Aging badasses are nothing new. After all, the late Charles Bronson was already in his 50s when he made the first Death Wish, let alone its four sequels. Meanwhile, Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables has spawned an entire franchise around the idea of greying men with guns. So the idea of an actor as accomplished as Liam Neeson brandishing a weapon isn’t exactly as novel as it seems. Still, the actor has appeared in one film after another since showing off his “particular set of skills” in 2008 thriller Taken. So is Neeson’s latest shoot-em-up Run All Night just more of the same?

After all, the film reunites Neeson with director Jaume Collet-Serra, for whom he previously starred in Unknown and Non-Stop, and the trailers even depict a dramatic phone call between Neeson’s Jimmy Conlon and mob boss Shawn Maguire (Ed Harris), instantly recalling that much-parodied moment from Taken. However, Run All Night thankfully has a bit more on its mind than just action set pieces (though there are plenty of those as well).

More than just a crowd-pleasing Taken-esque thrill ride, the film is actually more of a hard-boiled crime thriller, featuring Neeson as less of an indestructible gunslinger than a broken soul desperately clinging to his last chance at redemption. At his heart, the character of Jimmy is actually an empty shell of a man weighed down by guilt and eternally paying the price for his dark past. It isn’t exactly the way most moviegoers have grown accustomed to seeing the actor onscreen in roles such as this, but this part does give him much more to work with than your average mindless Hollywood action film. Hooray for a little complexity in this genre.

Moreover, Neeson has plenty of opportunity to go toe with toe with another brilliant actor in Harris. The two men play longtime friends and business associates who, due to events needlessly spoiled in the trailer, find themselves locked in a death match that will wreak havoc on their family lives. Harris is especially good here, bringing a sense of honor to his criminal character without washing out the uglier parts of his business. Joel Kinnaman and Vincent D’Onofrio lend fine support, mostly serving as extensions of Neeson’s character, but they both make the very most of their screen time, with Kinnaman – who already established himself as a credible action star in last year’s RoboCop remake – particularly effective as the estranged son of Neeson’s character.

Run All Night‘s character-driven plot never loses sight of the fact that it’s dealing in a murky, morally questionable world. The film concerns itself with the messy area between good and evil and uses one life-changing event as a prism through which to explore the bond between friends and family members. There’s a real sense of danger and impact here in both the emotional stakes as well as the violence depicted onscreen.

There’s nothing particularly ground-breaking about what Run All Night is trying to do, and at times, the film does devolve into your standard on-the-run action film. However, with strong performances all-around (MVP: Harris, hands down), strong themes and the vital character moments necessary to highlight them and purposeful direction (a cool zooming effect throughout New York City gives the film the intimacy it aims for), Run All Night is perhaps one of the better action films right now and among the best of Neeson’s ongoing holiday into the genre.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Run All Night stars Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, Boyd Holbrook, Bruce McGill, Genesis Rodriguez, Vincent D’Onofrio and Common. It is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and is now in theaters.