Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Memory Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 9, 2022

It's that time of the month...time for the latest Liam Neeson Action movie. Neeson has become a human movie factory, it seems, crafting more or less the same movie over and over again, a trend that began with the excellent Taken and, ever since the rest has been an interesting little slice of cinema history. Rarely does one man fall so completely into typecasting, but here is Neeson once again doing his thing in Memory, the overlong (114 minute) story of an assassin in the early stages of Alzheimer's who turns on his employer when he unravels a conspiracy involving prostitution and an underage girl.

In Memory, Neeson stars as hitman Alex Lewis, a gun for hire who has no qualms about killing his marks for cash. However, when his employer, Davana Sealman (Monica Bellucci), orders him to kill a 13-year-old girl who has been involved in prostitution, Alex refuses. The girl is killed by another hitman, sending Alex into a rage. He turns on his employer and begins to systematically hunt down everyone involved in the girl's death. Meanwhile, Alex finds himself also at odds with the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, and Special Agent Vincent Serra (Guy Pearce) in particular. As Alex stays one step ahead, he finds himself in a maelstrom of violence as both the law and the lawbreakers seek to remove him from the playing field.

At the risk of using verbiage that half of the other reviews for Memory have already probably used, the film is fully forgettable. Beyond the catch that the hitman has Alzheimer's but is functionally cognitive enough to get around and do what hitmen (and Liam Neeson) do (maneuver around the area of operations and shoot people) is a fairly big stretch in an effort to bring some external component into the heavily internalized and predictable world of the Liam Neeson Action-Thriller. The movie is certainly serviceable, as are most all of his films of this sort, but the gimmick adds nothing of lasting value to keep this one top of mind. The lager story is not worth much emotional investment, and neither are the characters; the script disallows any sense of legitimate connection, opting instead to try and build a complex web of characterization rather than try to imbue any substantial depth and purposeful connection with the audience. This is a movie that is completely disconnected between screen and audience; it's watchable but hardly something that is truly worth serious mental and emotional investment, never mind showing any reason to assign it any repeat, replay value.

The internals are nothing to brag about, and neither are the externals. Certainly, Memory enjoys a few solid performances but even good actors can't do much to salvage a bad script, especially one that is just so rote and stale as this. Everyone is simply content to go through the motions, playing their part with clarity and detail but little real internal devotion. The action scenes are appropriately violent and slick, but again there's nothing here that stands apart from the crowd. It's ho-hum business as usual in the various shootouts and chase scenes. This is modern cinema at its most inconsequential. It plays well enough all around, and audiences probably aren't going to feel cheated at the end, but audiences will certainly fail to find any lasting value in the picture.

Memory Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Memory was digitally photographed and the final production translates nicely to Blu-ray. It's a fairly routine image in the grand scheme of things, offering good, crisp detailing and balanced color. Viewers will be pleased with the stable of content on display, including complex facial features in close-ups, crisply defined environmental details, and an overall sense of clearness and clarity. Noise is a minor issue, but it is source-based and nothing of major concern. The encode is in fine shape. Color output is very good, offering natural contrast and temperature settings. Primaries pop in good light. Skin tones are healthy. Blacks are deep and true and whites are crisp and pure.

Memory Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Memory features a standard fare DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is respectable in all areas of concern, offering appropriately balanced presentation parameters throughout the entire audio spectrum. Music is clear and wide, supported by good low-end depth and surround components as necessary. Action scenes deliver suitable immersion and engagement. Many of the shootouts are conducted with suppressed pistols, so there's not that intensive "bang" sound, but the crisp reports and whizzing bullets are supported by thumping impacts into various surfaces, including, of course, flesh. Surrounds engage, again, as required and with superior balance. Light atmospherics are nicely filling. Dialogue is clear and center positioned for the duration.

Memory Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Memory contains no supplemental content. The main menu screen only offers options for "Play," "Chapters," and "Setup." As is the new standard practice for featureless Universal titles, the menu screen is shifted left, leaving a blank space where the vertical supplemental listings would otherwise exist. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

Memory Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Memory doesn't aim to be memorable. This is a decently constructed but clearly forgettable bit of work that drops Liam Neeson into another typecast role and surrounds him with a wayward script, flat performances, and rote action. Genre fans and fans of the lead actor might find it to be acceptable entertainment, but "acceptable" is the upper limit of this one's reach. Universal's featureless Blu-ray delivers solid video and audio. Skip it.