RUN ALL NIGHT marks the third collaboration between star Liam Neeson and director Jaume Collet-Serra; their previous movies were the disappointing UNKNOWN and the above-average NON-STOP. RUN ALL NIGHT falls somewhere in the middle of those two films in terms of quality; it's a good enough mob thriller although not quite good enough to be considered a classic or indeed a regular watch. The film's very familiarity is what works against it throughout. Neeson and his adult son, played by Joel Kinnaman, are forced to go on the run from mob boss Ed Harris when things go bad, and the film follows the situation from there. It's set over a single night, which gives it some fun, but the story has been done before and done better, for example in Sam Mendes' ROAD TO PERDITION.
This means you end up watching the film to enjoy the other qualities. If a thriller's plotting is unremarkable then it must have outstanding action scenes, and the action in RUN ALL NIGHT is fun although not quite spellbinding. The bit in the subway station and the attack in the burning apartment complex are both good scenes but there are too many slow bits in the middle, and the two hour running time is half an hour too long. Collet-Serra can't do a proper transition scene without some lame CGI effects of the sped-up camera flying up in the sky and across the city, which I found quite tiresome after a while.
In terms of the cast, Neeson is on autopilot in this one. He looks old and tired and you wonder how much of that is really acting. Harris is suitably imposing as the antagonist of the piece, but his role is a virtual reprise of the one he played in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. Best of the bunch is the great Kinnaman, of the EASY MONEY trilogy, but he's kept off the screen for way too long. RUN ALL NIGHT is a fine enough slice of entertainment for genre fans but it's one of those films which simply doesn't hold up if you think about it too long.
This means you end up watching the film to enjoy the other qualities. If a thriller's plotting is unremarkable then it must have outstanding action scenes, and the action in RUN ALL NIGHT is fun although not quite spellbinding. The bit in the subway station and the attack in the burning apartment complex are both good scenes but there are too many slow bits in the middle, and the two hour running time is half an hour too long. Collet-Serra can't do a proper transition scene without some lame CGI effects of the sped-up camera flying up in the sky and across the city, which I found quite tiresome after a while.
In terms of the cast, Neeson is on autopilot in this one. He looks old and tired and you wonder how much of that is really acting. Harris is suitably imposing as the antagonist of the piece, but his role is a virtual reprise of the one he played in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. Best of the bunch is the great Kinnaman, of the EASY MONEY trilogy, but he's kept off the screen for way too long. RUN ALL NIGHT is a fine enough slice of entertainment for genre fans but it's one of those films which simply doesn't hold up if you think about it too long.