Cold Pursuit

Taken, but better and with a splash of notions. That's a good way to describe Cold Pursuit. It's a modern day Neeson action film by the numbers but there's more than enough odd humour and strange little touches to lift it above the mire. Of course due to the nonsense that tumbled out of Neeson's idiotic mouth during an interview last week most people will overlook it now. It's a pity.  If this had been a success it could have given his career the boot up the arse it needed to stop it stagnating. This may be his last leading role for a while I'd imagine.

Nelson Coxman lives in a ski resort called Kehoe, a place holed away in the Rocky Mountains. He runs a snow plough business, he's just been made citizen of the year, life is good. Then his son dies of a supposed heroin overdose which tears Nelson's life apart. He's frenzied with grief until he gets word that his son's death was no accident. Now he has a purpose for living. Revenge. Revenge against a drug lord named Viking Calcote. Viking hasn't a clue what's happening and blames a rival gang. Before long the Rocky Mountains are splattered red.

This is a shot for shot remake of the 2014 Norwegian thriller 'In Order Of Disappearance'. It's even directed by the same person, Hans Petter Moland. If you've seen it you'll know exactly what to expect. Even if you haven't you're probably going to enjoy it. It's Liam Neeson murdering bad guys but it's funnier, stranger, quirkier and... well better than anything he's done in the last decade. Moland and screenwriter Frank Baldwin take their time and create an unusual little sandbox for Coxman to cause havoc in. The henchman who die in their dozens throughout the film aren't the usual faceless cannon fodder we've come to expect. They get back stories, ridiculous nicknames, grim perversions, they like to have fun, they take advantage of white guilt in hilarious moments, they even get to have love lives. It's a weird thing to see because it rarely happens and it adds a nice depth to a movie where you'd expect none.

Because of this the first half of the film is a highly enjoyable watch. Storylines and characters get moved into place like pieces on a chessboard. The care taken with it all will have you expecting a very special ending indeed and sadly it's here where the film falters. Coxman's revenge mission is pushed to one side as we spend more and more time with the gangs he'll fight against and the film loses some of it's earlier propulsion as a result. When the fireworks are finally lit it all becomes very generic. Characters we've grown to enjoy vanish in bursts of blood. Oh, it's all satisfying crunchy but it's nothing we haven't seen a billion times before.

Neeson is Neeson. He doesn't do anything new but he does it convincingly. At one point an enemy calls him an old man and he just laughs. It's good to see the movie acknowledging his aging action man status because all his other action flicks just seem to ignore it. It's nice to see William Forsythe popping up as his brother Brock too. A mainstay in 80's and 90's action movies who's all but disappeared these days. He doesn't have a particularly big part but he adds a pleasing heft to proceedings. The only wasted actor onscreen is Laura Dern who plays the thankless part of Nelson's grieving wife. She's not in the film long enough to make an impact but thankfully other actors like Emmy Rossum and Domenick Lombardozzi make an impression in smaller parts. There's so much background colour in this film that it does genuinely give it a unique feel. That feel extends to the bad guys too. Tom Bateman as Viking is far from the usual bland blah that passes for villainy these day while Tom Jackson as a crime rival called White Bull brings a lovely dignity to his part.

I know a large slice of the potential audience for this film will avoid it due to recent news but if you find yourself with nothing to do for 2 hours this is a surprisingly good way to kill time. It's fun, it's crunchy, it's silly and it's quirky. It's exactly what you'll expect while being far from what you'd expect.