Plot: Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and with nothing to lose, a war hero leads law enforcement on a cross-country car chase with the help of his brothers in arms and a sympathetic public rooting for his getaway.
Review: Since starring in Taken, it often feels like Liam Neeson takes every script that comes his way. Having played spies, hitmen, killers, and truckers, Neeson has played characters in films across virtually every genre. The latest addition to the Neeson Season canon is The Mongoose, a feature-length car chase that is lighter on the hand-to-hand combat and gunplay of prior films but with more high-speed action. However, while the film aims to be perceived as an exhilarating thrill ride, it is instead hindered by clunky dialogue, nonsensical plot developments, and some of the most cliché characters in recent memory. The Mongoose is disappointing, even when compared to the weaker films Liam Neeson has starred in over the past decade, and yet still manages to set a new low with its portrayal of AI in a motion picture.
Opening with Ryan “Fang” Flanagan (Liam Neeson) already on the run from the law in a fully-loaded Shelby Super Snake sports car, The Mongoose flashes back to the events that put him on the run as well as twenty years earlier when he was an active-duty soldier. After being a prisoner of war and losing one of the soldiers under his command, Fang refused to ever be captured again. Following his divorce from Tara (Marisa Tomei), Fang struggles with memories of his tours of duty. So, when he accidentally commits a crime, he steals a car and heads off from Kentucky through Arkansas and Texas to evade the authorities. Enlisting the help of his former squadmates and friends Tanker (Ving Rhames) and Munch (Marcus Thomas), Fang drives fast and hard away from the cops. With a determined Texas cop, Major Walter Pope (Michael Chiklis), intent on catching him, Fang utilizes the help of veterans and sympathetic American civilians to escape free, especially with CNN and other news outlets broadcasting the entire chase.
There is much about The Mongoose that makes little sense, not even including the film’s bizarre title. Yes, you do learn what The Mongoose represents, but it comes very late in the movie. Most of the film takes place inside the Shelby Super Snake, a beautiful car that is marred by the decision to incorporate a fictional AI interface for Liam Neeson to interact with. Named Helene (voiced by Stella Stocker), Fang talks to the car’s AI, which is significantly better than Siri yet somehow as capable as KITT from Knight Rider. Liam Neeson interacts more with Helene than any other character in the film. In fact, Neeson shares most screen time with Marisa Tomei in what amounts to two scenes. The rest of the time, he is behind the wheel and talking to people through the car’s Bluetooth speaker. Neeson gets to be witty in several scenes that attempt to lighten the mood of the film, but they all fall flat due to poorly written dialogue that an AI screenwriter could have produced better one-liners.
The film attempts to be a jingoistic and pro-veteran story that rallies everyone around Fang to help him escape from law enforcement; however, it never feels authentic at all. There is one moment where a gas station attendant takes cash from Fang before immediately deciding to report him to the police. Another instance has Fang bringing his damaged car to a repair shop that somehow completely fixes it and changes its paint color in under an hour. Additionally, The Mongoose was filmed in Australia, with plant life and landscapes appearing nothing like anything you would see in North America. There were moments where I began to hope that The Mongoose would turn into an enjoyable action movie reminiscent of The A-Team, but it never reaches that point. Marisa Tomei delivers the strongest performance among the cast while Michael Chiklis does his best Smokey and the Bandit impersonation. I also suspect Ving Rhames may have been intoxicated during all of his scenes.
Written by Thompson Evans, The Mongoose was directed by Mark Vanselow. Vanselow has been Liam Neeson’s longtime stunt double for two decades, dating back to 2006’s Seraphim Falls. Having collaborated on over a dozen films together, Vanselow has also served as stunt coordinator for acclaimed films like The Revenant and HBO’s Westworld. For his directorial debut, Vanselow presents a film that does not feature many of the fighting stunts we have come to appreciate in Liam Neeson movies; instead opting for driving sequences, crashes, and explosions. The war-zone flashbacks feel cheaply made while most of the budget seems to have been allocated towards securing Shelby cars used for filming and licensing various classic songs populating the soundtrack. Little about The Mongoose makes much sense; it appears as though all actors are merely present for their paychecks while stunt work pales compared to what could have been a serviceable action movie.
Even considering free movies available today, The Mongoose is not worth watching. A leak of this film appeared on file-sharing services almost two months before its release date; those who viewed it then still criticized it harshly. This movie showcases Liam Neeson literally phoning it in for its entire duration—doing little more than sitting behind the wheel for ninety minutes. The Mongoose exemplifies what occurs when you produce a script under a director who has never helmed a movie before alongside actors who barely share any time together physically. Poor script quality, terrible dialogue, and pacing issues result in a film that oscillates between attempting humor while simultaneously trying to take itself seriously without achieving balance enough for enjoyment. Avoid The Mongoose unless you are an ardent Liam Neeson fan who truly does not care about what transpires on screen.
The Mongoose opens in theaters on October 30th.
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