Liam Neeson is set to continue his reign as king of the action movie in the forthcoming thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones. Neeson plays former NYPD-cop-turned-private-investigator Matt Scudder, who’s hired by drug dealer Kenny Kristo (played by Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens) to discover who kidnapped and murdered his wife. Take a look at the trailer.
It looks to be another barnstorming performance by the – can you believe it? – 62-year-old actor. And it got us thinking in Castle Cineworld about our favourite Neeson roles. Have we missed any of your favourites out?
Schindler’s List (1993)
Neeson beat out competition from such marquee-friendly names as Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson for the role of the German businessman Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of over a thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust. It’s a spellbinding performance, and Neeson was duly nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, which – in an act of cosmic idiocy – the Academy gave to Tom Hanks instead.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999)
The film may be a hollow-hearted, CG-infested abomination, but Neeson still manages to shine in George Lucas’ otherwise execrable Star Wars prequel. He plays Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn, who is viciously offed at the end of the movie by the evil Darth Maul. Lucas paid tribute to Neeson as a "master actor, who the other actors will look up to, [and] who has the qualities of strength that the character demands."
Love Actually (2003)
When Neeson’s wife, Natasha Richardson, died five years ago it added an extra coat of poignancy to his storyline in Richard Curtis’ multi-plotted rom-com Love Actually. He plays Daniel, recently widowed and burdened with bringing up his 12-year-old son on his own. It’s a tender, warm-hearted performance, and gives the occasionally overly-whimsical movie a real emotional weight.
Batman Begins (2005)
A rare baddie role here for the normally likeable Neeson. He starts off the film in disguise as Henri Ducard, a noble member of the vigilante group, the League of Shadows, but ends the movie unmasked as its ruthless leader, Ra's al Ghul. Director Christopher Nolan admitted it was the fact that Neeson rarely played bad guys that appealed to him in casting the Irish actor as Batman’s ultimate nemesis.
Taken (2008)
The movie that established the then 56-year-old as a bona fide action star, Taken headlines the hunksome Irishman as a former CIA operative who has to track down his daughter after she is kidnapped by human traffickers whilst travelling in France. Neeson steps up to the action hero mantle like a pro in this stylish and pulse-pumping thriller from French director Pierre Morel.
A Walk Among the Tombstones arrives at Cineworld on 19th September.
