What would happen if you took the usual car chases but using long haul trucks? And what if the fight scenes happened inside the tight confine of the truck drivers cabin? Don’t know? The Ice Road movie answers those questions for you in a wild ride with an angry Liam Neeson.
When a remote diamond mine collapses in far northern Canada, 8 miners are reported dead and 26 trapped inside. Getting them out won’t be easy as the mine now has a pocket of highly explosive methane gas.
The solution lies in drilling a hole with a massive drill. However that drill is located elsewhere and it will take three long haul trucks to transport it to the mine. In addition the route they will travel includes driving over the Winnipeg Ice Road which has been closed for safety reasons. If all that’s not enough, there’s only three hours of air left in the mine and all potential drives are either already working or unavailable.
Enter long time driver Mike (Liam Neeson), and his mechanic brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas) recently fired from a driving job. Gurty is a veteran suffering from PTSD who dreams of owning his own truck, specifically one that costs around $200,000. As they ponder their future Mike reads the urgent text that’s gone out to all drivers. The job comes with the potential to earn … $200,000.
The drill rig is split over three trucks – the boss Goldenrod (Laurence Fishburne), Mike and Gurty, and a young female driver Tantoo (Amber Midthunder) who is paroled from jail for the job. Her brother Cody (Martin Sensmeier) is one of the trapped miners. Along for the ride is an insurance agent who rides with her.
The money will be split three ways. However if one of the trucks goes into the ice and the others carry on, the money will be split 50:50.
As the trucks take off the tension grows underground as factions start to form. If they culled their number there would be more air for the healthier amongst them.
With a storm forming outside my own window I pondered:
- You know you’re in trouble when Neeson’s character declares “no I’m angry. It’s not about money now, this is personal.”
- If you like Neeson’s usual movies you’ll enjoy this one;
- While the tension definitely mounts and keeps you involved, the seriously misplaced timelines and obvious storyline get in the way.
- Having said that The Ice Road movie is a good way to spend a raining Sunday afternoon.
For more information go to Event Cinema.
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