As many cities suffer through another 90 degree day, city dwellers are finding a tropical oasis by watching a movie about...subzero temperatures and deadly icy encounters. The Ice Road, starring Liam Neeson and Lawrence Fishburne, is number two on Netflix — yes, a movie about ice and freezing weather conditions is leading the charts in the middle of summer. As much of an anomaly as that is, it’s even more puzzling because...the movie just isn’t that good which goes against the Liam Neeson standard; anything Neeson is in, is almost guaranteed to be good.
North Dakota born truck driver Mike McCann (Neeson) works in a truck repair shop with his brother John (Marcus Thomas) aka Gurty. Gurty served in Iraq and subsequently suffers from PTSD and aphasia, but is an excellent mechanic with a sharp eye for malfunctions. After Mike Mike knocks out a coworker for making an offensive comment about Gurty, they both lose their jobs. Without a plan, the brothers seem destined to find another mechanical job until Mike gets a text soliciting his help. Miles away, Katka Mine has collapsed and miners are trapped underground with limited oxygen and a team of skilled drivers is needed to save them before time runs out. Soon, the brothers meet safety supervisor Jim Goldenrod (Lawrence Fishburne), and young driver Tantoo (Amber Midthunder), whose brother is one of the trapped miners, to all drive 18 foot gas wellhead and 300 ft of pipe by truck across frozen bodies of water in less than 30 hours. And if the task didn’t sound dangerous enough, there’s also a $200,000 pay out split between the four — whoever doesn’t make it forfeits their share. But the rescue mission takes a dark turn as the group fight to stay alive in freezing temperatures and ulterior motives are revealed.
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This movie had all the potential to be amazing — who doesn’t like high stakes drama, especially ones involving irredeemable characters. While the movie itself does have some redeeming qualities like karma catching up with the “bad guy” in the end, it manages to fall short in other areas.
For one, the only Black man on the team dies first. Granted, he’s driving a massive truck across a massive stretch of frozen water, but couldn’t we have given Goldenrod a better stroke of luck or at least more than 34 minutes into the movie? It’s hard to think Neeson won’t carry any movie he’s in, but in this one, the indestructible Taken star takes a slight backseat to his co-star Thomas who carries the team on his back with his elite mechanic expertise and still ends up dead. As the team numbers dwindle, Mike and Tantoo realize Varnay (Benjamin Walker), who initially posed as Katka’s innocent insurance actuary, has been in on the deceptive plan from the beginning. In the end, we learn that new quotas proved too expensive for the company, so to avoid being shut down management told miners that there weren’t any gas pockets in the surrounding worksite, cut the gas sensors, and agreed to pay $100 per man per month — one big recipe for disaster.
— The fist fights, collapsed bridges, goons on snowmobiles feel more like ingredients of a Scooby-Doo episode than a thriller. It’s probably worth it to just rewatch Taken next time you need a dose of Neeson.
If you don’t believe me, watch for yourself; maybe the icy roads, snow, and avalanches in Ice Road are just what you need in the middle of summer.
If you don’t believe me, watch for yourself; maybe the icy roads, snow, and avalanches in Ice Road are just what you need in the middle of summer.