We’ve had a bomb on a bus. And a bomb on a boat. But a bomb in a car? Groundbreaking. The premise of Liam Neeson‘s latest action thriller movie certainly seems familiar – but it’s not Speed 3, it’s called Retribution.
The trailer for the new movie features Neeson’s father Matt driving with his kids before the school run gets rudely interrupted by a phone call. A distorted voice tells him “there is a bomb under your seat.” A random car nearby explodes, convincing him that the situation is real. The bomb is wired with pressure triggers, meaning they can’t get out of the car.
Matt is then forced to shoot his best friend, played by Matthew Modine, but before he can pluck up the courage – that car explodes too. The authorities seem to believe that Matt is the bomber, rather than his victim. It seems as though he’s lost a lot of money for clients who have invested in him, and therefore business stresses could be behind whatever is going on. And if the authorities won’t track down the real bomber, it looks as though our man Neeson is gonna have to do it.
Neeson says a version of a line we’ve been hearing him say since the first Taken movie back in 2008; “You hurt my daughter, you son of a bitch, I will kill you!” So, it looks as though Neeson has found a movie that perfectly dovetails Taken with Speed – kudos.
Just a word of warning to Neeson, though. While everyone agrees that the first Speed is a seminal action movie classic that is up there with Point Break and The Matrix in the classic Keanu Reeves canon, Speed 2 was an unmitigated disaster. You can find out which of the two Retribution is closer to, when it releases on August 25.
Until then, check out our guide to the best spy movies.