This Liam Neeson Action Thriller On Hulu Is A Must-Watch For Taken Fans

Back in 2008, Liam Neeson pivoted into unlikely action movie stardom with "Taken," and ever since it seems as though he's been suspended in a kind of sisyphean purgatory wherein he has to star in the same movie over and over again. Repeatedly pushing that particular boulder up a hill has produced mixed results, but a recent Neeson actioner that's currently taking over Hulu is actually one of the better examples. 

Ever since he was reintroduced to audiences as a man with "a very particular set of skills," Neeson has fronted "Taken" clone after "Taken" clone, and some of them have actually been alright. Films like "Unknown," "Non-Stop," "The Commuter," and "Cold Pursuit" were never going to be complete duds as long as Neeson was handing out his specific brand of dad-centric ass kickery. These "old man Liam Neeson action films" as they've become known, certainly aren't without their charms and in the case of 2012's "The Grey" and 2023's "In the Land of Saints and Sinners" are actually quite good.

If you scroll through Neeson's Rotten Tomatoes page, there's a marked break between his "Fresh" and "Rotten" projects, whereby 1996's "Michael Collins" and its 78% critic score sits just above 2024's "Absolution" and its 55% critic score. Believe it or not, that's only 5% less than the movie that started it all: "Taken" (which for some reason isn't included on the man's RT filmography). A similar RT score in't the only things these two movies have in common, as fans of Neeson's 2008 action transformation are sure to get something out of "Absolution."

"Absolution" is a 2024 action thriller from Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland, who previously worked with Liam Neeson on 2019's "Cold Pursuit." The latter was a deceptive entry in the "old man Neeson" canon, in which the Irish star wanted revenge but wasn't above engaging in a bit of playfulness and comedy here and there. The film was a remake of Moland's own "In Order of Disappearance" and was marketed as a by-the-numbers Neeson action thriller even though it had a lot more going on under the hood.

Moland and Neeson's 2024 collaboration similarly aims to be more than your standard tough guy Neeson outing, with some emotional depth that, depending on which critic you listen to, either worked well enough or failed completely. But one thing is for sure: If you liked "Taken" you'll probably like "Absolution," which uses that classic action movie setup of a badass dude just trying to live a quiet life on the straight and narrow before being forced to embrace his long-dormant ways and beat up a bunch of bad guys. This time, though, Neeson sort of is one of the bad guys.

In "Taken," the actor played a CIA agent who embarked on his violent rampage to save his own daughter from sex traffickers. In "Absolution," he's a retired mobster who, after being diagnosed with CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head), has to fight his way out of the criminal underworld in order to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Daisy (Frankie Shaw). He even manages to save some sex-trafficking victims along the way. Between the violence that ensues, there's an obvious attempt to explore Neeson's character, known only as "Thug," and his own attempt to reckon with his violent past. If that sounds like the kind of thing you might enjoy, then the movie is available on Hulu where it's recently been dominating the charts, proving the appetite for Neeson-led action thrillers can never truly be satiated.

"Absolution" debuted in theaters back in November 2024 and made $4.2 million. There's no budget information available, but this one seemed destined to perform best on video-on-demand services and streaming, and its Hulu success has proved as much. There are certainly far worse "old man Liam Neeson" movies out there, and "Absolution" looks to actually be one of the better selections from the man's late-career offerings — at least according to the Rotten Tomatoes score. That is to say that 55% is one of the better scores for these types of Neeson films, though it was hardly acclaimed.

Critical responses. Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times ostensibly gave the movie a negative review but she did praise Neeson's scenes with Frankie Shaw. For Catsoulis, Neeson and Shaw "have a touching authenticity" which supplements the action with something of substance — though the reviewer also noted that "the problem with movies about declining antiheroes is that their arcs can only bend in one direction." David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter thought the movie was "gripping" even if "Tony Gayton's screenplay doesn't always avoid cliché and contrivance." Otherwise critics were mostly unimpressed, with Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com describing "Absolution" as an "overlong and dramatically undernourished work that tries for a little bit to be more than just a run-of-the-mill Neeson action extravaganza before eventually becoming just that."

Still, while it might not be one of the best Liam Neeson films it's clearly a bit better than some of the straightforward actioners the Irish star has fronted in recent years. If anything, "Absolution" might make for a nice watch before Neeson stars in the upcoming "Naked Gun" reboot, in which he's set to poke fun at his action persona for the entire runtime.