Ice Road: Vengeance

2025 Vertical

Rated: Unrated

Length: 1 hr 52min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Starring: Liam Neeson, Fan Bingbing, Bernard Curry, Marcus Thomas, Salim Fayad and Geoff Morrell.

A fight for justice on the most dangerous road in the world.

Mike McCann (Liam Neesoon), an experienced ice-road trucker haunted by the loss of his brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas), embarks on a journey to Nepal to fulfill Gurty’s last wish: to have his ashes scattered atop Mount Everest. Partnering with Dhani (Fan Bingbing), a skilled local guide, Mike boards a tour bus alongside a cast of international travelers, including an American professor and his daughter, only for their plans to spiral into chaos when ruthless mercenaries hijack the bus. The mercenaries are in pursuit of Vijay, the son of a local opposition leader who stands in the way of a corrupt industrialist’s plan to build a hydroelectric dam and displace the village.

Trapped in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse along the perilous mountain roads, Mike and Dhani must use their wits and courage to protect the innocent passengers and the village itself. As they race against time, evading mercenaries, crooked officials, and sabotaged escape routes, Mike is forced to confront not only the threats around him but also his own guilt and grief. The climactic journey pushes Mike beyond his breaking point, ultimately allowing him to find closure and honor his brother’s memory in the shadow of the Himalayas.

So the only thing I can say about this is they should have called it Ice Road: Exploited. It is like they took the first movie and exploited it to make another movie completely different from the first. There is no Ice Road in this movie, it is completely based in Nepal although it wasn’t filmed there. It was filmed primarily in Walhalla, Victoria, Australia, where the filmmakers built a detailed Nepalese village set to stand in for scenes set in Nepal. Additional key filming locations included Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, Nepal, where several street-level and authentic city scenes were shot to enhance the film’s realism. Studio and indoor scenes, including those needing special effects to replicate Himalayan settings, were filmed at NantStudios (Docklands Studios) in Melbourne, Australia. Which explains the Australian Bus Driver in Nepal, I guess.

The only common ground in this was Mike taking Gurty’s ashes to Mt. Everest. There were flashbacks to Mike and Gurty before Gurty’s time in Afghanistan where he suffered a head injury, that might have been good to see in the first movie Ice Road. Beyond that it was Liam Neeson being the Taken action star on a tourist bus in Nepal. Then he was playing McGyver pulling bus parts off the side of a mountain like it was an everyday occurrence. That aspect of the movie felt like a cheap B-movie, a poor imitation of some of Liam’s other action flicks. And I have a hard time seeing the Mike McCann Ice Road Trucker being a rock climber, just don’t see it. And then at the end, there is a hint of a romance between Liam and Fan. I definitely wasn’t feeling that at all, they should have steered clear of that little plot twist.

I think they should have gone in a different direction. Maybe Mike and Tantoo should have teamed up to be an Ace Ice Road trucking company and had some adventures that would have made Gurty proud. That would have been a better story and movie. This one is a dog, it never should have happened, easily forgotten on it’s own and has nothing to do with the first one’s “Ice Road”. If you haven’t seen Ice Road, watch that movie and skip this one Ice Road: Vengeance. If you have seen Ice Road watch it again if you liked it, but skip this one Ice Road: Vengeance.

Ice Road (The Ice Road)

Ice Road (The Ice Road)

2021 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 43min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Directed by: Jonathan Hensleigh

Starring: Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne, Benjamin Walker, Amber Midthunder, Marcus Thomas, Holt McCallany, Martin Sensmeier, Matt McCoy, and Matt Salinger.

This Mission Is On Thin Ice

Mike McCann (Liam Neeson) is a Big Rig Driver hauling semi-trailers for The Nordak Trucking Company in Pembina, North Dakota. As he pulls in and gets out of a truck he hears his brother inside a garage being harassed by a couple of other truck drivers. His brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas) is an ace mechanic but suffers from PTSD and Aphasia from serving in The Iraq War. The truckers are calling him names and tossing his coffee thermos to each other keeping it from Gurty who is frantically trying to get it from them. Mike goes into the garage and catches the thermos mid-toss and reprimands the drivers for harassing his mentally challenged brother. One of the drivers calls him retard and Mike tells him,” I told you not to ever call him that!”. Then the driver looks at Mike at says, “RETARD!”. Mike promptly punches the man cold and he falls on the ground. Mike and Gurty are instantly fired from their jobs.

At the Katka Diamond Mine in Northern Manitoba, the miners have been instructed by the management to turn off their methane sensors in the mine in exchange for $100 dollars a month extra in their paychecks, so as to speed up production. The problem with that is as they are drilling they won’t know if they hit a methane pocket, which is extremely dangerous and could cause a huge explosion. And that’s exactly what happens and collapses the mine around 26 miners trapping them deep underground. The only way to save them is to cap the wellhead so they can safely extract the miners, but they need the equipment ASAP and the only way to get it there in time to save the miners is by trucking it across the already closed and starting to thaw Ice Road. A very risky mission, so risky they are going to be sending three different semi stuck and trailers, each equipped with the well head and supplies they need to cap the well, so that at least one will make it if two fail.

Mike hears about the mission needing drivers and decides, given the hefty payout, that the risk is worth it. He and Gurty head to Winnipeg to apply for the mission. Jim Goldenrod (Laurence Fishburne) has decided to organize the mission and is recruiting drivers for the job. He bails out Tantoo (Amber Midthunder), who is in jail for protesting, a Native American activist and the best Ice Road Trucker that Jim knows. When Jim gets back to the office with Tantoo he looks at Mike and Gurty and considers them for the risky Ice Road Run. After he watches Gurty take out a rocker arm assembly on an engine in no time at all, he tells them they are hired for the mission. Jim is going to drive one of the rigs himself, Mike and Gurty will drive the second and Tantoo the third rig. Tantoo’s brother works in the mine so the mission is personal for her, he is one of the trapped miners. Accompanying Tantoo is Tom Varnay (Benjamin Walker), an Insurance Risk assessor for The Katka Diamond Mine.

As the three head off onto the long Ice road and the treacherous mission running against the clock and the thawing ice, we find out that Tom Varnay has other ideas about any of the three rigs making it to The Katka Mine. The race is on against the elements, the ice, and the risk assessor sent by the management of the mine that don’t want the mission to succeed. It is a familiar Liam Neeson Action movie, the underdog called to action to make things right, thwart the bad guys and succeed in his mission. He does not disappoint in this role, it is exactly what you expect of the Taken star. This time as a trucker making his way across the perilous Ice Roads of Northern Canada. He plays the part well, as does Laurence Fishburn. I really liked Amber Midthunder in this as the gritty Native American girl not afraid of the white man. Marcus Thomas as Gurty was loveable, you felt for the guy trying to help his brother achieve success on the run and battling his disabilities

So while it is a bit predictable, it is also a fun ride full of action and adventure. There are definitely some edge of your seat moments as the danger escalates. I have seen this a few times and watched it again before I watch the sequel Ice Road: Vengeancetonight on Amazon Prime. I watched Wind River again a few nights ago and as I was watching this last night I thought one of the miners looked familiar. He was in Wind River too. Martin Sensmeier played Tantoo’s brother Cody Mantooth, one of the miners trapped in the mine in this and Chip, Natalie’s brother in Wind River.

The Ice Road is s good movie if you haven’t seen it. Liam Neeson doing what he does best on The Ice Road. Stay tuned for the sequel review tomorrow…..Ice Road: Vengeance!

Ice Road: Vengeance

Wind River

In The Land Of Saints And Sinners

2023 Samuel Goldwyn Films

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 45min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller ~ Western

Directed by: Robert Lorenz

Starring: Liam Neeson, Kerry Condon, Jack Gleeson, Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds.

“A Saint’s gotta be a Sinner first.”

Liam Neeson stars as Finbar Murphy, a hit man quietly living in Glencomcille in Donegal, Ireland. Finbar masquerades as a bookseller and lives a sedentary life amongst the locals and is friends with the local Police Officer Vincent O’Shea (Ciarán Hinds). Secretly he does contract killing for the local crime boss Robert McQue (Colm Meaney). When Finbar returned home from WW II he found that his wife had died while he was away fighting. He fell into the bottle, having fallen into an alcohol-fueled deep dark depression. Robert convinced him to put his war talents to use and become a hitman for him. Finbar takes on a job kidnapping an ex-hitman from the town of Bantry. Troubled by the man’s words before Finbar kills him, he tells Robert afterwards he is done with killing. He wants to lead a quieter, richer life and help people, not off them.

As Robert is starting his new retirement from being an assassin, a group of IRA members have found their way to the quiet little seaside town. They have extended family there and are on the lam, being wanted for a bombing that killed three innocent children. They hole up in their sister-in-law Sinéad’s barn who works at the local tavern that Finbar frequents. Finbar runs into Sinéad’s daughter Moya fishing along the road and notices her bruised wrists. He eventually gets her to tell him who did this to her and she confesses it was one of the strangers staying in her Mom’s barn. Finbar asks Robert for advice in the matter, being very upset that one of them was hurting and abusing the child.

Robert decides to take matters into his own hands and do one more unsanctioned hit by kidnapping and killing the stranger named Curtis. As Curtis is forced out of the trunk of the car, he lashes at Finbar with a knife he had hidden. As the struggle ensues, Kevin (Jack Gleeson) who is Finbar’s protégé, happens onto the scene and helps Finbar. Doireann (Kerry Condon), the leader of the band of IRA members, starts to suspect foul play when Curtis disappears and tries to find out information about the town and the local crime scene. Which eventually leads her to Robert and the knowledge that Robert and Finbar know who and what she is. And that Finbar is responsible for Curtis’s disappearance.

What follows is a hunt and chase through the Irish sea bound countryside as Finbar and Kevin, and Doireann and her gang search each other out. It is classic Liam (which I found out is short for William) Neeson doing what he does best. And doing a FINE JOB OF IT AS WELL I might add. Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds are familiar faces, both being Irish actors you’ve seen in a lot of movies. Both very likeable in this movie. Jack Gleeson does a great job playing the young hired assassin who dreams of a better life in California. Kerry Condon, another Irish actor, deserves a shout out in this, absolutely marvelous job of portraying the hardened IRA member fighting and killing in the name of a free Ireland. A complete bad-ass full of anger and vulgarity with no scruples when it comes to the cause.

The movie was shot entirely in Ireland with all Irish Actors and an all Irish film crew. The director wanted to do it that way to add to the realism of the movie. It is a story about “The Troubles ” in Ireland in the 1970’s, the political upheaval and merciless killings and bombings. It is definitely Irish, complete with heavy Irish brogue dialogue that can be hard to understand. Think Irish before you watch it, practice your accent. It will help with understanding the dialogue. The scenery is beautiful along the rocky coastline, and the quiet little towns. It reminds me of an old Western movie with Liam being the cowboy who brings the bad guys to justice on his terms.

I really enjoyed this movie, being a fan of Liam Neeson I think this is one of his better movies. Again, I really liked Kerry Condon in this as well. I would recommend this one, especially if you like Liam Neeson and Ireland, it does center around the troubled history of the 1970’s and The IRA.

Highly Recommended! (Two in a row!-The Piano Lesson)

TWO THUMBS UP!

Memory

2022 Open Road Films

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 54min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Starring: Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Harold Torres, Taj Atwal and Ray Fearon.

“His mind is fading. His conscience is clear.”

Liam Neeson as Alex Lewis, a hired hitman living in Mexico. He takes on an assignment for a double hit that will take him to El Paso, Texas. His brother has severe Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a nursing home there. Alex leaves for El Paso and stops off to see his brother before embarking on his two contract assignments. His brother is vacant minded and doesn’t acknowledge Alex’s presence. Alex talks to him anyway and presses an old quarter from 1969 into his hand. “Remember that year?, That was a good year.” Alex kisses him on the forehead and leaves for his two assignments.

The first is Ellis Van Camp, the manager of the central processing facility for immigrants in El Paso. Alex waits for him to be alone in his house before entering and forcing Ellis to open his home safe. Alex retrieves the flash drive from Ellis before shooting him and leaves. Alex’s next hit is a young female Mexican immigrant named Beatriz. She was taken from Ellis’s processing facility and placed in a foster home by the police officer that killed her pimp, Papa Leon. Upon entering in the night and seeing that she is a young girl, Alex leaves without killing her, drawing the line at “taking out” children.

He informs his client they need to “Cancel the contract” , but they won’t have it and put out a contract on Alex. So there are three stories going on here, and I’ll try not to give out any spoilers…….

There is the story of Alex dealing with the fast onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and losing his memory just like his brother. And his refusal to kill the girl and his desire to kill those who hired him to kill the girl. Also his desire to kill those who exploited the young girls in the prostitution ring as he watches what’s on the flash drive.
There is the story of the two El Paso police officers tracking the child prostitution ring where Beatriz came from and that Alex is also pursuing.
There is the story of the Police Officer assigned to the case in New Mexico, out of his jurisdiction, who is actually a vigilante seeking justice for the victims of the child prostitution ring who were mostly young girls abducted from Mexico.

It is a little difficult to follow in the beginning, as you watch different scenes unfold that seemingly have no common thread. As you watch remember they are all headed for the same child prostitution ring, they just don’t know it yet. And as the movie progresses their paths all cross. As Alex’s Alzheimer progresses he is forgetting things and having to write them on his forearm. And he is taking medication that has kept it at bay until now, but the pills are no longer being effective as the disease is very aggressive.

It is not one of Liam Neeson’s best but it isn’t his worst either. It was just alright. The storyline was pretty hard to follow, I didn’t put it all together until late in the movie. The action scenes weren’t that good, nor the plot. And some of the acting by the other actors wasn’t top notch. It felt pretty discombobulated as you jump from scene to scene not knowing what they have in common.

So yes, it’s worth a watch (maybe) but it is definitely a “One-off”. I wouldn’t watch it again.

One thumb up, the other down.

Marlowe

2022 Open Road Films

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 49min

Crime ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by: Neil Jordan

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, and Jessica Lange.

“Los Angeles, a city of angels, more like the city of dirty little secrets. People pay me to look into the activities of it’s finest citizens. I’m a private detective. The name is Phillip Marlowe.”

Liam Neeson stars as Phillip Marlowe, a Private Investigator in Los Angeles, California in October 1939. A woman named Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger) hires Marlowe to find out what happened to her ex-lover Nico Peterson. Jessica Lange plays Dorothy Quincannon, a Hollywood actress, an Oil baron Heiress and Clare’s mother. Marlowe quickly discovers that Peterson is allegedly dead after falling down drunk in front of a passing car.

Marlowe then visits Claire Cavendish to tell her the news of his demise but she swears she just saw him in Tijuana. Frustrated at Claire not being forthcoming with the information he leaves to follow more leads. And one lead leads to another and another. The further we go into the movie the murkier the story and plot seem to get. It’s hard to figure out what is really going on in this movie.

This film is loosely based on the Raymond Chandler character Philip Marlowe and The Black-Eyed Blonde, a 2014 Novel by John Banville. Humphrey Bogart starred as Phillip Marlowe in the 1946 movie The Big Sleep and there have been a lot of tv shows and movies with the Phillip Marlowe character thru the decades. I also discovered this is Liam Neeson’s 100th film.

I liked the old black and white Film noir movies. The slang and the wiseguy cracks. Marlowe seems to imitate those old movies on the surface but lacks any depth. It’s nice to see Liam Neeson attempting a different role than the hardcore vigilante roles we are used to seeing him in. But the dialogue fell flat for me. It was pretty slow watching.

I’d have to say I don’t really recommend this one.

There are way better Liam Neeson Movies, definitely not his best.

One thumb up, the other down……way down.