20 May Memory Review

MEMORY

dir. Martin Campbell, starring Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Taj Atwal, and Monica Bellucci

It’s long past time for Liam Neeson to hang it up.

Memory, the latest action thriller in the actor’s waning resume, stars Neeson as Alex Lewis, professional hitman who’s battling the onset of Alzheimer’s. After refusing to kill a kid during a mission (that classic old trope that makes it ok for us to root for killers), Lewis’ life becomes one of hunter and hunted, ruthlessly attacking anyone involved with the operation while evading arrest from the FBI.

Memory is disappointing on a number of levels. First, as mentioned above, we’re long past the era of Liam Neeson delivering a solid action product. Second, director Martin Campbell, whose career has been a number of ups and downs, is capable of making a better movie than this. Third, the idea of a contract killer who’s suffering memory loss is an interesting concept that, in the hands of a better screenwriter, director, and lead actor, could be mined for any number of intriguing films. Instead what we’re left with here is a pile of wasted potential. The gems in the story are passed over for the same bland, rote, barely passable action and story beats we’ve seen from similar films over the past 10 years. Without bringing anything fresh to the table, Memory is a movie that, soon after finishing, will easily fade from yours.

At 69 years old, Liam Neeson has no business continuing to make action movies. This was evident in the heavily edited in Taken 3, which was eight years ago, but Neeson continues to pump out one mediocre film after another. As phenomenal an actor Neeson has proven to be in dramatic roles, his decision to lean so hard into the action genre, desperately attempting to recapture a high he achieved nearly a decade and a half ago, is confusing at best and depressing at worst. Neeson shuffles through the film with all the grace of a reanimated mummy, hobbling from vantage point to vantage point during a close quarters shootout in a parking garage while also reaping the benefits of editor Jo Francis, doing what she can to work around the aging actor’s obvious slowness. Also in the film is Guy Pearce’s Vincent Serra, the lead FBI agent tasked at first with a human trafficking case and then eventually with bringing in Lewis. The cat-and-mouse game between Lewis and Serra is probably the film’s most interesting aspect, with Pearce shouldering the majority of the weight between the two. Serra is presented as the typical FBI protagonist in most films, playing a hunch or going with instinct that his beleaguered boss reminds him can’t be used as court evidence. While there isn’t much in the way of character development for Serra (or anyone else in the film), he and his partner Linda Amistead, played by Taj Atwal, are the two that rise to the top of Memory. Atwal’s Amistead is loyal and steadfast to Lewis, game for all of his half baked ideas. Harold Torres rounds out the trio of enforcement agents as Hugo Marquez, the Mexican agent assigned to liaise with the Americans on his side of the border. Intense, deeply passionate about his job, and willing to go the lengths to get justice, Marquez could’ve been the film’s most interesting character if he had more than 10 lines of dialogue throughout the entire film. Finally, veteran Italian actress Monica Bellucci plays the film’s heavy, Davana Sealman. As low energy and lethargic as she’s ever been on screen, Davana’s one note character lacks any menace or bite; a script that fails to live up to a potential examination of those who exert too much power and influence instead reduces the character to handful of cliche lines.

Directed by Martin Campbell, the same filmmaker who helmed widely regarded action films such as Goldeneye and Casino Royale, Memory made me constantly questions his thought process and overall interest in directing the film. Complete with a lackluster script from screenwriter Dario Scardapane, Memory is an American reboot of Belgian film The Alzheimer Case, proving yet again that American remakes of foreign films can be incredibly hit or miss. Here, Campbell’s usual zest and zeal for action is limited to a shambling actor in Neeson with camerawork that fails to bring any dynamo or excitement to the scene. At just a few minutes shy of two hours, the film’s second act is the roughest patch, a minefield of exposition and actors sleepwalking through scenes. On the heels of 2021’s The Protege, it may be time for Campbell to explore other genres. As for cinematographer David Tattersall (who shot all three Star Wars prequel movies), the veteran cameraman does what he can with the material, but unfortunately even the man who lensed the bonkers look of 2008’s Speed Racer couldn’t breathe much life into Memory.

Overall, Memory is a mess of a film that should hopefully put the final nail in the coffin of the Liam Neeson action movie era. An unnecessarily convoluted story, uninspired direction from a filmmaker who’s proven he’s adept at the genre, and weak performances from both Neeson and Bellucci makes this film a dark spot on the resume of nearly everyone involved. A completely forgettable film in every measurable statistic, Memory is best served as background noise while the viewer washes dishes. Any possibilities of what the film could’ve been, such as an examination of the working relationship of respective Texas/Mexico law enforcement divisions, or a condemnation of human trafficking (admittedly, a topic Liam already lightly brushed up against in the original Taken), or even a look at how powerful people and corporations hold too much influence over decision making are all abandoned for a vapid, muddied attempt at an action thriller from a man mere months away from being a septuagenarian. Neeson should’ve long retired from these types of films, and the end result here only proves that. Memory is currently in theaters.

Review by Darryl Mansel