If there’s one factor that each viewers member has an affordable proper to demand from a film with “Ice Street” within the title, it’s ice roads. That’s in all probability why “The Ice Street” succeeded sufficient to advantage a sequel within the first place. Jonathan Hensleigh’s 2021 movie starred Liam Neeson in certainly one of his off-the-rack late-career motion performances as a grizzled trucker who agrees to drive throughout a frozen lake to rescue a bunch of miners from a collapsing mine. However Hensleigh’s new sequel, “Ice Street: Vengeance,” doesn’t stay as much as the branding fairly as properly.
Save for one temporary mountainside drive, “Ice Street: Vengeance” doesn’t comprise practically sufficient ice roads to fulfill anybody who has been itching for extra slippery chase scenes since 2021. The movie does supply greater than its justifiable share of vengeance, so there’s actually no grounds to say false promoting. However the sequel’s divergence from the very factor that made its predecessor notable is extreme sufficient to boost the query of why they wanted to be related in any respect. “Vengeance” principally quantities to a very lengthy standalone Neeson motion flick that simply barely clears the bar of adequacy. There’s in all probability an viewers for it, however anybody hoping for an even bigger and higher model of the primary movie could be higher off drowning their sorrows by bingeing previous seasons of “Ice Street Truckers.”
Like “The Ice Street” earlier than it, the emotional core of this movie lies within the relationship between Neeson’s Mike McCann and his military veteran brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas). Whereas a lot of the primary movie revolved round Mike attempting to guard the PTSD-addled Gurty from a world that was decided to be merciless to him, the sequel picks up with Mike attempting to make sense of life after his brother’s loss of life. Gurty didn’t stay lengthy sufficient to attain his lifelong dream of climbing Mount Everest, however he made Mike promise to scatter his ashes at its summit to make sure he might get there in loss of life. A dutiful brother till the very finish, Mike buys a one-way ticket to Nepal and reluctantly agrees to pack his ashes in a TSA-approved container.
Upon arriving in Katmandu, Mike hyperlinks up with Dhani Yangchen (Fan Bingbing), an area information with whom he strikes an instantaneous connection. However as they take a tour bus to the bottom of Everest on the notorious “Street to the Sky,” the bus is attacked by mercenaries. As a result of Liam Neeson apparently made a take care of Devil to make sure that none of his cinematic alter egos ever know a second of peace, Mike finds himself on the coronary heart of a battle between a Nepali village and the corrupt politicians and builders who’re decided to destroy its ecosystem by constructing a brand new hydroelectric dam. Mike is initially compelled to drive the bus and struggle off dangerous guys to protect his personal security, however his connection to the locals grows till he has one thing larger than himself to struggle for.
By itself phrases, “Ice Street: Vengeance” will not be a horrible film. Neeson’s mediations on discovering methods to grieve with out placing your whole life on maintain supply extra emotional depth than you’re prone to discover in any direct-to-VOD motion film with “Vengeance” in its title. Bingbing’s character serves an identical perform to Amber Midthunder’s Tantoo from the primary film, and the Chinese language star enhances the movie with a offered mixture of compassion and badass fight abilities. The movie is way too lengthy with out providing sufficient spectacle to justify watching Neeson half-ass his manner by means of one more crusty motion position, however he’s actually been in worse.
Probably the most befuddling factor about “Ice Street: Vengeance” is the truth that it’s branded as a sequel to “The Ice Street” within the first place. The one actual connective tissue between the movies is the continuation of Mike’s grief journey, however it’s arduous to argue there was extra to discover within the “Liam Neeson performs a grizzled previous man with a coronary heart of gold beneath the tough exterior” archetype that we didn’t see in each different movie the actor has launched up to now 4 years.
The movie’s existence appears to depend on a guess that somebody on the market was dying to see a number of extra minutes of Gurty flashbacks. If that’s you, you’re in for an ideal weekend on the motion pictures.
Grade: C
A Vertical launch, “Ice Street: Vengeance” opens in theaters on Friday, July 27 and on VOD on July 1st.
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