A big dumb movie with a big soft heart, “The Mongoose” serves warmed-over popcorn slathered in a butter of brothers-in-arms sentiment. The film ought to be a snooze; yet its cast is so practiced — by this point, Liam Neeson has played so many lawmen and military types he must qualify for a service pension — and its action beats so fondly familiar, that you can’t help rooting for its star anyway.
“The Mongoose” is the debut feature of the stunt professional and regular Neeson collaborator Mark Vanselow, and it shows, with solid action sequences smoothly designed to elide the, ahem, ripeness of some of the participants. Neeson is Ryan Flanagan, a.k.a. Fang, a former Special Forces Army captain with three tours in Afghanistan under his belt and a nasty dose of PTSD under the hood. We first meet him canoodling on a beach in Cancún with his honey, Tara (Marisa Tomei); now, they’re divorced and he’s fleeing a bloody crime scene in Kentucky behind the wheel of a snazzy Ford Mustang Shelby Super Snake, a conga line of police vehicles in screeching pursuit.
How he acquired the car, the trauma and the murderous reputation — not to mention his cute nickname — is revealed in multiple compact flashbacks. As he races toward the Mexican border, accompanied only by the car’s digital assistant (voiced by Stella Stocker), Fang transforms from broken warrior to national hero. The cross-country car chase, broadcast from a CNN news helicopter, captures the public imagination and the attention of random Vietnam War veterans, who find novel ways to help him elude his pursuers.
The military equivalent of getting the band back together for one final gig, “The Mongoose,” culminating in an emotional reunion with the remnants of Fang’s Army squad, rarely comes within mailing distance of believability. Accept that, and you just might enjoy the ride.
The Mongoose Rated R for fangs, firearms and flouting the speed limit. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. In theaters.
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