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Blacklight (film)

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Blacklight
A poster featuring Liam Neeson holding a gun. The tagline reads, "They're gonna need more men".
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMark Williams
Screenplay by
  • Nick May
  • Mark Williams
Story by
  • Nick May
  • Brandon Reavis
Produced by
  • Mark Williams
  • Paul Currie
  • Myles Nestel
  • Alevé Loh
  • Coco Xiaolu Ma
Starring
CinematographyShelly Johnson
Edited byMichael P. Shawver
Music byMark Isham
Production
companies
  • Zero Gravity Management
  • Footloose Productions
  • The Solution Entertainment Group
  • Sina Studios
  • Fourstar Films
  • Elevate Production Finance
  • Film Victoria
  • Lightstream Pictures Australia
  • Screen Australia
Distributed by
Release dates
  • February 10, 2022 (2022-02-10) (Australia)
  • February 11, 2022 (2022-02-11) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • Australia
  • China
LanguageEnglish
Budget$43 million[1]
Box office$16 million[2][3]

Blacklight is a 2022 American-Australian action thriller film directed and co-written by Mark Williams. The film stars Liam Neeson as a brooding FBI fixer who becomes involved in a government conspiracy; Emmy Raver-Lampman, Taylor John Smith, and Aidan Quinn also star.[4]

Blacklight was released in the United States on February 11, 2022, by Briarcliff Entertainment. Unfortunately, it struggled both commercially and critically. Despite having a production budget of $43 million, it only managed to gross about $16 million worldwide, making it a box-office bomb. Critics were harsh on the film, and it received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with some calling it one of Liam Neeson's worst performances and movies. The storyline, action sequences, and overall direction were widely criticized, adding to its reputation as a low point in Neeson's career.

Plot

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Sofia Flores was an inspiring political activist. On a visit to Washington, D.C., despite threats, she gave an impassioned speech. After the rally ended she was killed in a hit-and-run attack outside her home.

Travis Block is a Vietnam War veteran who works in the shadows for FBI Director Gabriel Robinson. He's been with the bureau for many years, but now that his daughter and granddaughter are getting older he longs to retire and spend more time with them. Unfortunately, Robinson is reluctant to let him go and assigns him a new mission, to find and bring in undercover FBI Agent Dusty Crane. Block is dissatisfied with the assignment but his loyalty to the bureau forces him to accept it.

However, Crane goes rogue and contacts Mira Jones, a journalist, claiming to have information about the murder of Flores. Despite being pursued by Block and the FBI, Crane manages to escape on more than a few occasions. Just before Crane is shot dead by two FBI Agents, he reveals to Block that it was Robinson who had ordered the killing of Flores. The revelation comes too late for both the criminal and the special agent, signalling the tragic end of their deadly game of hide and seek.

Jones had heard from Crane that the FBI had a top secret program called Operation Unity, killing innocent civilians such as Flores. Horrified, Block went directly to Robinson and asked him what was going on. Robinson warned Block that he should stay out of it and implicitly threatened his family. This didn't sit well with Block, prompting him to do his own investigation.

Drew, Jones's editor, sends Jones home and writes the story about the mysterious deaths of Crane and Flores. That night, the same two FBI agents who killed Crane and Flores chase with Drew, causing a car crash. One of the agents breaks Drew’s neck while he’s stunned. Drew’s car ignites. Jones and her colleagues begin to connect the dots from the mysterious deaths and Block investigates the disappearance of his family.

Block goes to Robinson’s house and forces him to give him a hard drive which contains all the records of the FBI’s activities. Block is waylaid by several of Robinson’s men but manages to escape.

The information on the hard drive regarding Operation Unity reveals the operation is a government-backed infiltration plan to spy on foreign organizations and sabotage them from within. The plan has been in motion for several years and is nearing completion. Jones and Block realize that if the information falls into the wrong hands it could cause irreparable damage not only to their country but to the world. They formulate a plan to expose Operation Unity to the world.

The review of the hard drive revealed that Crane had developed feelings for his assignment, Flores. After Crane became too attached to Flores, Robinson had her killed and disposed of. Block confronted Robinson with the evidence, and Robinson turned himself in to the authorities and confessed to his crimes. With justice served and the truth uncovered, Jones was able to complete her story about the government plot, while Block, having accomplished his mission, retired and was finally reunited with his family who had been in Witness Protection and could finally come home together in peace.

Cast

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Production

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Principal photography of the film started in November 2020 in Melbourne, Australia.[1][8][5] In January 2021 it was announced that a car chase scene would be filmed in Canberra.[9][10]

Mark Isham composed the film score. A film soundtrack has been released.

Release

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Blacklight was released in the United States by Briarcliff Entertainment on February 11, 2022.[11] The film was released video-on-demand on March 3,[12] while the film released on Blu-ray and DVD in May 3 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.[13]

Reception

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Box office

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In the United States and Canada, Blacklight was released alongside Death on the Nile and Marry Me, and was projected to gross $1–5 million from 2,772 theaters in its opening weekend.[14] The film went on to debut to $3.5 million, finishing fifth at the box office.[15] Overall audiences during its opening were 64% male, 83% above the age of 25, 58% above 35, and 35% above 45. The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 53% were Caucasian, 14% Hispanic and Latino Americans, 15% African American, and 18% Asian or other.[16] The film finished tenth at the box office in its second weekend with $1.7 million.[17] It dropped out of the box office top ten in its third weekend with $878,687.[18]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 11% of 105 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Turn it off."[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 27 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[20] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 58% positive score, with 39% saying they would definitely recommend it.[16]

Joe Leydon of Variety said: "If you approach it with sufficiently lowered expectations, and have fond memories of the '70s paranoid dramas that obviously inspired director and co-writer Mark Williams, this might be your house-brand jam."[21] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Lacking a high concept or memorable central character, the film is a by-the-numbers actioner that coasts on its star's soulful gravitas and low-key charisma."[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Quinn, Karl (November 2, 2020). "Liam Neeson to start filming Hollywood action movie in Melbourne". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Blacklight (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  3. ^ "Blacklight (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "Victoria back in action as Blacklight kicks off with Liam Neeson and Guy Pearce". Business News Australia. November 12, 2020. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Martin, Josh (November 3, 2020). "Liam Neeson to arrive in Melbourne to begin shooting new thriller 'Blacklight'". NME. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  6. ^ Quinn, Karl (December 4, 2020). "Behind the scenes of Liam Neeson's new action movie filming in Melbourne". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Mendelsohn, Jon (September 21, 2021). "First 'Blacklight' Image Features Liam Neeson as an FBI Fixer in Over His Head". Collider. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  8. ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - Blacklight". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  9. ^ Midena, Kate (January 7, 2021). "Liam Neeson to start filming Hollywood action movie in Melbourne". ABC News. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  10. ^ Williams, Elliot (January 15, 2021). "Liam Neeson film Blacklight continued filming in Canberra on Friday". The Canberra Times. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  11. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 21, 2021). "Liam Neeson Action Thriller 'Blacklight' Set For Wide U.S. Release Through Briarcliff; Solution Entertainment Group Pic Gets February 2022 Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  12. ^ When To Stream [@WhenToStream] (March 2, 2022). "Blacklight (2022) When To Stream: March 3, 2022 PVOD (Apple, Amazon, Google, etc.) #Blacklight https://t.co/DjQWvCjDxn" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "Blacklight Blu-ray".
  14. ^ Multiple sources:
  15. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 6". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  16. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 13, 2022). "Death On The Nile Charting $12.8M, Marry Me $8M In Valentine's Day Weekend Where Hollywood Pines For Female Auds – Sunday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  17. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 7". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  18. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 8". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  19. ^ "Blacklight". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 7, 2023. Edit this at Wikidata
  20. ^ "Blacklight". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  21. ^ Leydon, Joe (February 9, 2022). "'Blacklight' Review: Liam Neeson Does His Weary-Warrior Thing in Another Run-and-Gun Thriller". Variety.
  22. ^ Scheck, Frank (February 11, 2022). "Liam Neeson in 'Blacklight': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
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