The Commuter (2018) Reviews

• Who is the genius wrote teh screenplay?

  dothancore2018-07-15

  Love Neeson but The Commuter has one of the most ridiculous plots I have ever seen, even for an action film. Nothing make sense, literally, NOTHING: 1) The nemesis, Joanna (played by Farmiga), who is off the train, seem to know every single move MacCauley (played by Neeson) made throughout the entire event, she was always able to call him at the exact moment each critical task was completed, how did she pull it off? No logical explanation is ever given to the audience 2) It's even more ridiculous, when Joanna called MacCauley to witness through the train window, a random passenger Walt (played by Banks), who just got off the train, being shoved in front of a bus, because MacCauley stealthily slipped Walt a note asking him to contact the police. How did Joanna find out? We don't know. How could Joanna time the whole sequence of events so perfectly (sent her accomplice after Walt, anticipate there will be a bus coming, anticipate MacCauley has a straight line of sight to see Walt being pushed on a street at least a block away from the train platform, how does she know Walt will even take that route, ...), we don't know. 3) Train derailed at 70 m/hr., but all windows intact, none of the remaining passengers seemed to have a scratch 4) After the train derailed, none of the passengers seemed too eager to get off the train. And they weren't being held hostage 5) While being surrounded by scores of police + FBI agents, a rogue police officer Murphy (played by Wilson), stepped onto the train, pretending to negotiate for hostage release, but with real intent to kill the witness. Keep in mind, there are at least 10 passengers on the train at the time, and the police seem to be using some sort of heat-signature technology to watch every movement inside the train car. So what is the end game here? Does Murphy intent to commit mass murder to eliminate all passengers, while FBI is watching outside? If not, how does he intend to get away with murder if the rest of passengers just saw him kill the witness? 6) Why the FBI send the witness on the train, instead of picking her up? Won't that put the witness in unnecessary danger? 7) If the rogue and "powerful" organization know exactly where the FBI will pick up the witness (Cold Spring), won't it be easier just send a hitman squad to kill the witness + FBI agents at destination? Why even bother to derail a train and kill everyone on board? Both carry a death sentence anyway How? How? How? How? How? How? How? How?

• Too implausible

  mycannonball2018-10-15

  I wanted to like this. It's cool that Liam Neeson launched an action-hero career later in life, and while I loved him in Taken, it seems like he's mostly picked nonsensical action scripts since then. For example, Non-Stop was far-fetched but if you did a little extra suspension of disbelief (which I did), it turned out to be a pretty good thriller. But this?? This?! This is one of the silliest, most implausible scripts ever written. The entire premise makes zero sense. ALL-SEEING, ALL-KNOWING "Bad Guys" (Well, Vera Farmiga) can make literally anything happen at any time, kill anyone inside or outside the commuter train, and see what's going on inside the commuter train at all times - and yet they can't locate and kill the single witness who's on the train. Thus, they need to pull Liam Neeson's strings to make it happen. The implausible moments pile one on top of the other throughout the film. However, the film does have some very good action sequences, so if you're going into without any concern for story at all, you might have some fun with this one. Mindless action. But come on, Vera Farmiga, I expect much better from YOU!

• Liam Neeson played by Liam Neeson. You've seen it before. But, it's still entertaining.

  MickandRorty2018-01-12

  There are certain actors in Hollywood that are so one-dimensional, but they play that one-dimension spot on. Liam Neeson is one of those guys. Another example is Jason Statham. Their roles are all the same, scripts slightly tweaked, yet the movie passes of as decent-to-good almost every time (except for the Taken sequels, but that isn't on Liam). Bottom line is, it's basically the movie non-stop, but on a commute instead of a plane. Liam Neeson plasy his same old self and plays his usual one-dimensional badass role. He did his job once again. This movie will bring in okay-enough numbers, and we will be presented with Liam Neeson's next challenge in about another year. Same old, decent-enough action movie. 6/10

• Decent Thriller Derailed by Ridiculous Third Act

  fletcherc212018-01-15

  SPOILER: The Commuter delivers what it promises, a Liam Neeson action movie that relies on tension and a little bit of mystery to fill out its runtime. It begins very well with minimal exposition for the set up, using images or short conversations to explain what most movies would carve out five minutes of dialogue for. From there it evolves more like a mystery with an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation searching for someone on the train. As it enters the third act, it goes full action movie with explosions, fight scenes, and massive stakes. While this was to be expected from Jaume Collet-Serra, it undermines what had been a more contained thriller up to that point. It is shot well enough and uses an ensemble cast well, but no one besides Liam Neeson really has too much to do. Vera Farmiga and Jonathan Banks are both talented actors that are really underutilized. All in all, The Commuter is another Liam Neeson action movie that could be best described as "Nonstop on a train."

• Plot problems

  dondutton2018-09-09

  A conspiracy of powerful people needs a witness killed...they have so much power that they kill others just to convince Our Hero that he has to comply with them and finger the witness. What is never explained is why they just couldn't do the job themselves...since they could even cause a train crash on which the witness and Our Hero was riding. If they had just crashed the train, they could have killed all on board and solved their witness problem. Wha's a little collateral damage? Instead, they get Our Hero involved and things go awry. We could see that coming, why couldn't they?