Before Dutton Ranch, Joaquin Actor Juan Pablo Raba Starred In This Liam Neeson Action Movie

As "Dutton Ranch" kicks off, Juan Pablo Raba's Joaquin Reyes looks to be on a collision course with Kelly Reilly's Beth Dutton and Cole Hauser's Rip Wheeler. When he does run afoul of this neo-Western power couple, it won't be the first time Raba has faced off against ranchers. Back in 2021, he took on Liam Neeson's retired, ranch-dwelling Marine Corp Scout Sniper Jim Hanson in "The Marksman," one of the lesser known entries in the hallowed "Old Man Liam Neeson" action movie canon.

"Dutton Ranch" is the show "Yellowstone" fans have been waiting for. A true sequel series to Taylor Sheridan's wildly popular neo-Western, the series sees Beth and Rip relocate to Texas to start their own ranch. But trouble is never far away from the Duttons, and the Lone Star State presents several new challenges for the couple, most notably in the form of the 10 Petal Ranch. This rival cattle ranching operation is run by Annette Benning's Beulah Jackson, who's able to maintain her iron grip on the business thanks in part to Raba's Joaquin Reyes, her adopted son who essentially acts as the 10 Petal fixer.

This is far from the Colombian actor's first time playing a bad guy who menaces the plains of the Southern United States. In "The Marksman," he played a twisted enforcer for a Mexican cartel, and while that character was an even more violent and imposing figure than Joaquin, he didn't reckon with the likes of Liam Neeson, who even Rip Wheeler himself would surely struggle to overcome.

Juan Pablo Raba has been acting since the 1990s, but his best known role to date remains that of drug trafficker Gustavo Gaviria in "Narcos." Now, he'll become familiar to a whole new generation of "Yellowstone" fans thanks to the "Dutton Ranch" spin-off. But in between those two projects, he had time to face off against Liam Neeson.

"The Marksman" is one of many "Taken" clones, in which Neeson plays some sort of generic badass intent upon living a quiet life only to be pulled into some horrific and dangerous fight for his and his loved ones' lives. In "Marksman," however, his retired Marine Corps Sniper Jim Hanson is fighting for the life of a young charge. After Jacob Perez's Miguel is brought across the Mexican border into the United States by his mother, the pair run into Hanson, who initially tries to report them to the Border Patrol. But when Raba's dangerous Cartel enforcer Mauricio and his goons show up, Hanson is moved to help Miguel and his mother. Sadly, the latter ends up fatally injured, but before she perishes, she makes Hanson promise to deliver her son safely to relatives in Chicago. Cue the cat-and-mouse game between Neeson's grizzled tough man and Raba's sadistic henchman.

It's a pretty by-the-numbers affair that at least managed to earn a few favorable reviews and, in so doing, rose above many of the other "Taken" clones to have starred Neeson. "The Marksman" also set itself apart from other "Old Man Neeson" flicks by aiming for the heart of its viewers (as well as the adrenal glands).

"The Marksman" grossed $23 million at the box office and was produced for exactly the same amount. When you consider marketing and all the other hidden costs of putting out a movie, it's likely nobody profited much off this Liam Neeson actioner. What's more, the Wall Street Journal reported that the film actually cost $30 million, which would make it a bit of a flop. At least a few critics like it, even if "The Marksman" only has a 37% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, it wasn't a complete disaster.

Bilge Ebiri of New York Magazine/Vulture found it to be "mostly serviceable" as "a bare-minimum action flick," while K. Austin Collins of Rolling Stone similarly described what he saw as a "lean, plausibly entertaining" movie with "all the fixin's and none of the extra flab of deep, incisive meaning." Other reviewers were much less kind, all of which just means Neeson's best action movie remains "The Grey."

That said, Juan Pablo Raba was singled out for being "especially over-the-top" by RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire and as "impressively menacing" by The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck. So, if you're watching "Dutton Ranch" and fancy a little more of Raba's bad guy schtick, this might be the film for you. Otherwise, Neeson's 2021 action thriller is perfect for fans of Clint Eastwood's tough guy movies, especially since "The Marksman" was directed by Robert Lorenz, who has collaborated with Eastwood on multiple projects, including "Mystic River" and "American Sniper." Indeed, as Nell Minow of Movie Mom wrote, "This is less the 'Taken'-style action thriller where we get to enjoy Neeson showing off his special skills than it is a Clint Eastwood-style cranky old guy movie."