Review: 'Memory' (2022) Dir. Martin Campbell

Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Taj Atwal, Ray Fearon, Ray Stevenson, Louis Mandylor and Natalie Anderson

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Take a James Bond director who saved the franchise in the 90s and 00s, with a leading action man who has just turned 70, and you have a strong mix for a gritty action thriller...

Hitman Alex (Neeson) has paved a career on successful contracts of top hits. When his latest contract turns out to be a young girl, he refuses and breaks contract. The girl is the survivor and witness of a suspected trafficking operation and needs to be silenced.

With Alex now a liability, someone else is taking on the work and doing his job for him. Detective Vincent Serra (Pearce) and Linda Amistead (Atwal) are tasked with finding Alex, the man responsible for the previous hits all leading to the girl.

As evidence mounts up to paint a picture of corruption and power pulling dangerous strings, Alex must also battle the onset of Alzheimer's disease that affects his memory and slowly eats away him, putting his fight to clear his name and identify the ones responsible at risk...

James Bond veteran Martin Campbell has a decent list of action / thrillers to his name, and now he unites with Liam Neeson for Memory, a slow burner that addresses a number of factors including trafficking, corruption and mental health, all in world of ruthless hitmen and corruption. Campbell always tries to add some meat to his bones in the action genre, making sure the characters are not flat and there is something that can be reflected in their story. While this doesn't brim with overt excitement or thrills, it's entertaining thanks to Neeson.

Neeson goes for another action thriller role that starts to reflect his status as an older action star, in the same guise as Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro and even Sylvester Stallone. While all very different in their genre, Neeson is often the everyday man facing extraordinary situations. As hitman Alex who suffers early stages of Alzheimer's that now affects his memory and motor skills. Of course, as a hitman that's not what you want to suffer from, and so Neeson makes sure to show a more fragile, frailer side to a role that, ten years ago, would have been ignored in favour of "saving the day" with ease.

This marks the first real time Neeson starts to embrace his age, now turned 70, and looks at factors that can affect the elder generation, but still able to kill and break bones when needed.

It's another challenge that Neeson embraces, and while this isn't his usual action heavy role, in favour of the health complications, he gets to do a welcome bit of acting and showcase a more humane side to his character. Alex suffers mental and physical pain, with numerous battles with his own psychological demons. That's not to say he still can't deliver with a stern face and two bullets from his silenced pistol. He good at what he does with his specific set of skills, and Neeson certainly dishes out the kills with his inimitable style.

The supporting cast make up a who's who of former TV stars including 'Neighbours' legend Guy Pearce as a detective who seems like he belongs on a ranch with strong moustache, 'Line Of Duty' cop Taj Atwal, 'Coronation Street' vets Lee Boardman and Ray Fearon as a hitman and special agent respectively and 'Emmerdale' siren Natalie Anderson as a mob wife. Campbell clearly has an eye for home-grown talent and they slip into their roles seamlessly with either Mexican or American twanged accents.

Pearce's cop Vincent is the main man leading the hunt for their killer, and he manages to cut the worn and weary cop fed up of seeing injustice and power dictate the law more than honest policing. And this is a story full of what power and money can do, and what strings they pull. Yet with Pearce playing by the book, it's Neeson who can go beyond that and make the choices no lawman can with his silence pistol and eye for a kill. The line of morality plays between the two, both on the same side but at very different points within the law.

It's nice to see Monica Bellucci and Ray Stevenson in more darker roles going up against Neeson, making it clear that crime can certainly pay if you have the power and the position to make it happen.

At times the pacing does dip as the complexity of who is involved with who and why needs to be laid out to make sense. The action is light but the crime element is strong. It's generic with good cops and bad cops, twists and turns, but its entertaining enough for fans of both director and lead star if you don't go in expecting anything fast and frantic.

Not the usual Liam Neeson shoot-em-up, but one that lets him do some decent acting along with a few kills to tick the boxes. A good cast keep this slow-paced story going, but it's not one that will linger in your...memory.

'Memory' is a co-production between Black Bear Pictures, Welle Entertainment and Saville Productions