Director Robert Lorenz
Starring Liam Neeson, Juan Pablo Raba & Jacob Perez
Rated M
Score 3.5/6

A rancher on the Arizona border becomes the unlikely defender of a young Mexican boy desperately fleeing the cartel assassins who have pursued him into the U.S.

This is probably not going to be one of Liam Neeson’s more popular action (compared to other action movies that Neeson has done this is not very violent) movies and perhaps The Marksman does not desperately need to be seen on a big cinema there are some stunning shots of the area surrounding Neeson’s character Jim’s ranch early in the movie. I am a fan of the cowboy old-west western though as we all know they do not seem to be frequently finding their way to the cinema so its good to get the chance to see a more modern western being released.
Juan Pablo Raba had a great menacing look as Mauricio but I couldn’t help but feel that his character was a little one dimensional and there needed to be an external pressing down on him. I kind of enjoyed Jacob Perez’s performance as Miguel who was acting in his first feature length movie, it will be interesting to see him in future movie roles.
Apparently, The Marksman is only the second movie director Robert Lorenz has directed, Lorenz is mostly known for his work on Clint Eastwood movies such as Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River. I would have to agree with some of the reviews that I have read for The Marksman and say that yes this is cliched movie, but it did not make the movie a chore to watch. The final shootout did go in a direction I was not expecting. Overall, The Marksman did not make a huge effort to challenge its audience’s sensibilities. It is about doing the right thing because it is the right thing do.