The 2022 action film “Blacklight,” written and directed by Mark Williams, stars Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn and Emmy Raver-Lampman.
The story tells that Travis, who mentored undercover agents for the FBI, put himself and the female reporter Mira in crisis after discovering the director’s wrongdoing.
Liam Neeson has been making films frequently in recent years, and it is difficult to surpass the “Taken” series in terms of evaluation and box office.
Fortunately, he doesn’t mind cooperating with the new generation of actors, and his interpretation of roles is quite diverse, so he won’t be named the king of bad movies.
Seeing that he was showing his old age in “Blacklight”, he played a ghost detective whose physical strength was not as good as before. Although the detective’s skills were not strong enough and his suspicions were serious, he was still clever and lovable.
Of course, to expect him to show off his martial arts, it is better to watch him perform a warm grandfather and grandson love.
The heavy responsibility for the action scenes falls to Taylor John Smith, who interprets the undercover detective Dusty. Whether attacking a police officer or chasing a car, his action performance coupled with his sexy appearance makes it hard not to be loved by the audience.
As for the literary and drama part of tracking down the Secretary’s secrets, Mira, a persevering but always suppressed reporter, is played by Emmy Raver-Lampman, who became popular with “The Umbrella Academy”. She and Liam Neeson are full of joy in several scenes.
Her sometimes cute, sometimes fearless performance is impressive.
The film was produced by the production team of “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”, and the car chase scene was specially filmed on the streets of the Australian capital.
The scene of the giant garbage truck and the exquisite supercar rampaging on the street, the high-speed approach and the overturning of the big car, make people addicted to watch.
In addition to the speeding car chase, the classic action drama is the scuffle between the undercover detective and the police.
The fighting scenes are realistic and powerful, not fighting for the sake of fighting, and at the same time revealing that a runaway agent is on the verge of collapse, endangering not only himself, but also those around him, and may even shake the FBI director.
As for fans who enter the theater for the strongest dad, don’t expect too much from his action scenes. I always feel that he is a little bit deliberately picking some characters who are already retiring to play, to wash away the “rescue” image on the screen.
The film cost 43 million US dollars to make, and the biggest problem is that the story is not meticulous enough.
The speeding car chase can only be briefly eliminated to see half of the doubts in my mind: “Is that so? Isn’t it?”, the rest is to hate iron and not steel, and the plot is full of loopholes that make people roll their eyes to the back of their heads.
For example, Travis can directly invade the house of the director of the household, without anyone deploying to maintain security in advance, it is too ridiculous.
It is quite bizarre for the female reporter to escape the catastrophe. How could no one monitor her and seal her up first?
If you look closely, you will find that many things in “Blacklight” end in a hurry without making it clear.
Although the characters in the story are limited, several interactions between the protagonists are quite interesting.
Look at how the protagonist and the director have gone from being close to each other to turning against each other, reflecting that the comrades who once went to the battlefield together are no longer the simple ones they used to be after many years.
Travis owes the director a favor and has to become a shadow agent. He didn’t ask whether the missions performed by the undercover agents were legitimate, nor did he question the superficially friendly but ruthless director. It is saddening that refusal to know the truth can lead to the loss of a loved one.
“Blacklight” did not insinuate, but directly pointed out that the director in the play wanted to be the second Hoover.
Hoover, the longest-serving director of the FBI, has a fickle personality, often transferring agents who offend him to new units, leaving no one in the spotlight.
Despite his controversial style, he expanded the scope of the Bureau of Investigation and pushed for a number of reforms, exaggerating the exaggeration of radicals and criticizing civil rights activists.
Even the later counterintelligence plan, illegal surveillance, theft and other illegal acts, the director of the film is exactly the same as Hoover.
Means and ends should be discussed together. The movie shows that the powerholders are under the banner of protecting the country, but in fact it is a fascination with and abuse of power. And it is never too late to reveal the truth and justice when the secret operation is revealed.
The shadow agent, who seems to be inconspicuous and invisible, just wants to retire safely and reunite with his family!
Travis’s ostrich mentality of obeying orders without being asked is actually easy to become a pawn for others to take advantage of.
The scary thing is that he also used human pressure to treat others like this, and it seems that he also told us that the collapse of the organization came from its own origin, and that blind obedience would lead to a series of disasters.
“Blacklight” doesn’t have an absolutely perfect hero, and no rescue plot is staged, and the anticlimactic arrangement is disappointing.
However, the obsessive-compulsive and paranoid protagonist, as well as the frequent flashing special effects, make “Blacklight” an imperfect but unique action film.
Related Post: “Blacklight”: Behind Power is Corruption.
