Run All Night (2015)

Plot summary (story synopsis): Jimmy Conlon (Liam Neeson) is a drunk has-been mob killer who is estranged from his son Mike (Joel Kinnaman). Mob boss Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris) is Jimmy's boss and childhood friend.

Shawn's no-good son Danny (Boyd Holbrook) gets into trouble and Mike witnesses him killing a man. Danny tries to kill Mike, and Jimmy kills Danny to protect his son.

Shawn swears revenge on Jimmy and Mike. He sets his whole gang on them, including ace hired gun Price (rapper Common), and frames them for multiple murders. The entire New York police force is now after them, including Jimmy's old nemesis, detective Harding (Vincent D'Onofrio, looking more and more like Brian Dennehy).

***

Run All Night is a mix of Road to Perdition, John Wick, and 16 Blocks (underrated Bruce Willis movie). However it's an old-fashioned, macho crime thriller that lacks the stylishness of John Wick or the quotable quotes of Taken.

Story-telling is conventional and effective. You get the character build-ups and arcs (Jimmy begs Danny for money at the start of the movie), with interlocking plot points (for example - the crooked cops are nicely foreshadowed at the start) all neatly tied-up in the end (Jimmy's confession list of his past kills, Mike keeping out of his father's world).

This makes for an engrossing but not enthralling experience. It's no blockbuster but it's certainly worth your time. It doesn't break any new ground (the characters are cliches) but its basics are good. It's as much a character movie as it is an action movie. Jimmy's relationships with Shawn and with his son are believable and don't degenerate into melodrama.

Ed Harris is, as expected, solid as the kind friend and honorable mob boss but vengeful father. Liam Neeson is just as good as the washed-up-and-underestimated-but-still-tough killer with a conscience. Liam Neeson is probably one of today's premier movie tough guys, surpassing even Bruce Willis. Run All Night will add to, but not greatly enhance, his studly superstar image.

On a technical note I found the image quality to be poor. The shadow detail was murky, which is annoying considering that most of the movie takes place at night. Guys, it's 2015. You have no excuse for this.

Ridley Scott fans will want to look out for Bruce McGill as Pat Mullen, Shawn's right-hand man.

Tracers (2015)

Plot summary (story synopsis): New York bicycle messenger Cam (Taylor Lautner - Jacob in the Twilight Saga) can't pay back his loan from Chinese gangsters. He bumps into pretty young parkour exponent Nikki (Marie Avgeropoulos) and is attracted to her, and to parkour.

He pursues her and is eventually accepted into her parkour gang which includes her brother Dylan (Rafi Gavron) and their adult leader Miller (Adam Rayner). Desperate for money, he joins the gang in various criminal activities, who make use of their parkour skills to enter buildings and escape.

The gang's crimes escalate to armed robbery, and Cam finds himself in over his head.

***

Tracers is an entertaining action-adventure/romance that will please Team Jacob fans. The plot is serviceable and the acting is good, with believable chemistry between Lautner and Avgeropoulos. Rayner is almost as fun to watch as the ruthless gang leader.

However the main reason to watch would be the parkour. Tracers gets it right. The parkour (sometimes computer enhanced) looks believable and thrilling. The gang runs across rooftops, leap cars and jump between buildings. Good use is made of the seedier side of New York City - abandoned ships and buildings, alleyways.

The action is beautifully covered by cinematographer Nelson Cragg's (he worked on the Claire Danes TV series Homeland) moving camera. The color grading is less impressive, looking like cheap video. Probably a deliberate artistic choice, but one that I did not enjoy.

Tracers is a solid movie from director Daniel Benmayor and writers Leslie Bohem, Matt Johnson, Kevin Lund and T.J. Scott. It's like a better version of the first Fast and Furious movie, and with parkour!