The Commuter Review

Let's take the movies Source Code, Unstoppable, and Speed and combine them together to make one movie.  Is that a good idea?  Well, that movie is called The Commuter, and yes, if you like silly, over-the-top action movies, it's a good idea.

The Commuter follows Michael McCauley (Liam Neeson), a former New York Police Officer, turned insurance salesman.  Michael rides the same train to and from work in New York City every single day and recognizes many people on the train.  One day, a mysterious woman (Vera Farming) approaches him with a deal, to find a specific person on the train in exchange for 100 grand.  Michael takes the money, but when he realizes actual lives are at stake, he tries to back out and the woman threatens Michael's family.  What follows is some awesome fight scenes, some insane stunts, and a spectacular train crash, as Michael tries to unravel the mystery.

What works:

Surprisingly, most of this movie works, that is if you appreciate silly action movies.  Liam Neeson is as excellent as ever, and most of the supporting actors are solid as well.

The action scenes are great, but one in particular stands out because it is very similar to fight scenes from movies like John Wick and Kingsman, as it's done in one long take.  It's impressively done and a lot of fun.

The train crash that we see in the trailer is, as expected, gloriously over-the-top.  It's laugh-out-loud levels of ridiculous.  And it's so thoroughly enjoyable that you don't care how unbelievable it is.  You just want more.

What sucks:

Not much sucks in this movie.  The opening five minutes are meh.  It establishes that Liam Neeson's character follows the same routine everyday, by showing a wide variety of snippets from his life.  It's very jumbled and somewhat hard to follow.  It does establish Neeson's routine, but it's jarring and takes some getting used to.

One of the supporting actors, Kobna Holbrook-Smith, who plays one of the passengers on the train, isn't very believable, especially when he has to act opposite Liam Neeson, who blows him out of the water.

Verdict:

So, does The Commuter have it going on?  Yes, indeed.  The Commuter goes literally and figuratively off the rails and you'll be having so much fun, that you won't care about the gaps in logic or the ridiculousness of the situation.  This is one train you won't want to get off.

7/10: Silly, but good.