Retribution (2023)
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- Filed Under: 2023, 202308, 2023WK34, car, drama, economics, family, german language, germany, interpol, liam neeson, lionsgate, money, retribution, studiocanal, thriller, wealth
The Story
Matt Turner is a hedge manager living in Germany who can talk his clients off the cliff’s edge with ease. His hedge fund is losing clients money, but he seems to still be living the life. One morning as he is bringing his teenaged kids to school, a mysterious phone starts ringing from the console. On the other end is an unknown caller with a voice changing device who tells Matt that there’s a bomb under his seat and he’s ready to detonate the device if Matt doesn’t follow his every command. What follows is Matt trying to keep his kids safe as he races around the city doing as he’s told — until he has to take matters into his own hands.
The Deets
Rating:
Concerns:
Runtime: 1h 30m
Genre: Action, Mystery & thriller
Original Language: English, with German
Release Date (US Theaters): August 25, 2023 Wide
Main Cast
Liam Neeson as Matt Turner
Noma Dumezweni
Lilly Aspell
Jack Champion
Embeth Davidtz
Matthew Modine
Arian Moayed
Production & Crew
Distributor: Lionsgate / Roadside Attractions
Production Co: Atresmedia Cine, Télé Monté Carlo (TMC), Cine+, Vaca Films, TF1, Kismet Media, StudioCanal, Ombra Films, Canal+, TF1 Films Production, Talent One, The Picture Company, Studio Babelsberg
Director(s): Nimród Antal
Producer(s): Jaume Collet-Serra, Shanna Eddy, Alex Heineman, Andrew Rona, Juan Solá
Writer(s): Christopher Salmanpour, Andrew Baldwin
Cinematography: Flavio Martínez Labiano
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams
Editor: Steve Mirkovich
Hair/Makeup Lead: Anett Weber
Costumes: Mona May
Initial Thoughts
This movie was shown as the Monday Mystery Movie at Regal on August 15, 2023, just days before its official release date. What did we think? Hm. First and foremost, I’m so happy that a StudioCanal movie will be getting a wide release. This is likely because Lionsgate picked it up, but hey, an indie production going wide is fantastic news. I’m just afraid this is going to backfire, because Retribution really isn’t a great movie. The movie is set in Germany, but they shot it in a way that it could have been set anywhere. Give us Germany. Give us something cultural. Basically, Liam drives around a boring city for an hour and a half talking into a phone hoping that his car doesn’t blow up. Without giving spoilers, I figured out the bad guy quickly and even called Liam’s final act. The movie ended so quickly, so unsatisfyingly. Themes revolved around truth, lies, and consequences, and the story included elements that reflected current political hot topics like fascism, capitalism, wealth, and greed. Honestly, if I were watching this at home, I probably would have turned it off after about 20 minutes, but since we were in a theater, I stuck it out. And it wasn’t that bad. Just meh. Liam Neeson fans need to see this movie quickly because I don’t see it at theaters for longer than a week. But FFS, go watch it yourself! JW 8/15/2023