Liam Neeson’s New Action Movie Breaks His Poor Four-Year Rotten Tomatoes Streak

Summary

• Liam Neeson breaks bad streak with 80% rating for
  In the Land of Saints and Sinners
  .
• Neeson plays an ex-assassin seeking redemption in a secluded Irish village with dark secrets.
• Neeson to star in
  The Naked Gun
  reboot, nervous but excited his new comedic role.

Liam Neeson has been a dominant presence in the action genre for almost 20 years, but his latest movie In the Land of Saints and Sinners has finally broken the terrible streak of Rotten Tomatoes reviews from his last eight movie outings.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

3.5/5

Release Date March 29, 2024

Runtime 1hr 46min

Writers Terry Loane , Mark Michael McNally

Studio Facing East Entertainment, RagBag Pictures, London Town Films

Despite reinventing himself as the next action hero in Taken back in 2008, Neeson’s last four years have not been the most impressive in terms of critical reviews. Although audiences have continued to love Neeson’s tough guy persona from movie to movie, his previous efforts have included a Tomatometer low of 11% for 2022’s Backlight (also the lowest of his career) and a high of 44% for 2021’s The Ice Road. However, the Irishman’s latest offering has turned that around with a strong 80% approval rating, making it his first film since 2020 to get a “fresh” rating, and his highest rated movie since 2018’s Ordinary Love.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners sees Neeson playing Michael Devlin, a former assassin who attempts to leave behind his past by moving to a secluded, quiet Irish village. However, it does not take long for a figure from his past to arrive and demands him complete one last assignment before being allowed to go on with his life. Through his dilemma, Devlin discovers that the village itself hides just as many secrets as his own past, making his pursuit of a quiet life even harder to achieve.

Liam Neeson Movies

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

Ordinary Love (2019)

93%

69%

Men in Black International (2019)

23%

66%

Cold Pursuit (2019)

68%

49%

Made In Italy (2020)

43%

39%

Honest Thief (2020)

41%

87%

The Marksman (2021)

38%

83%

The Ice Road (2021)

44%

31%

Blacklight (2022)

11%

82%

Memory (2022)

29%

81%

Marlowe (2022)

26%

37%

Retribution (2023)

29%

66%

In the Land of Saints and Sinners (2024)

80%

TBC

Liam Neeson is Preparing to Swap His Action Persona for a Comedy One

Liam Neeson may have gained a strong fandom through his action movies, but his upcoming project could be a completely new direction for the actor’s future roles. Neeson will take the lead in the reboot of The Naked Gun, with the Love Actually star stepping into the hapless shoes of Leslie Neilsen as the son of Lt. Frank Drebin.

Having been teased for several years, Neeson is set to start filming the comedy in May, with the movie having set a release date of July 28, 2025. Although Neeson is no stranger to comedy roles, having appeared in movies such as A Million Ways to Die in the West, MIB International and, fleetingly, in Ted 2, he recently revealed how nervous he is to get the movie right. He told MovieWeb:

“I’ve done a couple of, like, TV skits with Stephen Colbert and Ricky Gervais, but those were two minutes, three minutes tops. But I’m a bit nervous about Naked Gun, because it’s a feature film… If he tests it well, which I’m sure he will, Akiva Schafer is our writer-director. And there’s lots of funny gags, lots of funny visual gags happening at the same time while ‘serious things’ are being discussed, you know?”

While The Naked Gun is certainly one of Neeson’s most anticipated upcoming projects, he has not turned his back on the action genre just yet, with The Ice Road 2, Cold Storage and The Riker’s Ghost just some of his other upcoming “serious” offerings.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners
is out now.
The Naked Gun
will debut on July 28, 2025.

Related 7 Things All Liam Neeson Action Movies Have in Common Here is why Liam Neeson’s action movies are so appealing to their target audience, even if they are so similar.

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