So I was watching Taken again yesterday. It's a cracking movie – you can always tell when an action film isn't as dumb as the others when it gets described as a 'thriller' or an 'action-thriller'.
In it, Liam Neeson plays a retired CIA agent whose teenage daughter gets abducted while in Paris. He has 96 hours to track her down before she disappears forever. Now, it owes an awful lot to the Bourne movies, from its gritty fights and its European locations to its camerawork and stunt scenes. But it definitely stands by itself as a film intended for grown-ups, and Neeson's fantastic and the director lets him have some great moments to himself.
It also deserves a lot of credit for portraying the world of prostitution and trafficking in women as the horrific, miserable, squalid thing it is, rather than the usual glamourous Pretty Woman-esque view.
But it suddenly got me thinking. When exactly did Liam Neeson become the West's greatest martial arts action star? Okay, he started off in Hollywood doing Dark Man, so it's not like he was a stranger to action films. But over the last decade or so, he's become a real martial arts star who is also a great actor at the same time. That's pretty rare: in fact, he may be the movies' greatest martial arts actor. What do you think?
After the jump, some of Liam's recent fight scenes to prove my point – at least as far as the fighting's concerned.
From Taken:
From Star Wars Episode 1:
From Batman Begins:
From Rob Roy, arguably the best sword fight in movie history:
June 29, 2009 | Reply
He was also Gawain in Excalibur and had a fight scene in that too. Can't find it on YouTube though...
June 29, 2009 | Reply
My isn't he nimble for such a big guy? I think your theory possibly correct Mr Rob. But good as the Roby Roy fight is, I probably prefer the swordfighting in first Pirates of Caribbean film.
You have just reminded me that Darkman is brilliant and I should watch it again.
June 29, 2009 | Reply
Hmm. He isn't the first name I'd think of when asked about martial arts actors, but those clips are pretty good. You always have the suspicion of trickery of some kind when it comes to Star Wars or Batman films, though.
My first thought as a competitor would be Chow Yun Fat — serious martial artist, and the man can really act. But I've asked my favourite forum of genre-crazed intellectual snobs, so we'll see what they come up with.
June 30, 2009 | Reply
I did say "in the West" IIRC. Chow Yun Fat's acting in Bulletproof Monk wasn't exactly brilliant, but Couching Tiger, etc, obviously much better.
June 30, 2009 | Reply
And I realise reading Stu-n's comment that I actually rather obviously now very little about martial arts and acting. I think am probably the only person in the world who hated Crouching Tiger.
June 30, 2009 | Reply
"And I realise reading Stu-n's comment that I actually rather obviously now very little about martial arts and acting. I think am probably the only person in the world who hated Crouching Tiger."
I hated it, too, as did most Hong Kong cinema-goers: it's somewhat slower paced compared with their usual fare...
June 30, 2009 | Reply
I could even know.
Oh glad I am not the only one. Spouse and I couldn't for the life of us see what the fuss was about. But then I always found the Water Margin really silly too.