The Commuter Is A Serviceable Action Movie Made Watchable Thanks To Its Main Star

 

       When one thinks of the most generic action movie plot involving the family of the main character being threatened by the films main antagonist in order to gain leverage over them, generally an action flick with Liam Neeson as the main star with him in full Taken mode comes to mind. In the case of The Commuter, what you essentially get is a remix of a previous Neeson film titled Non-Stop with the main difference being the setting is now set on a train instead of an airplane. Liam Neeson's newest action/Hitchcockian style thriller The Commuter, serves as being a midly entertaining yet generic action flick, that basically recycles every cliched subplot in the book, yet is made watchable due to Liam Neeson's commanding screen presence both as a dramatic actor and action movie star.

      The plot for The Commuter centers around an everyday family man (Played brilliantly by Liam Neeson, whose excellent as usual) experiencing both financial issues and loss of work, ends up boarding the usual commuter train to head home to his family. During his ride, he meets a mysterious woman (Played by Vera Farmiga), who offers him $100K to perform a seemingly simple task involving a deadly conspiracy with his family ultimately being attached to it as well as the potential murder of a witness. The film is nothing that audiences haven't seen before with it often choosing to stay close to the formula involving Neeson's character being transformed into an action hero throughout the course of the story. As far as the films overall plot structure goes, if one happened to enjoy Non-Stop which also starred Neeson as an Air Marshal thwarting a terrorist plot on his plane, then they will also like The Commuter as both movies share similar concepts even though the overall executions of both are different. The film is a prime example of how it's talented cast of actors appear to be stronger than its source material, which genuinely feels like it's designed to capitalize off it's main stars recent career resurgence as a middle-aged action hero. While there's​ nothing creative nor original about the script that makes it appealing to audiences, the performances of it's main cast ( particularly Neeson), proves to be enough to elevate the film to the point where it passes as being reasonably solid entertainment if one watches it under the right conditions.

      The key element that makes the film work above all else is Liam Neeson's always dependable and strong performance as the films main lead. Here he excels once again with playing insurance salesman Michael MacCauley. Neeson portrays the character as being a regular everyday business and family man, who ends up getting put in a unique scenario that allows him to channel his character of Brian Mills from Taken when the film shifts into action mode. Neeson has a specific style and formula that he approaches with the characters he plays in the action movies he stars in with The Commuter proving to be no exception to the rule. Neeson takes both the script and character he's given and makes the most of it, while giving audiences what they want which is seeing him go full Taken with the films baddies. Another strong performance in the film comes from Vera Farmiga as Joanna, the mystery woman who presents Neeson's character with the offer of $100K in exchange for him to find the witness of a murder on the train in exchange for his families safety. Although much of Farmiga's role is left up to the mystery of the audience, she does a good job of selling her character to the audience as well as making her come across as being interesting, effective, mysterious, and chilling. Other strong supporting roles are Patrick Wilson as Neeson's ex partner and friend Det. Lt. Alex Murphy. Wilson's character comes across as being the generic friend of the main hero, who later is revealed to have a surprise twist of his own that pertains to Neeson's characters dilemma in the story. Though his role is minimal, Sam Neil makes a notable appearance as Captain David Hawthrone with his character being designed for the audience to suspect that he's somehow involved in the plot to hold Neeson's family hostage in exchange for the witness. As a whole, the cast for The Commuter proves to be strong and appropriate fits for their characters despite everyone receiving minimal character development outside of Neeson's character. The Commuter was designed to be a starring vehicle for Liam Neeson with his character meant to be the driving force behind the story. Like Non-stop, The Commuter further demonstrates Neeson's strengths both as a dramatic actor, as well as being a commanding action movie star. The film goes from essentially buckling under its own weight to being watchable thanks to his presence in the film.

      The films directing by Jaume Collet-Serra is both standard and serviceable for the type of story The Commuter is. Serra directs the film like a mystery thriller with the audience being left guessing what's gonna happen next, or which characters involved are helping the films antagonists as several key passengers on the train are instantly painted as suspects. The film bears resemblances to Murder On The Orient Express in regards to Neeson's character attempting to find the person he's forced to search for on the train along with a touch of The Source Code and The Taking Of Pelham 123 thrown into the mix. Serra makes a smart decision to keep the camera focused on Neeson, allowing the audience to experience the full emotions his character conveys, while giving the rest of the film a mysterious atmosphere that delivers Hitchcock style suspense and tension. The films cinematography is effective in building up the mystery behind the story with the pacing of the film being brisk. The films fight sequences are well choreographed for the most part making for some of the films most memorable moments. The CGI look of the film however, isn't anything to write home about with the camera zooming between the train cars nor the films climactic train sequence that involves explosions. The films score by Roque Banos comes across as being both effective, as well as economical for the films setting with the score managing to shift from the commuter aspect of the story to both its mystery tone and action themes. For the most part, Jaume Collet-Serra tries his hardest to make something more of the script and give a commendable effort to create an atmosphere thats bathed in Hitchcockian style suspense, while also not being afraid to shift into Taken/Non-Stop mode when required. His efforts along with Neeson's to make the script into something more than just throwaway entertainment, serve as being admirable and worthy of commending.

      The films screenplay by Byron Willinger, Philipde Blasi and Ryan Engle mounts to being full of endless cliches, that have been seen before in other films with similar story structures, most notably Non-Stop for example. Although Neeson's character is designed to be the films hero who conveniently possesses combat skills, his character is presented as being more realistic and vulnerable than some of his previous characters in the action films he did prior. There are some scenes where his characters actions require the audience to suspend their disbelief and just go with it. In regards to the usage of the films setting, The Commuter utilizes the train setting very well giving it a claustrophobic feel that keeps the audience engaged in regards to their attention span, as well as leveling down the suspects in the film with the audiences main focus being directed towards finding out who the person on the train is that Neesons character is searching for. For the rest of the films cast that doesn't include Neeson, the character development for the most part remains minimal with every side character feeling like generic tropes lifted from a typical action and suspense thriller with examples being Vera Farmiga's character being the mysterious lady, who gives Neeson's character the offer involving the money for the mysterious passenger, the inclusion of Neeson's character being a grizzled ex-cop, and Patrick Wilson's character being the typical loyal friend of the main character whose meant to both encourage and keep them on the convenient path of being the main focus of the story. The script for The Commuter is rather formulaic and recycles all the key ingredients to make for an effective thriller, ultimately proving to be nothing to write home about in particular as the main strength of the film rests on Neeson's performance, along with the most interesting part of the screenplay solely being his character attempting to find the mysterious passenger on the train while limiting his suspects. For a standard action flick and suspense thriller, the script gets the job done even if it relies too similar to Neeson's previous action flick Non-Stop for comfort.

      Despite its efforts to be something more than what it ultimately is, The Commuter ultimately settles for being just an average and mildly entertaining action thriller with its strongest asset being it's main star. The film suffers from being far too close and repetitive to Non-stop to be considered anything more than just passable entertainment, as well as lacking both originality and a creative flare. If one enjoys fast-paced style action movies like Taken and Non-Stop, then they'll like The Commuter. However if one is expecting a significant amount of substance in regards to its story, then they're bound to be disappointed. The film works best as being a typical Liam Neeson vehicle, that's both gritty and carries with it decent amounts of suspense and fun. The films strong cast along with it's interesting premise and workable directing is enough to serve as entertainment that's passable, yet ultimately forgettable once the credits roll. For it's efforts to thrill it's audience, The Commuter is worth a watch, especially if one pairs it up with Non-Stop as a back to back feature given both movies are nearly identical with the exception of the settings. It's not a secret why this one didn't land with audiences at the box office like Neeson's previous action films did (Besides it's thrilling premise, there's no real creativity to it as it borrows many elements from other successful films in the genre), but it ultimately serves it's purpose as being an entertaining yet forgettable thriller that's ultimately made watchable thanks to the strength of it's main star.

Final Verdict: For both action and Liam Neeson fans, The Commuter works as being an interesting and mildly exciting train ride that warrants at least watch on the basis of being reasonably entertained.