Retribution, 2023.
Directed by Nimród Antal.
Starring Liam Neeson, Jack Champion, Emily Kusche, Arian Moayed, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Modine, Lilly Aspell, Luca Markus, Bernhard Piesk, and Noma Dumezweni.
SYNOPSIS:
A bank executive receives a bomb threat while driving his children to school that his car will explode if they stop and get out.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Retribution wouldn’t exist.
“Misdirection is at the heart of every great magic trick” is a line uttered with sincerity and confidence in director Nimród Antal’s Retribution, a movie that unquestionably has no magic and deploys the cheapest, oldest, most predictable villain plot twist. That same villain also makes egregiously stupid choices during the finale, to mercifully push the story along to its conclusion, only amplifying the hilarity of the poor, clunky script from Christopher Salmanpour (based on the film El Desconocido by Alberto Marini, which has to have more depth, intrigue, and entertainment to it than this.)
Realistically speaking, the general plot of Retribution brings to mind the 1990s Keanu Reeves bomb-on-a-bus action thriller Speed, although not to take away from the accomplishments of El Desconocido. Playing a shady bank executive duping his investors, Liam Neeson is Matt Turner, a man so committed to the deceptive work that he also finds himself neglecting and habitually lying to his wife Heather (Embeth Davidtz) and children, Emily and Zach (played by Lilly Aspell and Jack Champion.)
During yet another routine morning argument, Heather frustratingly reminds Matt that since she is meeting up with a friend, he has to drive the children to school. It is vaguely worth mentioning that Zach is a stepson who refuses to use the label “dad”, and has plans to ditch school, although the filmmakers don’t do anything compelling with that dynamic. The marriage here is rocky, and there is family dysfunction, serving as an expository filler rather than a backdrop for something narratively substantial.
Upon landing a major investment and checking back in with his work partner Anders (Matthew Modine), and while trying to keep the children quiet and well-behaved, Matt discovers another ringing phone underneath his seat, alongside a bomb. On the other end of that phone call is a distorted and threatening voice issuing orders with the threats that others will die, explaining how he can remotely trigger the car’s explosion.
It’s a solid starting point for a thriller, but due to the inner workings of how the bomb must be detonated, it also means that Retribution has a startling amount of downtime, mostly seeing Matt slowly driving around and making boring phone calls involving transferring a large sum of money from his secret offshore account to somewhere else that will benefit this menacing individual. The filmmakers also seem to have never decided on whether this movie should be unapologetically silly (there’s an early funny reveal regarding a motorcyclist tailing the family car, and a somewhat clever climax ultimately ruined by horrendous green screen effects) or serious drama, and the issue with the latter is that nothing here makes for riveting storytelling.
Retribution also contains that bad kind of irritation, where, aside from the likable children in peril, seemingly every character here is irrational and unbelievably dense. There are characters here inclined to believe that the other blown vehicles along the way are Matt’s doing despite being aware that there is a bomb underneath his own fucking car with his own fucking family inside.
The lack of logic surrounding these characters, the setup of the bomb, the rules of this thriller (again, and that that movie should be compared, but just look at Speed for an example of how to maximize the suspense and tension from this premise), and the tedious pacing at which it plays out makes for a lengthy 90 minutes. Even Liam Neeson appears bored and annoyed that Retribution isn’t opting for dumb fun, ending up just plain dumb.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
