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Posted in: Movies, Review | Tagged: guy pearce, liam neeson, martin campbell, Memory, monica bellucci, Open Road Films, Ray Stevenson
Memory Review: A Predictable, Formulaic Revenge Psychological Thriller
It's hard to root against Liam Neeson in any revenge thriller these days, and it's mainly the problem with his latest one in Martin Campbell's Memory. The star plays Alex Lawson, a contract assassin with a conscience that draws the line at targeting a kid who happened to be a key witness in potentially bringing down an influential sexual predator. A remake of the Belgian film The Memory of a Killer, Alex is suffering from Alzheimer's, and it's a matter of time before the disease or the job takes him as he starts having episodes of memory loss.
Martin Campbell's MEMORY, an Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment release.
Credit: Rico Torres | Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment
The problem with Alex and way too many protagonists in films like these is that there's always this suspension of disbelief. As the audience, we have to believe in the dark world of contract killing a la Leon the Professional (1994). We seldom see a main character assassin that kills a target that never really deserved it because it just seems like there always seems to be some creative need to have some clean slate, like they have to decide one day, their job just isn't worth doing anymore. It's part of glorifying the just killer because he/she happens to decide on that day to be on the side of good.
Credit: Rico Torres | Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment
This journey doesn't really feel as earned, and we get the atypical theme of "good guy fights the insurmountable uphill battle against the corrupt system" shared between Neeson's Alex and Guy Pearce's FBI Agent Vincent Serra. I liken the two's relationship to Batman and Commissioner Gordon if you need a comparison on how predictable the film largely is, but Batman is 'dying' in this case. Ray Stevenson and Taj Atwal are there to fill screen time with Pearce as the cop's extra bodies.
Credit: Rico Torres | Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment
The film's antagonist is hedgefund CEO Davana Sealman, played by Monica Bellucci, who largely acts behind the scenes and motivations bore out of empathy. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, and while I understand the character and her intentions, it feels like the film should have done more to show how much she's willing to do to protect everything, like get her own hands dirty when needed, than always go by proxy. Written by Dario Scardapane, the script is competent, which is about as pedestrian as it gets for the genre just above minimalist schlock. I probably would have consulted the scribes behind Crank for inspiration for the "terminally ill assassins with nothing else to lose" genre. Open Road Films' Memory is currently in theaters.
Memory
4/10
Memory surprisngly plays it safe for a film about a dying assassin suffering from Alzheimer's without anything to lose. Liam Neeson turns in a typical performance required for his revenge thriller. Guy Pearce plays his hapless version of "Commissioner Gordon" and Monica Bellucci plays a villain I wish they allowed to bear more teeth.
Credits
Director
Martin Campbell
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