{"id":6523,"date":"2021-01-16T15:49:06","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T22:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/?p=6523"},"modified":"2021-01-16T16:39:39","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T23:39:39","slug":"the-marksman-a-slower-paced-action-film-starring-liam-neeson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/2021\/the-marksman-a-slower-paced-action-film-starring-liam-neeson\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marksman * A Slower-Paced Action Film Starring Liam Neeson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/TheMarksman.poster.jpg?resize=152%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6524\" width=\"152\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/TheMarksman.poster.jpg?resize=202%2C300&amp;ssl=1 202w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/TheMarksman.poster.jpg?resize=691%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 691w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/TheMarksman.poster.jpg?resize=768%2C1138&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/TheMarksman.poster.jpg?w=1012&amp;ssl=1 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A rancher on the Arizona border becomes the unlikely defender of a young Mexican boy desperately fleeing the cartel assassins who&#8217;ve pursued him into the U.S. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Benjamin P. comments, \u201c<em>The Marksman<\/em> is a slower-paced action film set on the road from Texas to Chicago.<em>&nbsp; <\/em>The filmstars Liam Neeson as Jim, a retiree who\u2019s seen better days. There is a strong action storyline but those expecting a shoot-em-up adrenaline rush may want to look elsewhere.\u201d See his full comments below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Marksman<br>Benjamin P., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 14<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Marksman<\/em> is a slower-paced action film set on the road from Texas to Chicago.<em>&nbsp; <\/em>The filmstars Liam Neeson as Jim, a retiree who\u2019s seen better days. There is a strong action storyline but those expecting a shoot-em-up adrenaline rush may want to look elsewhere. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jim\u2019s wife has passed away, his finances gutted by the cost of her medical bills, and his decaying ranch adjoining the border to Mexico is under threat since he can\u2019t keep up with his rent. Now all he\u2019s got is his loyal canine companion and a few days left with his property. On a drive surveying his land, Jim finds a boy named Miguel and his mother Rosa, crossing the border. Members of a drug cartel are hot on their trail, eager to capture the mother and son. A shootout between Jim and their pursuers occurs and Rosa is mortally wounded. As she passes away, Jim makes a promise to get Miguel to their family in Chicago where he\u2019ll be safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_Y8kyi6Ku88?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Marksman<\/em> is a conundrum as an action movie &#8211; as for action, it\u2019s sparse, save for a few shootouts here and there where Neeson\u2019s character gets a chance to live up to his Marksman moniker. When you hear Liam Neeson and action movie within the same breath, you picture Neeson defiantly doling out revenge to those who have wronged him and the people he cares about, which to some extent is what <em>The Marksman<\/em> becomes.&nbsp; But it plods along its course, steeping you in the everyday life of Neesons\u2019 Jim, before putting into perspective the predicament Miguel faces from the cartel members who killed his mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jim\u2019s encounters with the cartel are only mildly suspenseful. So much of <em>The Marksman<\/em> doesn\u2019t fully develop Miguel and Jim\u2019s dynamic, either. These characters spend so much time together, but, by the end, they only manage to get each other where they need to go, and nothing more. There\u2019s humanity, but there\u2019s no spark to it. I don\u2019t fault the performances, as much as I do a script with not enough meaningful moments for the central pair\u2019s bond to supplant itself deeply in the fabric of the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I give <em>The Marksman<\/em> 2 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 13 to 18 for some mild violence and the killing of a dog. <em>The Marksman<\/em> comes out in theaters on January 15, 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rancher on the Arizona border becomes the unlikely defender of a young Mexican boy desperately fleeing the cartel assassins who&#8217;ve pursued him into the U.S. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Benjamin P. comments, \u201cThe Marksman is a slower-paced action film set on the road from Texas to Chicago.&nbsp; The filmstars Liam Neeson as Jim, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15,1],"tags":[1783,2635,2636,2633,350,2639,2640,2641,1166,2634,2632,2637,2638],"class_list":["post-6523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feature-film-reviews","category-uncategorized","tag-by-kids-for-kids","tag-chris-charles","tag-danny-kravitz","tag-katheryn-winnick","tag-liam-neeson","tag-liam-neeson-interview","tag-liam-neeson-movies","tag-liam-neeson-taken","tag-movie-reviews","tag-robert-lorenz","tag-teresa-ruiz","tag-the-marksman","tag-the-marksman-liam-neeson"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paS5I2-1Hd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6527,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6523\/revisions\/6527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/kidsfirstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}