I had not seen Mel in anything since he had the bad breakup publicity with a former girlfriend and I thought maybe we'd never see him again. I had to google his name and go to his IMDb page to even know this movie existed it received such little publicity. There it got such an unpopular rating score I truly thought it would be horrible but I'm such a fan of his old movies and knowing how anyone in Hollywood with the courage to show their conservative tendencies can find themselves black-balled I had to see for myself. I was very entertained and surprised to find a film that measures up with the majority of his good guy vs evil guys films. One of the refreshing things about movies made like this when an undisputed top billed actor has to go out of his way to find projects is we get to see lots of new faces of actors we've never seen before. I found the drug gang actors very convincing in emaciated appearance and attitude. I thought the actor that portrayed Mel's daughter a perfect casting. She should have a great career as a character actress. Anyone coming here to find some high-brow film should have known better by the title and synopsis so don't let the (obviously British) Liam Neeson and their 1/10 to 3/10 rating throw you off. If you are coming to be entertained by violence and action this fits the bill

The right mix of action, humor, and what's most important in life - unconditional love.

Well done, enjoyed like not many lately , must say it remind me old good movies well made classics , you not seeing movies like that anymore , suits me so much so I had to place my review.

Recovering alcoholic and ex-con Link (Mel Gibson) is trying to get his life straight by avoiding getting in to trouble. Link's life is turned upside down when his estranged daughter Lydia (Erin Moriarty) calls him and asks him for help when she find herself on the run from the cartel. Link reluctantly has to return to his old life in order to protect his daughter...Blood Father is another actioner whereby we have a middle-aged bad-ass father who is forced to go to back in to his former life/existence in order to protect a loved one. This is something that Liam Neeson has pretty much perfected over the years (most notably in Taken) - although this film shares more in common in a more recent Neeson film called Run All Night where Neeson played a recovering alcoholic forced to go back to his old life and protect his child.It's not a bad premise and when handled correctly it can make for a good film, but Gibson's character here is a little too whiny and full of self-pity (necessary to an extent I suppose, but it was overdone here and at times I found his character to be a little tiresome). On the other hand, his young co-star Erin Moriarty was a joy to watch; she's sassy, ballsy, but with the slightest hint of vulnerability. This in itself is a rather clichéd role, but Moriarty sells it well and she bounces off Gibson really well; her carefree persona and his grumpy old man shtick do at times serve the film well giving it some much needed light-heartedness. Where this film does suffer slightly is in the pacing and action stakes; the story is a tad laborious and the action sequences come far too infrequently - it also occasionally does seem to rely on the most unlikely of contrivances to move the story along.Taken for what it is, this is a serviceable and watchable action film with good performances from Gibson and Moriarty - they bounce off each other well and convey a very genuine father/daughter bond on screen. But the truth is that the film suffers when Moriarty and Gibson are not on screen together due to the film's rather laborious pace and lack of action. Worth a look, but don't set your sights too high with this one.