‘I work for the company just a different sort of department…’
Liam Neeson’s hard pivot to action films has been as welcome as it was unexpected. Since Taken in 2008, Neeson has starred in (deep breath): Clash of the Titans, The A-Team, The Grey, Battleship, The Commuter, Widows, Cold Pursuit, Honest Thief, The Marksman and now The Ice Road. I’ve seen maybe half of those movies, and many of them are very similar, but they are also very watchable. None of Neeson’s action movies since Taken have been massive crossover hits, but somebody is watching them goddamnit, and The Ice Road is further evidence that the Irish actor has quietly become one of the finest action movie stars of all time…
After a bunch of miners become trapped in a remote diamond mind in northern Canada, for some reason it is up to a bunch of truck drivers to rescue them. Specifically ice truck drivers. Having spent some time in Winnipeg where this film is partly set, I can confirm that the whole concept of being an ice trucker is absolutely terrifying and everyone involved in it is nuts. The crazies in this film are made up of down-on-his-luck Mike McCann (Neeson), his PTSD afflicted brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas), leader of the operation Jim Goldenrod (Laurence Fishburne), livewire Tantoo (Amber Midthunder), whose brother is one of the trapped minors, and Tom from the insurance company (Benjamin Walker). If that last inclusion feels disingenuous for such a dangerous mission, the reasons for that do become apparent fairly early on.
So, the plot from writer-director Jonathan Hensleigh is pretty preposterous, and it actually stretches the limits of credulity more and more as the film goes on, but you don’t attend a film called The Ice Road for the plot. You show up to see big trucks crashing around on the ice. And on that score, Hensleigh’s movie is a striking success. Visually, The Ice Road is a lot of fun, and while Neeson is great, it must be said that the entire cast do a good job in bringing fairly one dimensional characters to life. Midthunder, currently receiving rave reviews for her performance in Prey – the latest film in the Predator franchise – is also great here. Her character is probably the least interesting on the page, but her spirited and emotive turn ensures that it is her character that the audience is rooting for the most.
If you don’t like action movies, there is absolutely nothing for you here, but for those who look back on the era of Arnie and Van Damme with fondness, this is the film for you. I was pretty much hooked throughout.