Liam Neeson is a beloved actor who has starred in a wide variety of films, from critically acclaimed dramas like Schindler’s List to blockbuster action movies such as Taken. While many of his action thrillers have taken on that “haven’t we seen this all before” feeling, the actor never disappoints, winning admiration as a family man or veteran operative with a plan – maybe that’s why he was cast as Hannibal in The A-Team.

Now at the age of 71, Neeson is still headlining action thriller vehicles… quite literally in Retribution, which finds him trying to figure his way out of a deadly situation involving his family and a car bomb. Blending the worlds of Speed and Taken, it’s a good time to look back at the actor’s ongoing and celebrated action movie career.

Taken (2009)

Taken is the film that launched Neeson’s action career, a formula that has been revisited numerous times over the last 14 years with two sequels in Taken 2 and Taken 3. Neeson plays Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent who’s forced to use his “very particular set of skills” to rescue his daughter from a group of human traffickers in Paris. A critical and commercial success, Taken captured an untapped (or forgotten) genre made famous by Charles Bronson… the latter day vigilante. Yet to be bettered, Taken serves as the actor’s lightning-in-a-bottle and breakthrough that since inspired a number of similar moves from the likes of Sean Penn and Brad Pitt.

Non-Stop (2014)

Non-Stop is an entertaining edge-of-your-seat airborne mystery thriller, which prompted an enjoyable train “clone” in The Commuter. One of his best action performances, Neeson plays air marshall, Bill Marks, who goes undercover in order to stop a terrorist attack aboard a plane. While deceptively simple, this is a pulsating actioner that cleverly uses its in-flight space to create a see-sawing thriller where everyone’s a suspect. A driving, taut and ever-evolving scenario that escalates along with the stakes, Non-Stop is arguably Neeson’s best outing since Taken.

Run All Night (2015)

Mobster and hitman Jimmy Conlon has one night to decide where his loyalties lie. Starring Liam Neeson, Ed Harris and Joel Kinnamon, it’s unusual for a Neeson action vehicle to lean on other name stars. While it sounds like a Lionel Richie song, this mobster man-on-the-thriller deserves to be taken Harvey Keitel seriously. The third film collaboration with Jaume Collet-Serra after Unknown and Non-Stop, rich performances, broader genre play and nuanced characterisation add greater depth to this thriller. Wry comedy and a sense of the unexpected enhance this emotionally resonant and exciting cops and mobsters film. On the surface it’s a sharp man-on-the-run action thriller yet this slick balancing act is refreshed and enhanced by its multi-generational crime drama.

There are no signs of Liam Neeson slowing down in his later years. Dedicated to action movies that are both entertaining and exciting, one can be sure of an eagle-eyed performance and a captivating emotional story in which he puts himself in harm’s way in order to avenge or protect those close to him.