Four years before his comedic return in The Naked Gun, Liam Neeson quietly broke his two action movie roles. Once known for dramatic and historical roles in films like Schindler’s List and Michael Collins, Liam Neeson suddenly became Hollywood’s go-to figure for gritty, late-career action thrillers. Neeson’s commanding presence allowed him to bring gravitas to high-octane action flicks.

After the mᴀssive success of Taken and its sequels, Liam Neeson built a well-defined brand of action movie roles. Audiences came to expect a specific type of revenge film from Neeson, which led to several similar entries. In 2025, Neeson’s filmography took a new turn with his starring role in The Naked Gun. However, he had already taken a different creative detour only four years earlier.

Liam Neeson’s Action Movies Tend To Follow One Of Two Rules

Liam Neeson’s characters are often driven by vengeance. Taken famously popularized Neeson’s template, with Neeson’s Bryan Mills tearing through Europe to rescue his kidnapped daughter. Unknown puts Dr. Martin Harris against those who stole his idenтιтy, while Cold Pursuit sees Nels Coxman hunting down the criminals responsible for his son’s death. In Honest Thief, Tom Dolan is betrayed by corrupt FBI agents after trying to turn himself in.

Besides revenge, Liam Neeson’s action movies often revolve around vehicles as central settings or plot devices. Non-Stop traps Bill Marks on a transatlantic flight where he has to uncover a terrorist, The Commuter turns a daily train ride into a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly conspiracy, and The Grey forces Ottway’s survival skills against wolves after a plane crash in Alaska. In each of these, the vehicle is integral to the story.

A few Liam Neeson films combine both rules. In Non-Stop, Neeson’s air marshal Bill Marks is not only confined to a moving plane but also wronged by terrorists who frame him for its hijacking. Likewise, The Commuter ties Michael MacCauley’s commuter-train entrapment to a personal moral wrong, as he’s blackmailed into targeting a fellow pᴀssenger.

The Marksman Is A Nice Change Of Pace For Liam Neeson’s Action Movies

The Marksman deliberately breaks the two rules that have defined so many of Liam Neeson’s action movies. Instead of a vengeful hero tearing through enemies or a plot centered around planes, trains, or cars, Robert Lorenz’s 2021 The Marksman takes a slower, more suspense-driven approach. The Marksman follows retired Marine Jim Hanson, who becomes the reluctant protector of a young Mexican boy fleeing from a cartel.

The Marksman‘s plot is by no means groundbreaking. However, it highlights just how similar Neeson’s past films have been. Liam Neeson has the potential to branch out into other types of plot, not only comedic like Neeson’s The Naked Gun sequel, but also in genres like slow-burn psychological or political thrillers, or dramas that retain action elements.