Director: Hans Petter Moland
Writer: Frank Baldwin (Screenplay) Kim Fupz Aakeson (Original Screenplay)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Michael Richardson, Michael Eklund, Bradley Stryker, Wesley MacInnes, Tom Bateman, Tom Jackson, William Forsythe
Plot: A snowplow driver seeks revenge against the drug dealers he thinks killed his son.
Tagline – The Perfect Revenge is all in the Execution.
Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Delightfully Dark
Story: Cold Pursuit starts when Nels Coxman (Neeson) wins the man of the year for his small town of Kehoe, he clears the roads for the residents in the snowy town, his son Kyle (Richardson) becomes a target for the local drug dealer Speedo (Eklund) who murders him.
Nels decides to go on a revenge mission, targeting Speedo first before moving up the chain, which sees him target the drug lord Viking (Bateman). Nels uses his brother Brock (Forsythe) to learn the field, which soon sees the Indians White Bull (Jackson) creating a turf war between the rival gangs.
Thoughts on Cold Pursuit
Characters – Nels is a quiet man who has spent his life cleaning the roads of snow, earning the respect of his town so much so that he gets the man of the city. When his son is murdered he goes out on a revenge mission against the local drug lords behind his murder. He remains calm even though he has lost everything, being prepared for every situation believing he is in control through the revenge. Grace is the wife and mother that just switches off leaving Nels after what happened. Viking is the local drug lord, he dictates everything in his life including his child’s menu, he is easily the one character you quickly come to hate because of his actions. White Bull is the leader of the Indians that run the operation in Kehoe, he end sup being dragged into the battle when Viking targets him for his own missing men, he isn’t happy with changes from the native land his forefathers once had.
Performances – Liam Neeson does give us a different performance than we are used to in this action films, this is one where he clearly looks like a reluctant killer who has lost everything. Tom Bateman is the highlight of the film, because he is the one that makes us hate him by how he treats everybody in his life, both personal and business. Tom Jackson brings a calm performance to his drug lord figure which will see a different idea to how his character sees the business. We get plenty of supporting performances that will get the laughs when needed.
Story – The story follows a mild-mannered man who sees his son murdered by the local drug lord and decides to go on his own revenge mission to eliminate the problem once and for all. This does play out differently than your normal revenge movie, because Nels side is slowly learning the hierarchy involved like normal, but how the drug lord deals with the problem sees him going after the rival gang which only builds the size of chaos going on. One of the weaknesses in the story is the police, who only seem to be involved to fill in certain blanks in the story rather than doing anything for the case. We do also tend to have conversations that aren’t needed which only drags certain scenes out for no reason, let not talk about the whole watching a car drive into Denver every single time.
Action – The action does feel held back in places which saves for the big blow off scene to complete the war between everybody involved.
Settings – The film is set in Kehoe, just outside of Denver, this is a snow covered town which is filled with tight roads in need of clearing, the locals are close and will help each other out.
Scene of the Movie – The death messages which show who has died and by which side of the battle.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Driving to Denver.
Final Thoughts – This is a dark action thriller which is filled with a dark humour, it is a simple revenge idea which will take things in different directions than the normal.
Overall: Darkly entertaining revenge film.
Rating
