Liam Neeson's New Action Thriller Brutally Divides Critics & Audiences On Rotten Tomatoes

Published Nov 3, 2026, 2:30 PM EST Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account Liam Neeson has a new action thriller in theaters, and it is a divisive release. Neeson has cemented himself as a major action movie star over the years. That includes both standalone films, as well as franchise entries. The actor famously led the Taken movie trilogy, playing retired CIA operative Bryan Mills as he rescued his kidnapped daughter, ex-wife, and pursued revenge over three action-packed movies. That said, Neeson's list of movies is filled with entries outside the confines of the Taken franchise, and the actor continues to star in new action thrillers. His most recent genre release premiered in theaters on October 30, featuring other stars, but it is dividing critics and moviegoers nationwide. Neeson's latest action movie, The Mongoose, currently holds a low 33% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the R-rated action thriller stands at a higher 60% audience score. Given how not even a full week has gone by from the action thriller's release date, the new Neeson movie's Rotten Tomatoes scores should fluctuate over the next week or two. That said, there is already a huge divide between The Mongoose's critics' and audience scores, with a significant 27% difference between the two, as critics value the movie at nearly half what audiences have rated the 2026 film thus far. At the time of writing, The Mongoose's critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes is based on 24 reviews, coming in at an average rating of 5 out of 10, but translating to a Rotten label for the R-rated thriller. This is similar to how critic Alex Harrison rated the violent movie in ScreenRant's The Mongoose review. The writer gave Neeson's new action movie a 3 out of 10 score, asking the question of how long Neeson could continue to star in genre movies as an action hero. Harrison also credited the movie's downfall to a lazy script that fails to make sense. The Mongoose follows Neeson as Ryan "Fang" Flanagan, a war hero who has been accused of a murder he did not commit. The R-rated action thriller focuses on Neeson's character engaged in a car chase with law enforcement while the public watches it all unfold on television, siding with Fang, and he is helped by his mates from his time in the United States Army Special Forces. Much like the public in the movie, moviegoers have enjoyed The Mongoose more than critics so far, with audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes praising the practical car stunts, Neeson's performance, and more. Neeson is not alone in the new R-rated action thriller, as The Mongoose also features quite a few other stars with experience in action-packed franchises and releases. That includes Marisa Tomei, who plays Aunt May in Tom Holland's Spider-Man movie franchise in the MCU; Ving Rhames, who has starred in several Mission: Impossible movies alongside Tom Cruise and star-studded casts; Michael Chiklis, The Thing in Chris Evans' Fantastic Four movies, and more. It remains to be seen how high Neeson's The Mongoose's audience score can climb on Rotten Tomatoes. Release Date October 30, 2026 Runtime 98 Minutes Director Mark Vanselow Writers Thompson Evans Producers Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, Eugene Musso Cast