‘The Mongoose’ Prime Video Review: Liam Neeson Coasts Through A Low-Octane Car-Chase Thriller That Never Leaves Second Gear

As it does almost every year, almost religiously, Liam Neeson has another couple of action movies coming out. This one, curiously enough, is going straight to streaming, which may be an early indication that it’s not one of his better efforts. And watching it, one can only conclude that the suspicion was justified. The Mongoose is a lightweight, not particularly successful action film, even by the relatively modest standards of the various movies starring the veteran actor who turned into an action hero rather late in his career.

The subgenre that The Mongoose belongs to (every Neeson movie seems to occupy its own little corner of the vast action-movie universe) is the car-chase thriller. Don’t expect anything remotely on the level of Steven Spielberg’s classics in that department. Under the direction of veteran stunt coordinator Mark Vanselow, what we get instead is a fairly low-key account of an ex-soldier who served in the Middle East wars and is pursued by the authorities for a crime he didn’t exactly commit. Well, not entirely.

The movie opens in the middle of a chase. On one side is Ryan Flanagan, nicknamed «Fang» (Neeson), a veteran of the Afghanistan invasion, fleeing from a determined law-enforcement pursuit along Kentucky’s highways in a Shelby Super Snake. Fang comes across as a relatively affable, wisecracking guy who doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the fact that he’s being chased. He spends much of the time talking to the car’s AI assistant, which provides answers to pretty much anything he cares to ask. Gradually, the film will piece together how he ended up in this predicament through not one but two flashbacks.

The first takes us much further back, to Afghanistan, where we witness some of the traumatic experiences he went through and meet the group of friends he made there (led by Ving Rhames), who will now try to help him out of his latest predicament. The second flashback is more recent. It begins with his divorce from his wife Tara (Marisa Tomei, criminally underused), her new relationship, and what happens when Fang discovers that her new partner is a violent abuser who has left her badly beaten and hospitalized. You can probably guess where this is going.

The escape gets underway, and things become even more complicated when Fang crosses into Texas and his pursuit falls under the jurisdiction of the intense Agent Pope (Michael Chiklis). As some try to catch him and others attempt to help, Fang begins communicating with the media (CNN’s Laura Coates makes an appearance as herself), and his story as a former soldier gradually becomes public knowledge. From that point on, the audience is also brought into this predictable narrative.

The Mongoose has a «metaphorical» title that is eventually explained, though it doesn’t amount to much more than that. Otherwise, the film operates at a surprisingly low level of adrenaline for this kind of story. It seems more interested in establishing that Fang was a great soldier than in actually showing him trying to escape his pursuers. In fact, the movie’s most violent scenes don’t take place during the chase but in the Afghanistan flashbacks, which are presumably meant to explain why Fang behaves the way he does.

And that’s pretty much it, folks. A hundred minutes of Liam Neeson going through the motions in yet another Liam Neeson movie. Those who follow his action-hero filmography religiously may enjoy it, but they won’t be adding it to their Top 10 (he’s made around 22 movies in the genre since getting into the business with Taken in 2008) or anything remotely close. As for those who haven’t yet joined the fan club, they’d be better off starting somewhere else.