The Clash: Is Liam Neeson God?

Vaughan Smith says:

It's no co-incidence that "Liam Neeson" is an anagram for "Lion's Enema". Because as a young man he did exactly that, with a bucket of water and a garden hose and the lion knew better than to complain because it was Liam Fudgecaking Neeson!

To say that Liam Neeson is a one-trick pony would be like saying Keanu Reeves and Nicholas Cage are one-trick ponies and I have never heard anyone utter those words.

Ok, so lately his movies have followed similar plot trajectories (of awesomeness) but might I remind you that Liam Neeson was in Schindler's List. I mean sure, it would have been an hour shorter if Oskar Schindler had called Hitler for a little "I have a certain set of skills" chat, but that probably wouldn't have got him a nomination for a best actor Oscar.

He was also in Star Wars, where he had a pony tail ... and looked good with aforementioned ponytail ... and still to this day no one knows how to say his character's name.

He's also been in Batman Begins, (where he played an international criminal mastermind), Gangs of New York (where he played an Irish priest involved a turf war), Narnia (he played a lion three times!) and The Lego Movie (he played a split personality police officer and the police officer's father) ...

Many tricks, many ponies, much Liam.

Oh, and for those who remain unconvinced, let's not forget his most important role of all as Daniel in Love Actually where he plays a stepfather caring for his deceased wife's son.

He even helps him learn drums to win the heart of a girl and then actively encourages the boy to break all sorts of international airport security rules to get a peck on the cheek.

Ironically, that is the sort of behaviour that would have seen any other Liam Neeson character unload a clip of ammo into the pre-teen.

In closing, Liam Neeson is 62, Liam Neeson is nearly 2 metres tall, Liam Neeson used to flat with Helen Mirren in the 80s, Liam Neeson rules.

Vaughan Smith is the host of ZM's breakfast show, Fletch, Vaughan and Megan, weekdays from 6am.

Russell Baillie says:

I was booked to see a preview of Liam Neeson's new movie Walk Among the Tombstones the other week but I ended up in a hospital A&E instead. Long story. And no I wasn't there because I needed my spleen vented, but thanks for asking.

In a way, I think it was God's way of saying to me: It's okay. You have reached peak Liam Neeson.

Had God actually said this out loud he probably would have sounded a lot like Liam Neeson. Neeson has that sort of voice. It's been his ticket to playing Zeus (Greek god) and Aslan (Narnia lion-as-God) and, lest we forget, Qui-Gon Jinn (Star Wars Jedi demigod).

Actually, it's pretty easy to forget Qui-Gon Jinn. He's pretty much the least memorable non-CGI major Star Wars movie character ever. He's exhibit A in an entire alphabet of evidence about Neeson's decline as an actor but his unfathomable rise in stocks as a movie star.

One day that bubble must burst. For Neeson - or his voice - now turns up in five movies a year. Usually one of those is a sequel to movies he made not long enough ago to shoot people he didn't get first time round.

Inevitably there will be such a scheduling conflict, Taken 7 will merge with Non-Stop 4 into one badass bashathon carried out by a heavily armed Irish pensioner. And still, people will go see it.

Why? Because Neeson is a movie god - because he's the answer to producers' prayers. The one that begins, "Dear Lord, If we get Liam Neeson into this piece of shit, will people still go?" Yes, he's an actor with a certain set of skills. Except the ability to say no.

Russell Baillie is the Editor of TimeOut and, in this Clash of the Titans, clearly the winner.

**Do you agree with Vaughan or Russell? Have your say below.

- TimeOut