The new Naked Gun movie works particularly well because its star Liam Neeson, like Leslie Nielsen in the original, plays the lead in a spoofy comedy after accumulating a robust filmography’s worth of recognition as a much less zany performer. Though Neeson’s characters and performances have always been on the serious side, his career got a makeover tailored to his particularly intense set of skills in 2009 when Taken became a surprise smash. Many more thrillers in a similar vein followed, including two more Taken movies with diminishing returns — as memorable as Taken remains, the premise of an ex-CIA operative relentlessly pursuing the kidnappers of his daughter doesn’t lend itself particularly well to an ongoing franchise. But a few months before Taken 3 capped off the improbable adventures of Bryan Mills, Neeson starred in a movie that was ready-made to become a sturdier signature franchise for his late-career reinvention. Unfortunately, A Walk Among the Tombstones fell through the cracks.
Liam Neeson’s forgotten noir thriller that’s better than Taken
