapade, the surrounding setting blends perfectly with the mood and action of the story. Jimmy kills a few cops and then we hear some thunder. Jimmy arrives at Mike’s house, let’s hear some rain with a little more thunder, but hold on, don’t get Jimmy wet, we can’t have a wet Neeson.

In the end, I guarantee this film is unlike anything you’ve seen in Hollywood, or else I’m a person with hair, ears, arms, and feet. Sure the movie could have simplified its plot. And the father-son dynamic was overdone; I mean I don’t need to know every single detail. Plus more sounds of thunder throughout could have brought together the piece nicely. But overall this was a great first attempt (excluding Unknown and Non-stop) between director Jaume Collet-Serra and Neeson, in creating something original. If you want to see Neeson out of his element, go see this film.

Oh and by the way, the movie is called Run All Night...