This year’s biggest films are populated by bad fathers transformed into superheroes to save their imperilled children, while mothers are either taken for granted or psychotic … have we learned nothing since Mrs Doubtfire?
The 62-year-old is back with yet another running-about thriller, and hot on his heels is Sean Penn’s Taken-esque The Gunman, featuring topless surfing. Has Neeson’s success meant his peers must attend action star bootcamp?
Charles Gant: Big in the US, Clint Eastwood’s US Iraq war tale remains on top in the UK as well, taking out Taken 3, while Mortdecai loses out to Ex Machina
In this week’s instalment of our series tracking cinema’s worldwide winners …
• Sharper marketing gives Weinsteins’ Imitation Game the edge
• International audiences abandon Johnny Depp on Mortdecai
• American Sniper continues to rack up records
Liam Neeson has retired from action films – we'll miss his particular set of skills