Movie Review: THE MONGOOSE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: October 30th, 2026 / 06:24 PM

THE MONGOOSE movie poster | ©2026 Samuel Goldwyn Films

Rating: R
Stars: Liam Neeson. Marisa Tomei. Ving Rhames, Marcus Thomas, Maurice Marvel Meredith. Michael Chiklis, Brett Tucker, Ryan Morgan, Stella Stocker (voice)
Writer: Thompson Evans
Director: Mark Vanselow
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release Date: October 30, 2026

If an action film is going to be made, especially one with a familiar premise, it helps if the director has a background as a stunt choreographer/stunt performer. That’s the case with THE MONGOOSE, which marks the feature directorial debut of Mark Vanselow, who has frequently stunt-doubled and choreographed previous action films starring Liam Neeson, his leading man here.

The script by Thompson Evans could largely have been made any time in the last fifty years, except for the relationship between Neeson’s Ryan “Fang” Flanagan and Helene (charmingly voiced by Stella Stocker), the virtual assistant in the Mustang Shelby Super Snake GT350 he’s driving.

Fang doesn’t own the car; its legal owner is very recently deceased. We meet Fang via voiceover as he’s reciting a love poem over shots of a calm seashore. But as we first see him, he’s speeding ahead of five state police cars and a police helicopter.

MONGOOSE toggles back and forth between Fang’s current efforts to evade capture, what immediately preceded all this, and flashbacks to when Fang was a U.S. Special Forces commander twenty years ago.

In 2006 Afghanistan, Fang’s team consists of himself, Tanker (Ving Rhames), Munch (Marcus Thomas) and Wiz (Ryan Morgan). When their helicopter is shot down, all four are taken prisoner and tortured. Since we see Fang back in the States, it’s not much of a spoiler to say that he escapes. In the near-present, we see he remains close with his fellow survivors, as well as with his still-loved-and-loving ex-wife Tara (Marisa Tomei).

In fact, it is the comradeship of military veterans that underlies MONGOOSE, with Fang discovering that he is supported not only by his known friends but by strangers who feel that their shared experience under fire makes them brothers.

On the other side, there’s Arkansas State Police Major James Tilton (Maurice Marvel Meredith), himself an ex-Marine, who would like Fang to surrender before he gets himself killed. Then there’s Texas law officer Major Walter Pope, who wants his people to kill Fang whether he surrenders or not.

There is a certain SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (a 1977 interstate car chase film, directed by stunt veteran Hal Needham) vibe here, with the fast vehicles, apoplectic police, and unpredictable help from sympathetic souls.

However, the underpinnings in THE MONGOOSE are more serious, both in terms of Fang’s understandable PTSD and the reason he is being chased now. The latter makes us question Fang’s instant folk hero status, as the crime would certainly take precedence over his military background in news reports.

Then again, THE MONGOOSE exists primarily to showcase Neeson’s ease in playing an unassuming but ultra-capable protagonist and all those multi-vehicle high-octane ballets, orchestrated with maximum glee by Vanselow.

There’s nothing greatly original about THE MONGOOSE, but it succeeds at what it sets out to do. The filmmakers are also using the feature to raise money for veterans’ groups, which is laudable.

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Latest Buzz

Movie Review: THE MONGOOSE

An automotive Liam Neeson actioner

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: THE MONGOOSE

Related

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

Assignment X Poll

Newsletter subscription status

Latest Buzz

Movie Review: THE MONGOOSE

An automotive Liam Neeson actioner

Article Source: Assignment X Article: Movie Review: THE MONGOOSE

Related

Related Posts:

Leave a Comment

Assignment X Poll

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: THE MONGOOSE