A Walk Among the Tombstones Review

A Liam Neeson action thriller involving a kidnapping? Doesn't it sound like we've done this before, like say in the movie Taken? I'm sure as you watched the trailers for this movie, this is the big question that you probably asked. You also probably thought of his recent filmography and wondered if we've had enough Liam Neeson action thrillers. Well first off let me say that Liam Neeson is great at being an action star, so I'm not opposed to him making more movies like that. They may not be deep or thought-provoking, but they are really entertaining. But second, despite what this may seem to be in the trailers, this actually isn't an action movie at all. Sure, there's a few action scenes, but they are few and far between. This is a crime drama. Rather than it being like the kidnapping movie Taken, it's a lot closer to the kidnapping movie Prisoners. And if you know me, I have always loved movies, TV shows and books that are of this genre, so I was all for A Walk Among the Tombstones. No it's nothing epic or amazing, but if you are like me and you like crime dramas, I would definitely recommend giving this movie a shot.

A Walk Among the Tombstones is a movie that is based on the book of the same title by Lawrence Block. It's one of nearly 20 books written by block following private detective Mathew Scudder. I have not read any of these books, but it seems like the type of book that I would actually like. I grew up reading mystery/crime novels. The Boxcar Children and The Hardy Boys are two series that I remember loving when I was really young and my passion for that genre never went away. Recently I've seen every episode of Criminal Minds and have enjoyed watching the occasional episode of other shows such as NCIS, Bones, Castle, and Numbers. Most of the plot lines for the individual books or episodes like this are quite similar, but for some reason they just never get old. And I've watched/read hundreds of them if I count all the individual episodes and all the books I've read.

My point with all that is that if you know the background of this movie, you know what you are getting into and if you love watching these crime dramas like I do, you also know that you are going to enjoy the movie and you will. If you've never enjoyed crime dramas, then you shouldn't go see this movie. It's that simple. If you walk in expecting a Liam Neeson action-packed thriller, you are going to be very disappointed because this movie is actually really slow for most of it. Matthew Scudder, played by Neeson, is a former cop and current private investigator. In this case, a drug kingpin comes to Scudder wanting him to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife. Initially Scudder declines the offer, but is eventually convinced, especially after he learns that this is happening to many people. There's a lot of build up, a lot of mystery, and a lot of detective work. Personally I was fully invested in the case and loved this slower pace. It got more intense as we went along to the point where the ending is quite the thrill.

In conclusion, A Walk Among the Tombstones is definitely your typical crime drama movie. It's nothing mind-blowing or epic. It probably won't stand out of the crowd when you go back and rank all your favorite crime dramas. The villains aren't anything legendary or memorable like Norman Bates or Hannibal Lecter. They're just your typical crime drama villains. But if you're like me and you love shows like Criminal Minds then this is a great movie for you. I'd recommend catching it in theaters while it's still there or finding it when it comes out on DVD if you need a break for a couple of hours. I'd totally be down for Liam Neeson returning again as Matthew Scudder in another Lawrence Block adaptation. Unfortunately I don't know if that will ever happen, but at least I know I have a long series of Matthew Scudder books that I can go read if I want more. My grade for A Walk Among the Tombstones is an 8/10.