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$13.9 million[2][3]

Blacklight is a 2022 action thriller film directed and co-written by Mark Williams. The film stars Liam Neeson as an FBI operative who gets 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. It received negative reviews from critics and grossed $13 million against its $43 million budget.

Plot[edit]

Political activist Sofia Flores speaks at a rally in Washington, D.C. about women's equality and racial equality. That evening, she is killed in an apparent hit-and-run accident outside of her home.

Travis Block, a Vietnam War veteran, works for the Director of the FBI Gabriel Robinson as a fixer, bringing in agents who are in unstable or tricky situations. He wants to retire and spend more time with his daughter and granddaughter, but Robinson is reluctant to let him go. Block's current assignment is to bring in Dusty Crane.

Crane contacts a journalist, Mira Jones, claiming to have information about Flores' death. Block finds Crane and they engage in a chase outside of Jones' office. Crane escapes and arranges a new meeting with Jones at a museum. Block follows Jones to the meeting and attempts to apprehend Crane. Crane escapes his custody again, but is shot dead by two men.

Block and Jones meet, and she tells him that Crane claimed to have information about a top secret operation called Project Unity, which kills innocent civilians, including Flores. Block confronts Robinson about Project Unity, but the latter claims innocence. He warns Block not to get in his way.

Jones' editor, Drew, writes a story from her sources about Crane's mysterious death. That evening, he is followed home by a black SUV and killed after a car accident. Meanwhile, Block's family also "goes missing". He is unable to contact them or find their whereabouts.

Jones convinces a distressed Block to help her uncover the mystery of Project Unity and the deaths of Crane and Drew. He tells her that Robinson has a safe with government secrets in his house. He confronts Robinson at his house and forces him to open the safe, which contains a hard drive with information about Project Unity on it. Robinson escapes, with the help of several agents, who engage in a gunfight with Block. After defeating the agents, Block retrieves the hard drive.

Block and Jones review the data on the hard drive and discover that Crane was in love with his assignment, Flores. Robinson had her killed after Crane got too attached to her. Block confronts Robinson with the truth about Project Unity and forces him to turn himself in to the authorities. Jones completes her story about the government coverup. Block reunites with his family who had been placed in Witness Protection, but are now brought back home.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

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]

Release[edit]

Blacklight was released in the United States by Open Road Films and Briarcliff Entertainment on February 11, 2022.[11] The film was released video-on-demand on March 3.[12]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

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.[13] The film went on to debut to $3.5 million, finishing fifth at the box office.[14] 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.[15] The film finished tenth at the box office in its second weekend with $1.7 million.[16] It dropped out of the box office top ten in its third weekend with $878,687.[17]

Critical response[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 8% of 91 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "Turn it off."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 27 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[19] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 58% positive score, with 39% saying they would definitely recommend it.[15]

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."[20] 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."[21]

References[edit]

  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 17, 2022.
  3. ^ "Blacklight (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  4. ^ "Victoria back in action as Blacklight kicks off with Liam Neeson and Guy Pearce". Business News Australia. November 12, 2020. 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 t.co/DjQWvCjDxn" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Multiple sources:
  14. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 6". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 7". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  17. ^ "Domestic 2022 Weekend 8". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  18. ^ "Blacklight". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  19. ^ "Blacklight". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  20. ^ Leydon, Joe (February 9, 2022). "'Blacklight' Review: Liam Neeson Does His Weary-Warrior Thing in Another Run-and-Gun Thriller". Variety. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  21. ^ Scheck, Frank (February 11, 2022). "Liam Neeson in 'Blacklight': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 11, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[edit]

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