After a remote mine collapses in north Canada, a team is sent on a rescue mission to save them : with writing credits that include Armageddon, The Saint, Jumanji, Die Hard with a Vengeance and directing credits on 2004’s The Punisher and mob thriller Kill the Irishman in 2011 Jonathan Hensleigh is behind the wheel again & it sure is fun to have him back… THE ICE ROAD stars Liam Neeson as Mike, a hard working no nonsence truck driver who along with his brother Gurty a war veteran who suffers from aphasia takes on a well paid job (some would say a suicide mission) to drive a rig across icy terrain in a bid to save a whole bunch of trapped miners who are slowly running out of air… I really loved the concept behind The Ice Road and like the majority of Neeson’s action romps it’s kept simple, the action and pace is exciting, the effects and photography are effective without being too much in your face and it’s support cast including Legion’s Amber Midthunder, Marcus Thomas who plays Gurty, the always reliable Holt McCallany, The Matrix star Laurence Fishburne and Benjamin Walker all do well in their respective roles : my only slight negative is I felt Hensleigh missed a trick in not capatalising on Gurty’s mechanical talent, maybe he should have fleshed out the story a tad to give his character and others a little more depth, since he also wrote the story I wonder if there was more available but was left on the cutting room floor? this being said the Icy road scenes involving the three resuce trucks, the drama of the miners trapped fighting for their lives, that insane bridge finale and Neeson’s reliable match stick chewing presence certainly makes up for any shortcomings and I finished the movie with a smile on my face, enjoying what I had seen and would certainly recommend The Ice Road to others ★★★½
absolutebadasses 