Former police officer Michael MacCauley who is now working as an insurance salesman finds his life is suddenly crumbling around him when the company he is working for decides to let him go out of the blue. On his usual commute home on the train, he is approached by Joanna, a mysterious woman who gives Michael an unusual and seemingly straight-forward task; find a passenger on the train carrying a bag who is using the name Pryn - if he succeeds Michael gets $100,000. What begins as an innocuous task soon takes a deadly turn when Joanna's true intentions become clear...
For anyone who has seen Non-Stop which is another collaboration between director and star in this film then the similarities will soon become apparent. As is to be expected, this combination produces mixed results, but for me The Commuter is mostly good....
It has the sense of intrigue and mystery that made Non-Stop work so well and despite Neeson's performance feeling a bit samey now he is always a good presence in any film and sells the fear and dread that is bestowed on his character about as convincingly as he can.
Like Non-Stop, The Commuter is a fast-paced, energetic film where there's plenty going on throughout its runtime - fisticuffs, investigations, sneaking around, life/death decisions that are having to be made etc. All of these aspects ensure that the film has plenty going for it and it has to be said that The Commuter is an entertaining film.
Although The Commuter is a fun watch and flies by at a lightning pace, it's fair to say that the story and plot do struggle at times if you really scrutinise it. There are lots of things that happen throughout the film which seem far-fetched and extremely unlikely; I wasn't entirely convinced how all of the players involved here could achieve all the elaborate things that happened while everyone was on-board the train - it all has to be seen to be believed.
Still as I've said before if you've seen Collet-Serra and Neeson's other action films and have enjoyed them then you're in for more of the same here. Though you may find yourself scratching your head at times at some of the preposterous plot developments and whilst the film is occasionally an insult to the intelligence it is undeniably a reasonably fun watch.
For anyone who has seen Non-Stop which is another collaboration between director and star in this film then the similarities will soon become apparent. As is to be expected, this combination produces mixed results, but for me The Commuter is mostly good....
It has the sense of intrigue and mystery that made Non-Stop work so well and despite Neeson's performance feeling a bit samey now he is always a good presence in any film and sells the fear and dread that is bestowed on his character about as convincingly as he can.
Like Non-Stop, The Commuter is a fast-paced, energetic film where there's plenty going on throughout its runtime - fisticuffs, investigations, sneaking around, life/death decisions that are having to be made etc. All of these aspects ensure that the film has plenty going for it and it has to be said that The Commuter is an entertaining film.
Although The Commuter is a fun watch and flies by at a lightning pace, it's fair to say that the story and plot do struggle at times if you really scrutinise it. There are lots of things that happen throughout the film which seem far-fetched and extremely unlikely; I wasn't entirely convinced how all of the players involved here could achieve all the elaborate things that happened while everyone was on-board the train - it all has to be seen to be believed.
Still as I've said before if you've seen Collet-Serra and Neeson's other action films and have enjoyed them then you're in for more of the same here. Though you may find yourself scratching your head at times at some of the preposterous plot developments and whilst the film is occasionally an insult to the intelligence it is undeniably a reasonably fun watch.