In first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, countless migrant workers have to squeeze the subway to commute to work every day, and on the other side of the ocean in New York, there are still countless people who cannot travel by car and have to choose commuter trains as a means of transportation.
Commuter train passengers are basically low- and middle-income, but that's not to say that criminals won't beat them up. And the more dangerous the time, the more often the brilliance of human nature can be displayed. The upcoming action suspense movie "Commuter Rescue", which will be released on March 30, tells the story of a civilian hero who stands up and bravely uncovers the truth of crime.
This is the fourth collaboration between Spanish ghost director Zomi Sheila and Hollywood superstar Liam Neeson, and it is also the rescue scene staged by Uncle Liam again after "Air Rescue".
Most of the film takes place on a commuter train on the outskirts of New York. Ordinary clerk Michael Macaulay (Liam Neeson) suffers a midlife career crisis and is struggling to tell his wife and children the truth. When money is most needed, the mysterious female passenger Joanna (Vera Famiga) offers him the opportunity to make easy money: just find a passenger named Prine and get a huge sum of money in return.
In the past decade, Macaulay has only been able to travel in commuter cars to and from home and work, and has even become friends with many passengers. Eager to get an income, he seems to have no reason and confidence to refuse this opportunity. However, once he accepted this task, Macaulay found that not only was the money not easy to make, but the safety of himself and his loved ones was placed in an extremely dangerous situation, and even the entire train could face disaster...
Zomi Shira has a very personal style of action suspense, which is known as the "Hitchcock descendants". Works such as "Unidentified" and "Air Rescue" fully prove this. In "Commuter Rescue", he applied the logical deduction of stripping away the cocoon to the extreme, and built a tight system of interlocking links without showing his face. Until the last moment, it is difficult to guess the real motives of the criminals; we cannot predict the final direction of the plot until the end of the film; we cannot completely relax until the end credits appear.
Who exactly is Prine and why did the criminals find this person? What mysterious power is behind them? Why is it necessary to use Macaulay for your purpose? Why is his every move like being watched? And how will the protagonist accomplish his mission and ensure the safety of train passengers? All kinds of questions attract the audience all the way forward, completely immersed in the full plot tension of the film.
Compared with Chinese directors who are keen to praise the beautiful life of successful white-collar workers, Sheila has more understanding and sympathy for the people at the bottom, and he does not hide his critical consciousness of the superficially prosperous American business society, and the mystery of the truth that is finally unveiled is naturally extremely lamentable; the sense of justice displayed by ordinary passengers in the carriage is undoubtedly very admirable.
Of course, the most memorable and touching thing in the film is the protagonist Macaulay played by Uncle Liam, a man who is close to retirement but is dismissed and cannot be confessed to his wife and children, when an opportunity that seems to make easy money comes, of course, he will not let go easily. But when he fell into the trap, once fell deeper and deeper, and saw that the situation was about to get out of control, the courage, conscience and courage in his heart were fully stimulated, and he was allowed to complete the impossible tasks again and again.
The repeated threats of criminals cannot change his determination to rescue the passengers in the same car; the unexpected killer does not make him bow his head and concede defeat; even in an environment where his life is on the line, he can still keep his head calm; even when the mountains and rivers are exhausted, he can still make his own resistance. He not only has courage and perseverance, but also emotional intelligence and wisdom. Such a civilian hero is undoubtedly more grounded than those superheroes who are godlike, and is more appreciated by American and global audiences.
"Commuter Rescue" wins with the plot, focusing on ambushing the whole process in the enclosed space, rather than from the beginning to the end. But several action scenes are also clean and neat, fist to flesh, so that the audience can watch quite enjoyable. Uncle Liam, 66 years old, is still in good shape, still has the style of the filming period of "Hurricane Rescue" ten years ago. The sharp editing and the right soundtrack more effectively set off the tension and add to the attractiveness of the film.
In Schindler's List, Oscar Schindler, played by Liam Neeson, used his efforts and wisdom to rescue more than 1,200 Jews. But what he probably did not expect was that the second half of his life would be inextricably linked to "rescue". The "Hurricane Rescue" trilogy and "Air Rescue" have made him countless fans, and the brain-burning upgrade of "Commuter Rescue" will naturally make Uncle Liam's image of "the strongest rescuer on the surface" more deeply rooted in people's hearts.