Directed by Mark Williams
Starring Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Claire van der Boom, Emmy Raver-Lampman and Taylor John Smith

In November 2020, the city of Melbourne, Australia, the place I call home, was just exiting a 111-day lockdown. It was second of what would be six lockdowns dating to the end of 2021 and culminating into the world’s longest COVID-19 lockdown. Retail stores were re-opening, restaurants were allowed to offer limited dine-in service again… and Liam Neeson was in town shooting Taken 55!

Teaming up once again with Honest Thief director Mark Williams (co-creator of Netflix series Ozark), Liam Neeson is Block, Travis Block, an off-the-books government fixer for the FBI who saves some ass that needs saving. That ass belongs to fellow undercover agents who have found themselves in deep sh… ah, dangerous situations who are at great risk of having their covers blown. When Block discovers Operation Unity, a conspiracy involving some of his own people, he liaises with journalist Mira Jones (played by Netflix series The Umbrella Academy star Emmy Raver-Lampman) to get to the truth.

In a way, Blacklight is innovative. It’s one of the first productions to utilise a technology known as lightwall LED projections and Unreal Engine Technology powered software that enables the production to shoot dialogue separately for the action scenes it appears for. Some of the benefits include safety and apparently Melbourne is at the forefront of this technology.

In all other departments though, Blacklight suffers a total blackout. 

As it turns out, Travis Block is a fitting name for the central character. Block-headed dialogue, woefully wooden acting, and inconceivable production execution give Blacklight such a pounding, it’s left with black eyes. 

To you action aficionado’s, there is barely any of it to be found here. Most of the handful or so of action sequences, while reasonably staged and filmed on the emptier streets of Canberra, arbitrarily occur and are often unrealistically motivated. Furthermore, this intermittently interesting plot is supposedly set in Washington D.C, but Melbourne’s skyscrapers, instantly recognisable locations and left-turning exits from freeways aren’t in any way disguised, altered, or kept from view of the lens. In fact, Blacklight seemingly wants to exhibit the city! Though the most fun I could have with Blacklight was playing spot the landmark, it is also very distracting. 

Another unnecessary blow this film hands itself is the recurring appearance of an irritating flash-like effect in several shots. The intention is to convey Travis Block’s bizarrely added OCD, but instead it cheapens the visual production and simply annoys. As annoying as that might be, it never bothered me as much as Aidan Quinn’s wooden acting performance as the FBI director did. 

Avoid.

Blacklight is showing in cinemas across Australia from February 10th.

Moviedoc thanks Rialto Distribution and Ned & Co for the screener link provided to watch and review this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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