If you grew up watching movies in the mid-2000s, chances are you think of Liam Neeson as some sort of perpetually grizzled action hero engaged in a never-ending quest for vengeance. It’s no secret that the Irish star has spent the latter part of his career fronting a series of middling actioners that, if you removed the names and flimsy plots, would basically all be the same film. (We’ve even ranked the 10 best “old man Liam Neeson action films” right here.)
It all began with 2008’s “Taken,” which began Neeson’s action star makeover and was actually a pretty good movie that set a precedent for similar films moving forward. But there was a time when Neeson was known for much more than being the permanently upset badass dad. Prior to 2008, the man had some seriously impressive accomplishments to his name, such as a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List.” He also received widespread acclaim for playing the titular Irish revolutionary in 1996’s “Michael Collins” and for his portrayal of American biologist Dr. Alfred Kinsey in 2004’s “Kinsey.”
The latter movie wasn’t the last of his standout performances, either. In 2005, he starred as villain Ra’s al Ghul in Christopher Nolan’s Batman reboot “Batman Begins,” delivering a brilliant performance as Bruce Wayne’s mentor-turned-nemesis and reminding us all of his remarkable abilities. It was a role he reprised briefly in 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” but by then, Neeson had almost fully transitioned into the mode of handing out endless beatdowns in “Taken” clones.
As you might expect, none of Neeson’s latter-day action outings have made it into IMDb’s top 250 films, which isn’t to say they’re all awful. But it is a reminder that the man is a much more capable actor than the last 20-odd years of his filmography might suggest.