Directed by: Nimrod Antal
Starring: Liam Neeson, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Modine, Noma Dumezweni, Jack Champion, Lily Aspell
Spoiler alert: Liam Neeson's character does not invoke his usual special set of skills in Retribution, a decent thriller undone by an ending which defies logic on the part of the villain. Neeson spends the majority of the movie behind the wheel of his car because there is a bomb underneath his seat which will trigger if he or his children tries to leave the vehicle. It's like Speed, except Neeson's Matt Turner, a Berlin-based investment banker, doesn't have to maintain above 50 miles per hour.
Matt has family issues as Retribution begins: His workaholic nature has caused his wife (Davidtz) to seek a divorce, while his children Zach (Champion) and Emily (Aspell) fight with each other and disrespect their dad. Matt agrees to take his children to school and soon discovers a mysterious burner phone, which belongs to neither his wife nor kids, in the car ringing. If Matt never picked up the call, we would have no movie, so he answers the mystery phone. A computer-disguised voice on the other end informs him of the bomb under the driver's seat which was triggered when Matt sat down. Any attempts by Matt or his children to get out of the car will result in the bomb detonating.
It turns out some of Matt's partners in the investment firm were killed in car bombs earlier in the day, and only Matt and his boss and best friend Anders (Modine) remain alive, although Anders soon bites the dust in an explosion in which Matt is framed as the bomber. The bomber wants the money hidden in a slush fund from a Dubai account which the virtuous Matt believes is slated as insurance for investors who might go broke if the firm goes belly-up. Instead it is really meant as a golden parachute for the partners, unbeknownst to Matt. No matter, the bomber wants all of it: 208 million Euros, which equates to $224 million.
On Matt's heels is Interpol, which suspects Matt may be responsible for the bombings, Berlin police, and any other authorities you can think of. I won't go too far into the plot to avoid any further spoilers, except to say the final twenty minutes only occurs so we can find out the identity of the bomber. I can't imagine that person would agree to meet Matt face-to-face. I also can't believe the person, who orchestrated all of these bombings, couldn't arrange it so he wouldn't need Matt to authorize a transfer of the money in the fund. However, I suppose Retribution plays by the rules so we would find out who the bomber is and Matt could gain revenge on him.
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