[post_ads_2] Liam Neeson stands as one of our acting legends. A thespian since the '70s, Neeson didn't gain real fame until 1993 and Schindler's List. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance and more impressive ones followed. Born in Northern Ireland, Neeson has been a mainstay in the U.K. and U.S. film industries ever since. He was a top dramatic actor who could lead period films like Michael Collins and Les Misérables.
[post_ads_2] However, somewhere along the line, Neeson realized he could master another genre: action. Blessed with a scratchy baritone that's instantly recognizable and a stare that could stop a bull in its tracks, Neeson took his dramatic talents to action movies in the late '00s. Why not? Action films were usually populated by professional wrestlers. A real actor could really stand-out, if he or she could handle the work.
[post_ads_2] In 2008, Neeson was 55-years-old. That was the year Taken debuted (in Europe first) and that's where our rankings begin. Since 2008, Neeson has been one of the biggest action stars in the world. Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson rake in the most cash, but Neeson is no slouch. (He's been in six $100 million+ grossing movies over the last decade.) People love seeing him beat people and spit nasty one-liners in his Irish brogue.
So what are the best Neeson action movies? By our count, he's been the leading man in eight of them in the past 10 years. He's done plenty of other films also, but we won't count those. For a movie to make our list it must be an action movie or contain a healthy amount of ass-kicking. Plus, Neeson must be the lead character.
Here are the Neeson flicks from the last decade that didn't make the cut:
Excluded because they're not action movies: The Other Man, Unknown, Five Minutes of Heaven, Third Person, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House
Excluded because Neeson appears in a supporting role: After.Life, Chloe, The Next Three Days, Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans, The A-Team, Battleship, The Dark Knight Rises, Anchorman 2, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Ted 2
Excluded because they include Neeson voice roles only: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Ponyo, The Lego Movie, A Monster Calls, The Huntsman: Winter's War, The Nut Job, Khumba, The Prophet
On to the rankings! You may think all Liam Neeson's action movies are the same. Well, you'd be sorely mistaken. Sort of.
8. Taken 3 (2014)
This one's about as bad it gets for Neeson's action flicks. It's the (likely) last story of Bryan Mills saving his family, something that became an annual occurrence to ensure this franchise kept going. At the end, Mills fights a bad guy who's in his tighty wighties. It's not pretty.Rotten Tomatoes score: 12 percent
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