Leading a lonely, almost hand-to-mouth existence, Jim Hanson, a financially hard-pressed rancher on the Arizona-Mexico border and decorated former scout sniper for the U.S. Marine Corps, is on the ropes. Still reeling from the loss of a dear one, Jim spends his days with his inseparable companion, Jackson, the sheepdog, unbeknownst to him that his already complicated life is about to take an unexpected turn. Now, as desperate Rosa entrusts Jim with the life of her young son, ... (Full plot summary below)
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Leading a lonely, almost hand-to-mouth existence, Jim Hanson, a financially hard-pressed rancher on the Arizona-Mexico border and decorated former scout sniper for the U.S. Marine Corps, is on the ropes. Still reeling from the loss of a dear one, Jim spends his days with his inseparable companion, Jackson, the sheepdog, unbeknownst to him that his already complicated life is about to take an unexpected turn. Now, as desperate Rosa entrusts Jim with the life of her young son, Miguel, an inadvertent, all-out war with the brutally violent henchmen of the murderous cartel leader, Mauricio, breaks out. Suddenly, Hanson has one more problem to deal with, and the road to Chicago, where Miguel's relatives are, is long and fraught with danger. Can the grizzled protector carry out one last mission?
Leave your thoughts about The Marksman.
| The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe movie displays the measured pacing and tautness marking many of Eastwood's films, and Neeson delivers an Eastwood-style performance while also revealing an emotional vulnerability that proves fully relatable. It's easy to see how his distinctive combination of mature rugged masculinity and Irish soulfulness has made him a perfect action hero for these complicated times. |
| UproxxVince ManciniWe know what we’re getting with this particular genre, and The Marksman, starring Neeson as a Texas rancher protecting a young boy from drug cartels, is a perfectly adequate exercise in providing it. If it lacks some of the panache and grindhouse appeal of previous installments, it also avoids the xenophobia and general mean-spiritedness. |
| Original-CinThom ErnstThe Marksman is a minor entry in the Liam Neeson Action Oeuvre, but it's unlikely to boost his genre status. Neeson puts in a valiant effort to give Hanson the edge of a man grown weary, not just by time but by the assumptions of his age and the disappointing belief that his country has let him down. |
| SlashfilmEvan SaathoffUltimately, The Marksman hits its generic target. It is the kind of film you watch on accident more than seek out, but you probably won’t regret the accident. |
| Washington PostMichael O'SullivanThe Marksman proves itself to be the cinematic version of comfort food: satisfyingly familiar but full of starch and empty calories. |
| Chicago TribuneKatie WalshThe film wants to speak to some kind of old school, lone-ranger American hero type (as portrayed by a man from Northern Ireland), but it’s too vague, shying away from any controversy, to say much at all. |
| Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzThe Marksman is not awful. It’s not particularly good, either, but it’s not the disaster it should have been. Part of that has to do with the way Lorenz stages the action — well-choreographed and tense. Part of it has to do with Perez, who combines being adorable with a kind of hard-won wisdom beyond his years that makes for a completely winning character. |
| The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyIf one were to diagnose a central problem with The Marksman, it’s that it isn’t actually a Clint Eastwood movie; it lacks the breathing room, the first-take nonchalance that always makes an attractive opposite to the Eastwoodian sense of purpose. |
| TheWrapAlonso DuraldeNeeson has certainly starred in worse action vehicles than The Marksman, but rarely have they been more forgettable. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFor a movie called The Marksman, we rarely Jim actually demonstrating his marksmanship, as we’re left with Neeson again doing extended, hand-to-hand combat with a much younger, cockier foe who has no idea what he’s up against. |
