Memory (2022)

User Review

• 

  d_riptide

  5 / 10

  So here’s template #15 of the ‘Liam Neeson’s particular set of skills’ formula: Memory. A remake of the 2003 Belgian film 'The Memory of a Killer', it’s only the second of his films to come out this year and, in my personal opinion, the black sheep out of the entirety of his recent collection. On paper, it looks enjoyable enough for the type of filler Neeson has become known for….
  
  .

….but then you watch it and you get deneuralyzed half an hour in.


  
  
  It’s so fascinating how often Martin Campbell’s directing style fluxes between films: he, at the very least, attempts to inject some style to the proceedings here to make it look tolerable to skim through. The cinematography has enough clear shot blocking and the clean cuts to stitch the film together neatly enough but it eventually exposes Neesons aging limitations when the action sequences come around. Said action set-pieces in general have little to no expressive amplification; it’s almost completely bereft of thrills, just going for shot/reverse shot during shootouts and shoddy choreography throughout. Editing is basic, nothing to really comment on with a steady ambience on lingering but waning thrills and regardless of what he was given, Liam Neeson’s performance delivers a more vulnerable outing of his usual self. Pearce and Bellucci get the short end of the stick but still do the best with it.
  
  

None of the characters have any distinct personalities to help them feel human, there’s a lot of weird ADR and dubbing over the already cliched dialogue, Photek’s music is generically on-the-nose, and by the way, the pacing is ludicrous. When the runtime already feels long at an hour and fifty-four minutes and the story still somehow manages to feel rushed on top of that, I think there’s a problem with the film’s structure. 


  
  
  There is honestly a lot about the story that should work but just falls apart due to lack of dedication. Issues of mental and physical deterioration, child trafficking, rich Americans on the border exploiting their Mexican neighbors, any one of these could’ve tied into each other to make for some provocative storytelling but nothing comes of it outside exposition dumps and cliches galore. 


  
  
  The biggest disappointment here though is how they wasted the “unreliable memory of the protagonist" concept on almost nothing at all. It could have been used to create a mystery to misconstrue the events that unfold and what is actually real, but all the story's questions are provided with quick and easy answers, resulting in a very disappointing story with no emotional or intellectual impact. So outside of the story being rushed to high heaven, it can barely be bothered to stick the landing regarding following its own rules.


  
  
  
  What makes this movie so tragic is how it paints the illusion that it might finally subvert that pattern of Neesons previous films only to commit the cardinal sin of doing absolutely nothing with the one interesting premise they have to go back to formula. Safe House with Patrick Stewart had a similar premise to this and yet that was able to go through with its concept and execution more efficiently than this.


  
  Memento did this better.

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