The Marksman is another in a long line of Liam Neeson action movies. But instead of him being a demolition expert, a martial arts expert, or some badass assassin, he is a rancher who was a former marine sniper. I once said that every Liam Neeson role since he did the movie Taken is basically a carbon copy of his character Brian Mills from that movie and I feel like this movie is no different. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not starting this review off by telling you it’s a bad movie and you shouldn’t see it. Actually, the opposite. Most of Liam Neeson’s action movies are hit or miss even though they’re entertaining.  However, they’re good one-timers. What would you expect if there are carbon copy of the movie Taken, which I think we can all agree is a really good movie and Liam Neeson kicks butt in it.  But The Marksman is a little bit different, it’s a movie with heart and with a very subtle political message about immigration. And the one thing that I truly appreciated from this movie Is that they didn’t try to shove a political message down our throats. After all, good stories should be character-driven and not politically driven

So let me first say that Liam Neeson is great in this movie. Then again, he’s always good in any movie he does because he’s Liam Neeson. He’s the type of actor that can carry a bad movie. Now his American accent wasn’t as good in this film compared to others because he’s trying to have a southern accent since the story takes place in Arizona near the border, but that’s just nitpicking and it really doesn’t take away from the story. Katheryn Winnick is also good in this film, although I would have liked to have seen more of her because she has such a great onscreen presence woman. The heart of this movie is seen in the road trip film that it truly is. It’s about the relationship of a former marine who patrols the border between Mexico and the US, and turns in illegal immigrants, but also decides to do the right thing and rescue a young boy who is being hunted by members of a drug cartel. The overall theme of this movie is would you be willing to do the right thing at all costs and at the risk of your own life. That’s essentially what drives Liam Neeson’s character. Sure, it’s not an original theme and we’ve seen it plenty of times in movies, even other Liam Neeson movies, but it doesn’t take away from how good The Marksman really is. The pacing is good. it’s filled with a lot of good action as Liam Neeson shows off with his fighting skills, especially that as a marksman, hence the title. And the onscreen relationship he has with the young Hispanic boy that he’s trying to get to Chicago is good. While the young actor does not have a whole lot of lines in the film, the scenes with him and Liam Neeson are good with just the right amount of emotion to make the audience feel connected to these two characters. I certainly enjoyed the film and would watch it again.

But like most films, it isn’t perfect and it’s not without its problems. I don’t know if it’s really necessary to try to humanize the drug cartel, to make us feel sympathetic for their cause, which they try to do at the end. Having the leader whine as he’s dying that he didn’t have a choice doesn’t make us feel sympathy, you’re the bad guy and you’re hunting down a child. Just be the bad guy or there’s no other reason to be anything else tell this story. I know films aren’t necessarily supposed to be black and white, but sometimes they are and that’s what really drives the story. You have a good guy and you have a bad guy and that’s all you need. My biggest complaint is really the relationship with Katheryn Winnick’s character, she’s good in the film and you can definitely tell that there’s a good relationship with Liam Neeson’s character.  the two actors definitely have good chemistry, but I still don’t know what her relationship to Liam Neeson is except that he was married to her mother. Is she his daughter? Is she his stepdaughter? Where is the emotional connection between these two characters that makes me feel sympathy for either one of them, especially since Katheryn Winnick is playing a Border Patrol agent? She clearly loves him.  They seem like family and She’s willing to protect Liam Neeson’s character as he’s basically kidnapping the young boy from the Border Patrol in order to get him to Chicago, but if you’re not going to clearly explain what their relationship is then why is it necessary to have her character in the film except that he knows someone who’s willing to cover for him, which essentially could be any character among the Border Patrol agents in the movie. I think the relationship between these characters is important and should have been explored more whereas we don’t really need a back story of the drug cartel. My last complaint is the ambiguous ending where we don’t really know whether Liam Neeson’s character dies or not. This is not some art film where we discuss the meaning of life at the end. I understand that the overall theme is about doing the right thing at all cost so it doesn’t matter whether that character lives or dies as long as they complete their journey, but that doesn’t need to be open-ended unless you’re planning on doing a sequel and I don’t think this film needs a sequel.

Overall, The Marksman is a good film and should definitely be seen even if only once. It is certainly one of the better Liam Neeson action movies. And I like the fact that it’s a road trip movie so you get to explore the relationship a little bit more between Liam Neeson and the young boy. You get that father-son type of relationship between these two loss souls who need each other. While they could have done more with other characters like Katheryn Winnick’s, it does not take away from The Marksman being an enjoyable film and Liam Neeson showing us once again that he is a badass. It’s not gonna be the movie of the year and may only be a good Redbox rental, but The Marksman does not disappoint.  Some of the best parts of the cinematography because with it being a road trip film, you certainly get to see lots of different landscapes that make up America.  As John Ford taught us, the landscape can be its own character and is necessary to drive the story. I would agree about that regarding this film. The Marksman is another good Liam Neeson action movie that is worth paying for a good matinee or renting it.  If you see it, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.