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Bruce Hall: I have to agree with the hypothesis that with Neeson's signature franchise (Taken) having fallen on hard times, and his having produced a glut of Old Man Rambo films lately, audiences might be a little short on goodwill. I suppose it doesn't help that Run All Night sports an R rating and a $50 million budget; when the overall effort is as pedestrian as this, that doesn't leave much room for error. And while one might level similar accusations against A Walk Among the Tombstones, that film was more modestly budgeted and considerably better reviewed. Audiences do tend to enjoy "more of the same", so sticking to a formula is one thing. But you can take it too far, and it's possible that some diversification is in order for Mr. Neeson.

It sounds strange to have to say about an actor of his stature, but it might be time to lay low for a bit, and perhaps take on a prestige role in an independent film, if only to remind us all why Liam Neeson became a household name in the first place.

Then he can go back to posing with guns on movie posters.

Max Braden: It's not the result you want to see given Neeson's successes with similar movies, and it does appear he's created a glut that has reduced the value of the old-guy-kicking-ass genre, though Taken featured an old guy beating up younger guys to save his even younger daughter. An old guy taking down an old guy to save his adult son isn't going to be the same draw no matter who stars - A Good Day to Die Hard suffered for it too. I think Neeson could return to the type of supporting character/villain that helped spawn the Taken series in the first place: Ducard from Batman Begins. I think he'd do well as a corporate baddy. Or he could take a cue from De Niro, who after cultivating a mob image turned it on its head and played it for comedy in Analyze That. But from Run All Night, if I were a producer I'd certainly be wary of funding another aging action hero flick right away. It'll be interesting to compare results for Sean Penn's The Gunman this coming weekend.

Michael Lynderey: It's really too bad Run All Night didn't do better, because it's easily up there with The Grey as the best two of Liam Neeson's action movie star run. If only it had been released a year ago or so, before A Walk Among the Tombstones, a good film that is nevertheless difficult to watch and not particularly commercial, and Taken 3, which probably saturated most people's interest in Neeson films for some time. By the way, I don't see what "aging" action hero has to do with anything. How many consistently reliable action heroes are out there right now of any age? None come to mind other than The Rock and Neeson (we can debate some of the Marvel guys and Jennifer Lawrence, while Jason Statham's box office ceiling has been far below the Neeson average).

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