Memory
Open Road Films (II) | Release Date: April 29, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
17
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 28, 2022
Memory plays like a blended cop movie/revenge thriller and exhibits the strengths and weaknesses of both. At its best, it recalls the Mel Gibson movie Payback (which was similarly a remake of an earlier film based on book). Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 27, 2022
Neeson never phones in his performances, but he’s particularly invested this time around, playing a guy who can be a pure killing machine one moment, and as lost as a child the next. Pearce and Bellucci headline the terrific supporting cast, and the 78-year-old Campbell proves he can still direct the hell out of a slick and engrossing thriller. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriApr 29, 2022
In the end, Memory’s greatest asset might be that it knows exactly what it is — a fun combination of sleazoid action and surprising emotion. It’s the best kind of B-movie. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 27, 2022
Memory is by no means a deep film. But there’s something here that lends the familiar proceedings a bittersweet aftertaste that lingers in the mind. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 27, 2022
Memory is a good-enough movie that could have been a lot better. Neeson is to thank for most of the good. Turns out he, like his characters, does have a particular set of skills. They involve acting. Read full review
60
IGNRyan LestonApr 27, 2022
Memory is a well-made if uninspired action flick that forges an interesting new take on the genre… then forgets all about it. Read full review
50
The Film StageDan MeccaApr 29, 2022
While Memory does not fully succeed in its goals, it’s yet another reminder of Neeson’s sheer presence––a movie star if ever there were one. Watching him act against Pearce is also a brief delight. Read full review
50
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiApr 29, 2022
The synopsis sounds straightforward, but there is a lack of balance from the start, and the film has an ill-mannered approach to telling a sensitive or impactful story about sex trafficking. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiApr 29, 2022
Memory is a little better than the majority of Neeson’s recent action excursions and there's a chance it may prove to be better than most of his future projects. However, that doesn't prove to be enough to make it worth watching, and those lucky enough to have seen “The Memory of a Killer” are likely to be disappointed as well. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattApr 29, 2022
The whole thing is so wrapped in leaden dialogue and B-movie cliché that by the last weary, bloodletting hour, you'll envy Alex's ability to forget. Read full review
50
Original-CinJim SlotekApr 28, 2022
Director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) seems to be directing by template, never stopping to let us get to know anybody – least of all Neeson’s Alex, who for the most part is only there to kill people. Some things never change. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJake CoyleApr 27, 2022
Pearce, sweaty and grungy, steadies Memory; it’s his film as much as Neeson’s. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubLuke Y. ThompsonApr 27, 2022
It’d be nice to think that the forgettable nature of Memory was a deliberate irony. Then we could grant it bonus points for cleverness, rather than an average grade for just being bland. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 27, 2022
Neeson also does a good job tracing his character’s cognitive deterioration over the course of the movie. As such, Memory is like a hybrid, mixing serious sections with Neeson’s usual action stuff. Call it a little bit of this and a little bit of that, or not enough of this and not enough of that. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 27, 2022
In the end, “Memory” isn’t terribly convincing, but it’s at least trying for something more serious than most. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 27, 2022
It’s still a half-decent movie, closer to Neeson’s late-career “Taken” peak than his most recent films. But if he’s letting the audience see the writing on the wall, it might be time for him to stop and read it, too. Read full review
45
PolygonJoshua RiveraApr 28, 2022
It’s worth remembering this era of cinema, and everything it says about specifically male fantasies and male rage. But it isn’t necessarily worth remembering Memory itself. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichApr 27, 2022
Everyone in Campbell’s movie — from the director all the way down to his supporting cast — deserves better than this. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerApr 28, 2022
Memory is better than some Neeson action flicks, worse than others, but, predictable as it is to say, you'll have trouble remembering it much longer than its run time. Read full review
40
Screen DailyTim GriersonApr 27, 2022
Director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) applies his usual slick professionalism to a genre piece that touches on mortality, regret and child abuse without much emotional resonance or riveting action sequences. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenApr 27, 2022
Matching the screenplay’s lack of nuance, Campbell (Casino Royale, The Protégé) orchestrates the proceedings with a flat efficacy, stringing together familiar action beats and churning up little that rings true. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithApr 27, 2022
Martin Campbell’s film never shakes off its familiarity, and as such seems destined to, well, be lost to public memory. Read full review
33
The PlaylistOliver WeirApr 27, 2022
We’re a dozen action thrillers deep now, and you start to wonder: is Neeson really making these for us anymore? Read full review
25
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 27, 2022
As his character’s cognitive abilities decline, Neeson’s repeated on-a-dime transition from killing machine to stuttering, doddering pawpaw — and then back again — feels eye-rollingly, almost offensively contrived. Read full review
25
ObserverOliver JonesApr 27, 2022
It is an absurd premise, one made even more so by its execution, which at the hands of veteran Hollywood thriller director Martin Campbell (the one-time director of Bond films who has been in movie jail since 2011’s Green Lantern) is often lackluster and, on occasion, shockingly inept. Read full review
20
The New York TimesLena WilsonApr 28, 2022
It plays as if the worst episodes of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” have all been processed in a blender and then stretched to nearly two hours long. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshApr 27, 2022
Memory has a decent director in Campbell (“Casino Royale,” “Vertical Limit”) and a great cast (yes, that’s Ray Stevenson as a corrupt cop), but a crippling case of a bad script that can’t manage to make us care about any of these characters. Read full review
0
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeApr 27, 2022
Memory often feels more like a direct-to-video threequel than an actual movie. Read full review
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