Liam Neeson is a man with a particular set of skills, and one of those skills is apparently being gangster, yo! He’s already shown his old school gangster skills in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, though he fell foul of Daniel Day Lewis’ machete (or mustache, they were both equally sharp) rather quickly. But now thanks to Safe House director Daniel Espinosa, he’s getting a second chance at a life of crime in Gang Story, which contrary to popular belief is not a spinoff from a Jackie Chan franchise.
According to Deadline, the film will be an English language remake of the 2011 French film, Les Lyonnais, which follows Edmond “Momon” Vidal, an old ex-gangster who left his life of crime behind him in the 1970’s, but who gets pulled back over to the wrong side of the tracks when his old gang buddy,who is still up to his criminal ways, gets into some deep doo doo, requiring Momon to help him out. Courtesy of lots of violence and bullets. So yeah, par for the course for Liam Neeson 2.0.
The script for the English language version is being penned by David Scarpa, who also gave us the so-so The Last Castle and the horrible Keanu Reeves remake for The Day the Earth Stood Still, so I’m not expecting wonders here.
Now Espinosa did a great job with the action on Safe House, despite the rest of that film’s flaw and his intense action choreography should fit right in with Neeson’s action man schtick. His next film, Child 44 with Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace, is a far more complex sounding story, so hopefully he’ll pick a few new new tricks that on that production that could help elevate Gang Story to more than just a standard “retired badass getting back to his violent ways to save somebody” gig.
Here’s the trailer for the original film, so you can get a headstart on the inevitable comparisons.
Last Updated: April 24, 2013
