Liam Neeson Once Starred In A Historical War Movie With Squid Game's Lee Jung-Jae

If I were to ask what Liam Neeson has been up to lately, pretty much everyone would be able to answer, "He's been starring in the same movie for the last 20 years." The gruff, beleaguered badass dad is basically a creation of the actor himself at this point. Ever since the French gave Neeson the star an action movie makeover with "Taken" back in 2008, the Irish actor has been suspended in a time loop that has him playing the same aggrieved dad who's really good at shooting people over and over again.

"Unknown," "Non-Stop," "Run All Night," "Honest Thief," "The Commuter," "Cold Pursuit" — the "Taken" clones just kept coming, which wasn't necessarily all that bad. Neeson had long since proven his acting skills, and while his new action persona wasn't necessarily going to produce any of the best Liam Neeson movies, it did give us a new genre of "Old Man Liam Neeson" films to rank. What's more, if he wanted to perpetually punch bad guys, then who were we to stand in his way? After all, he'd proven what he did to guys who stood in his way and it involved a very special set of skills...

Believe it or not, amidst this seemingly relentless schedule of shooting action movie after action movie, Neeson has actually found time to appear in other projects. "Operation Chromite" is surely one of the most interesting and under-seen of these, and even paired the actor alongside Lee Jung-jae of "Squid Game" fame. Was it good? Not according to most critics. But it remains interesting for not being an "Old Man Neeson" actioner released in the last decade.

"Operation Chromite," or "Battle for Incheon: Operation Chromite" as it was known in the U.S., is a South Korean war movie about the Battle of Inchon, a pivotal moment in the Korean War which turned the tide against the invading North Koreans. The 2016 film charts the planning and deployment of the Inchon landing, which took place between September 15-26, 1950, and involved U.S. and South Korean troops entering the country at the port of Inchon near the South Korean capital, Seoul. The operation was planned and overseen by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, who is played by Liam Neeson in the film. Lee Jung-jae plays Captain Jang Hak-Soo of the ROK Navy Intelligence Unit, an ex-North Korean soldier who defected to the South after witnessing the execution of his father by Northern soldiers. Under the general's watchful eye, Hak-Soo leads seven other members of the Korea Liaison Office (KLO) intelligence unit as they disguise themselves as North Koreans to infiltrate the North's army command center in Incheon.

Though based on very real events, "Operation Chromite" presents a somewhat fictionalized take on the titular undertaking, which resulted in a decent box office take. The film opened at number one in its native South Korea, going on to make $49.2 million at the global box office on a reported budget of $12.7 million. Sadly, however, the movie didn't fare too well with critics. "Operation Chromite" currently has a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a number which falls to 25% for the so-called "top critics." Even the ostensibly "fresh" reviews aren't all that kind to the Korean war movie, with Empire's review claiming that the project could have done with "less of the gravelly Liam Neeson speeches." Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times, however, was much less forgiving in his criticism, claiming that the film is "so bad it's almost spellbinding."

Overall, critics weren't too impressed with the film's script, the predictable action clichés, or Neeson's performance. The movie apparently saw the actor come across more wooden than he's ever been, which is a shame considering it could have been a nice little reminder of the man's talents amid the onslaught of "Taken" actioners. At least we can look forward to him poking fun at those very movies when Neeson stars in the upcoming "Naked Gun" reboot.

As disappointing as the reviews were for "Operation Chromite," there's no denying Liam Neeson's South Korean excursion was a hit in its home country. As The Hollywood Reporter noted upon the film's opening weekend, "Operation Chromite" "topped Hollywood imports like 'Suicide Squad,' 'The Secret Life of Pets,' and 'Jason Bourne,' which ranked third, fourth and sixth, respectively." The movie also had the biggest opening for a Korean-language film in the United States. It's worth noting that a portion of the film's budget was actually crowd-funded as well. Produced on a budget of around 12 billion Korean won (roughly $12 million), the film received 500 million won ($447,700) from crowdfunding donations, with 288 individuals investing in its production. It's perhaps not all that surprising, seeing as the titular operation is considered a legendary military moment in the country's history.

So, while Neeson might regret starring in one of his best crime thrillers (no, it's not "Taken," even though Neeson was embarrassed by the script for that movie), he can surely feel at least a little proud of his South Korean war film. However, the man didn't seem too sanguine when talking to THR, which quoted him as saying:

"North Korea and South Korea signed an armistice in 1953 and both countries are still essentially at war. It's a horrifying situation and in light of very recent events [such as the Sony hack] we are all, not just as filmmakers, but as citizens of this world, very concerned."

That's a novel way to promote your movie, but hey, it made some money, even if the critics weren't convinced by Neeson's gloomy outlook. Interestingly enough, the sequel, "The Battle of Jangsari," starred Megan Fox as fictional American reporter named Maggie, though Neeson was nowhere in sight for the 2019 follow-up. In fact, "The Battle of Jangsari" made /Film's list of the best Megan Fox movies for her understated yet solid performance. Too bad the same couldn't be said for Neeson's work on "Operation Chromite."