‘The Mongoose’ Review: Propulsive Pacing and Impressive Stunt Work Help Make This an Above-Average Liam Neeson Actioner

The sort of B-movie actioner that would have wowed them on the summer drive-in circuit in the ‘70s, The Mongoose wears its influences heavily on its sleeve. Throw in some Sugarland Express, a dash of Vanishing Point and some Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, and you have the recipe for this Liam Neeson thriller in which he’s the pursued rather than the pursuer. Mainly notable for its high-octane car chases and terrific stunt work, the film should, like most of Neeson’s recent efforts, find its biggest audiences on streaming and cable.

That the stunt work is excellent should be no surprise since the film marks the directorial debut of veteran stunt man/stunt coordinator Mark Vanselow, who has worked with Neeson on no less than 30 films and has been his stunt double for decades.

The Mongoose

The Bottom Line Speeds along mindlessly.

Release date: Friday, October 30
Cast: Liam Neeson, Marisa Tomei, Ving Rhames, Marcus Thomas, Maurice Marvel Meredith, Michael Chiklis, Ryan Morgan
Director: Mark Vaneslow
Screenwriter: Thompson Evans
Rated R, 1 hour 38 minutes

The rudimentary storyline revolves around Ryan “Fang” Flanagan (Neeson), a former Special Forces soldier and decorated war hero who suffers from PTSD caused by his lingering guilt over having failed to prevent the death of his comrade Wiz (Ryan Morgan) at the hands of the Taliban during their service in Afghanistan. He and his war buddies Munch (Marcus Thomas) and Tanker (Ving Rhames) have an annual dinner on the anniversary of Wiz’s death, with a meal set aside for their fallen comrade.

Fang’s inability to let go of his past has caused the end of his marriage to Tara (Marisa Tomei), with whom he still has a close bond. When she turns to him after she lands in the hospital after a beating from her new boyfriend Todd (Brett Tucker), he volunteers to retrieve her belongings from Todd’s house, promising that there will be no violence.

But it wouldn’t be a Liam Neeson film without violence. Todd shows up unexpectedly, an altercation ensues, and Todd winds up dead. Knowing that he’ll be blamed despite it being self-defense, Fang takes it on the run in Todd’s vintage Shelby Cobra Super Snake since his own car’s tires have been slashed.

Cue the ensuing high-speed pursuit through various Southern locales (doubled by Australia) as Fang heads for the Mexican border while being pursued by various authorities — including a sympathetic Arkansas Highway Patrol leader (Maurice Marvel Meredith) and the maniacal Major Walter Pope (Michael Chiklis) of the Texas Highway Patrol, who seems determined not only to capture Fang but to use deadly force in the process.

But Fang has plenty of help along the way. Instead of Vanishing Point’s radio DJ played by Cleavon Little, he has Helene, his souped-up car’s “digital automated concierge” (charmingly voiced by Stella Stocker), who makes Anthropic’s Claude seem like a dullard. Fang also gets assistance from Munch and Tanker, who are tracking him in a “borrowed” helicopter, and an assortment of war veterans who don’t seem to mind performing illegal acts to help a fellow soldier.

“We might have been in different wars,” one of them tells Fang after performing a quick paint job on his very visible car. “We’re still brothers.”

It’s all about as silly as it sounds, not helped by the frequent awkward war flashbacks featuring Neeson with a beard and bad dye job. The 74-year-old actor, no doubt relieved to be seated for the bulk of the film, does his usual intense work, his sonorous voice adding extra weight to such declarations as “I will never be captured again!” Chiklis, spending most of his screen time glowering at screens while loudly fulminating, fares less well, saddled with such lines of dialogue as “We’re gonna lock up that border tighter than my stepson’s search history!”

Also on hand is CNN’s Laura Coates — yet another journalist/pundit willing to sacrifice her credibility for the chance to be in the movies — who chronicles the vehicular manhunt as if it were O.J. in the white Bronco.

Nonetheless, The Mongoose is nothing if not propulsive, its 98 minutes enlivened by numerous well-staged car chases and some great stunt sequences, including a corker near the end involving Fang trying to transfer to a helicopter from a speeding car. Relying heavily on real-life stunt work rather than special effects, director Vanselow demonstrates that Neeson’s trust in his skills is well-placed.