It’s almost safe to say that there is a typical Gerard Butler film, as well as Liam Neeson. The two actors are the leaders of a subgenre that has been operating for decades in Hollywood: the sixties vigilante. While women over 40 still have fewer offers, the curve for men comes at 50, with this option to make a box office and stay active. They are not the first, they will hardly be the last.

In Gerard’s case, Kandahar changes the setting but maintains the premise. He is the best at what he does, faces dozens of antagonists, and has little time to escape and return to his family. In this case, secret agent Tom Harris accepts a dangerous mission in Afghanistan and quickly becomes suicidal when he finds himself trapped in hostile territory after having his identity revealed on local TV. He needs to leave the desert and get to a base in Kandahar as quickly as possible, escaping elite enemy forces and international spies who want to kill him.

The premise is simple and it works, thanks to Gerard’s charisma, as well as the participation of Travis Fimmell, the eternal “scene stealer” when he is on screen, even if in a minor role.

Liam Neeson stars in Cold Pursuit, which puts him in the role of an avenging father, in another thriller full of violent scenes, but a more interesting proposal. While Kandahar seems to explore more clichés, Cold Pursuit, which hit theaters in 2019 and only arrived on Netflix in November 2023, rehearses some “surprises” in the narrative. I won’t give spoilers. In the plot, Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) has his life turned upside down when his son is murdered by a drug dealer and decides to avenge him.

These are options for those who want to have fun with adrenaline. It’s just a shame that so many actors with greater skills stay in that drawer. Business’s fault? As long as they remain, as they are, leading the most viewed, they seem justified.

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