A Dull Slog
Summary
Absolution doesn’t have much in the way of action with Liam Neeson spending most of the movie trying to reconcile with his estranged family. There is a little action towards the end, but it’s such a depressing tale that it leaves you with nothing at the end.
Plot: An aging gangster attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past, but the criminal underworld won’t loosen their grip willingly.
Review: Absolution has been incorrectly marketed as another Liam Neeson action movie; this is really more of a drama with about 5-10 minutes of action for the entire runtime.
In Absolution, Neeson plays aging gangster who keeps having headaches and memory loss. He finds out that he has an illness which will eventually make him completely incapacitated, so he tries to reconcile with his family who he has neglected over the years.
There isn’t anything in this movie we haven’t seen before; the performances are solid and Neeson’s character is interesting because he isn’t especially sympathetic. It’s incredibly slow paced and quite frankly a bit of a dull slog. It leaves you with nothing by the end and I hate movies which are just miserable. Ron Perlman is severely underused and they could have done more with his character, so we never really like or hate him.
In terms of action it’s the final 20 minutes where Neeson rescues a house full of trafficked women amongst a few other moments, but it’s rarely exciting in any way.
Overall, Absolution isn’t exactly a fun time with no levity whatsoever and is yet another old man tries to reconnect with his family tale that we’ve all seen before. Neeson gives a solid performance and it has some nice moments, but it’s a one time watch and an excellent cure for a good mood.