★★½
Reminiscence is an motion thriller movie directed by Martin Campbell (On line casino Royale), starring Liam Neeson, Man Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Taj Atwal, Ray Fearon, Harold Torres, and Ray Stevenson. It’s based mostly on a Belgian novel from 1985 known as, “De Zaak Alzheimer” by Jef Geeraerts which was already tailored right into a 2003 Belgian movie titled, “The Reminiscence of a Killer.”
Alex (Neeson) is an professional murderer. He is aware of what he’s doing and has been at it for years. However when he goes towards the principles and refuses to finish a job for a harmful legal group, they activate him. Abruptly Alex is within the sights of, not simply the group, however the FBI, and Mexican intelligence as nicely. Usually Alex would be capable of deal with the strain however when he begins battling extreme reminiscence loss, he begins to query himself and his expertise, & he can’t even belief himself?
The premise of Reminiscence is a novel one: a hitman who’s affected by the start phases of Alzheimer’s. The story is sophisticated and takes some stunning turns, led by an murderer together with his personal set of morals. The proper anti-hero. The addition of a crippling psychological dysfunction makes for an amazing sympathetic character.
Liam Neeson does an amazing job as Alex. He tugs at our heartstrings as he struggles to recollect the smallest factor (“The place did I put my keys?”) to extra essential particulars (“The place was I final night time?”). It’s nice to see him stretch his appearing chops on this new tackle a job we’ve seen him in loads of instances earlier than. That is removed from the hitman we’re used to seeing from Neeson: the chilly and pushed sharpshooter that walks away on the finish of the film with hardly a scratch on him. No, Alex makes errors. He’s susceptible. He questions himself and, at instances, is surprisingly reckless.
Man Pierce does an equally terrific job as haunted FBI agent Vincent Serra. As each Hollywood FBI agent protagonist must be, he’s a hothead and captivated with particular instances due to his background and historical past.
Coincidentally, this hitman movie falls brief in its execution. It isn’t a sluggish film by any means. There’s at all times one thing occurring, and it is very important pay shut consideration to the main points sprinkled all through. Nevertheless, it does come throughout as prolonged. Every of the scenes, whereas essential, really feel long-winded.
There’s a variety of promise within the plot and within the backgrounds of all of the distinctive characters: the hitman with Alzheimer’s, the FBI agent with a mysterious previous, the hotheaded colleague, the insightful accomplice, and the gorgeous however evil mastermind. Sadly, most of these characters aren’t utilized to their full potential. This can be a good film however not an amazing one. Sadly, Reminiscence gained’t be a film dedicated to everybody’s… reminiscence.
