If Liam Neeson’s latest Taken adventure is any indication, the public’s appetite for vengeful mayhem and vigilantism may have dimmed somewhat of late. Which is… probably a good thing? Certainly a good thing for the world, if not for art, assuming Taken movies qualify as art.

Admittedly, I use the term “Taken movie” somewhat loosely. Neeson’s latest vehicle, opening in select theaters and as a VOD rental this weekend, isn’t technically a Taken sequel, nor does it come from any of the original creative team from Taken. But we all know what “Taken movie” implies at this point, right? Almost every Liam Neeson vehicle made since 2008 has been a spiritual sequel to Taken if not a literal one, starring Neeson as a pissed off old guy with a gun and a particular set of skills, unleashed to avenge his daughter/wife/nice vegetable patch (“Killing you isn’t going to bring my goddamned eggplant back.”). Point being, we know what we’re getting with this particular genre, and The Marksman, starring Neeson as a Texas rancher protecting a young boy from drug cartels, is a perfectly adequate exercise in providing it. If it lacks some of the panache and grindhouse appeal of previous installments, it also avoids the xenophobia and general mean-spiritedness.