Even when drunk, Liam Neeson can and will kick your ass. From the director that brought you serviceable action-thrillers that also starred Schindler such as Non-Stop and Unknown comes Run All Night, a quasi-routine but highly entertaining action flick.

Neeson plays Jimmy, a washed-up mob hit man who used to work for a dude named Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), but who now spends most of his time getting drunk. But when his estranged son Mike (Joel Kinnaman) witnesses a murder, Jimmy puts the booze to rest and kills Shawn’s son to save his own—triggering a massive battle that rages through the city.

Battles are cool.

Neeson is about what you’d expect, and what you should expect is he plays a pretty straightforward badass like most of the other badasses he has played in recent years who will do whatever it takes to protect his family. More importantly, of the three collaborations he has done with the actor, Run All Night is easily director Jaume Collet-Serra’s most complete film.

The movie is fast paced, fun and entertaining, with a fair amount of old school car chases, shootouts and fistfights. Nothing in the movie is groundbreaking, but Run All Night has all the necessary elements to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Like with Collet-Serra’s other movies, Run All Night begins to wear down under its own weight as the ending approaches, but the movie by no means goes off the rails the way Non-Stop did. The insertion of a high-tech, seemingly superhuman assassin into the story seems out of place, and Collet-Serra could have stopped the movie 15 minutes earlier and no one would have had a problem with it. But as is, the ending still works. Unnecessary, but it works.

Run All Night is entertaining as hell and a good, old-fashioned action film. It isn’t without its flaws, but the movie is a lot of fun.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.