Ice Road: Vengeance

In an overall general way, Ice Road part 2 is entertaining, but it's also a ridiculous movie, with an awful script, horrible acting, and at times so bad it was funny. There is absolutely nothing in it that even slightly resembles reality. There is one sequence in the film that is so preposterous and seemed to signal that they decided to set the movie in fantasyland. Even the CGI is fake looking and on the level of something from the 1950s. Liam is doing his best and at 73 looks incredible. It's a shame he has to make films like this and while at times it is suspenseful it's also embarrassing. Worth a watch just to see how low movies have sunk.

This film had all the ingredients to be something remarkable, a gripping premise, the raw and treacherous beauty of Nepal's unforgiving roads, and the presence of Liam Neeson, whose performance rarely disappoints. And yet, what could've been a visually stunning and emotionally compelling survival thriller fell flat, entirely due to a poorly written story that disrespected both geography and authenticity.

Instead of leveraging the naturally dangerous terrain of Nepal to drive a more grounded and believable plot, the filmmakers seemed more interested in rushing through implausible sequences. The most jarring offense? Presenting a CGI version of Everest that looked painfully out of place, especially when we know the real mountains are right there, majestic, harsh, and more cinematic than any computer-generated replica.

Even worse, the portrayal of Nepali culture and language was laughable. Random gibberish passed off as "Nepali" only served to insult rather than represent. For those of us who know and love the country, this felt careless, even offensive.

And let's address the elephant in the room: you simply cannot take a bus from Kathmandu and reach Everest in a few hours. The film treats this like a casual weekend trip. It's not just misleading; it's disrespectful to the very people whose land and struggle the movie pretends to showcase.

The only reason I gave this movie 5 stars was because of Liam Neeson. Strip him away, and this wouldn't deserve more than a 2. A spectacular setting wasted on a lazy script and cheap execution.

So, let's not talk about the story - you already know what you're getting. "He will hunt them down" is back in business.

The plot is solid but offers no surprises. And that's a shame, because surprise is often what separates a good movie from a mediocre one.

The CGI, however, feels like it's from another planet - and not in a good way.

That planet is cheap and artificial. Take the CGI bus, for example: it's empty, even though it should be full of passengers. The scenes with falling cars look low-budget, and at times it seems like they didn't even film in Nepal - just in front of green or blue screens. The lighting was also off in several scenes.

In the end, the film didn't entertain me. It mostly screamed "bad CGI" again and again.

What a shame.

I think all the negative Nellies were expecting something different. This is fun, fast paced, and exciting. Do you need suspend belief a lot, yes. But, enjoy the mindless enjoyable movie that it is. The characters made sense, and had chemistry. It was nice to see another country ( not Columbian drug lords this time).

After all the remakes that Liam Neeson has been making since the first 'Taken' was made (in 2008) -- at last, a film with an original story. And by 'remakes' I don't just mean actual sequels. I also mean that even his brand new films frequently seem to be carbon copies of his other movies!

This film breaks that pattern. No more one man on a mission. No more over-CGI'ing. No more repeats of the same story schematic, and identical plot devices. So many of Neeson's recent films have replicated his other output of the Noughties-plus that I, quite literally, can't tell these movies apart!

'Ice Road' - the predecessor to this sequel - is also a very good film, so that production was a delightful surprise. But this follow-up just seems even more stand-out than the first movie.

It's got a wonderful plot, a great script, fine casting, superb action sequences, and edge-of-seat thrills. And - for once in a modern action film - it is believable that many of these fights etc would have happened, let alone have been survived!

Admittedly there is one definite shortcoming: some of the CGI'd moments - explosions etc - appear somewhat cheaply made i_e_ the results are a bit blurry. But does it really matter? If the special effects do the job so that viewers can see the result, then it has done it's job in telling the plotline of the film.

The rest of the film's features are perfectly on form. The cinematography is great, the scene setting magical, the overall effect of the film is almost visceral. And a film set in the country in Nepal? I don't think think I've ever before seen such a setting or landscape on film. Original idea for a plot location, beautiful, and attention-grabbing for the viewer.

The acting - by largely unknowns-to-me - is marvellous. And Neeson is finally in a new film where both his involvement and the overall product are well presented. The script is excellent: it is never over-laboured, just nuanced to the correct level. We the viewers are not treated as dumb, but as intelligent beings. The backstories of the characters are sufficient but not over-emoted. The movie has just enough of all the elements needed: excitement, friendship, hope, trust, fear, human resilience, and more.

In many ways the film reminds me of the great action-adventure films of the 1990s: Tom Berenger's 'Deadly Pursuit', amongst many others. Let alone the same decade's films that actually feature mountain climbing scenes, e.g. Sly Stallone's 'Cliffhanger', 'Vertical Limit', Tom Cruise's opening scene in 'M. I. 2', etc. Like films of that era, this movie doesn't rely on CGI, nor on unrealistic feats of human strength (BTW I blame such films as the 'Matrix' franchise for pushing viewers to believe - or wish for - this level of strength in humans!). Instead this film of well into the 21st century has a realistic plot, a character-driven basis, warmth, excitement, and believability. An homage to the best of the older generation of adventure movies. An all-round action movie of the best class.

Well done to the team - actors, production, et al. This one's a winner.