'The Ice Road', starring Liam Neeson, is a flawed film that sets itself up for a frosty reception

Despite the enormous talent involved, the new action movie disappoints

Liam Neeson plays a veteran trucker in ‘The Ice Road’. Netflix

A mere 15 minutes into The Ice Road you’ll feel certain that the action-thriller is going to be laughably bad.

It opens with the collapse of a remote diamond mine in the far north of Canada – a disaster that leaves a group of people trapped inside with only a day’s worth of oxygen to breathe. Not only does the explosion look unreal, but the accompanying dialogue to introduce Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Holt McCallany and Laurence Fishburne’s characters is so dry that the film's 108-minute running time immediately feels like it’s going to be torturous.

Neeson plays Mike, a veteran trucker desperate for cash, who, alongside his younger brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas), signs up to drive the life-saving drilling equipment to the miners, across an ocean of incredibly thin ice in an 18-wheeler. Mike and Gurty’s makeshift crew is led by Fishburne’s Jim Goldenrod, and is rounded out by Benjamin Walker’s Varnay, who works for the company. Meanwhile, Midthunder plays Tantoo, an ice-road expert whose brother is trapped in the mine.

Despite its rocky opening, The Ice Road’s first action sequence manages to deliver, as it quickly establishes how dangerous and suicidal the mission is. Writer and director Jonathan Hensleigh shot this scene perfectly, ramping up the tension and thrills in a genuinely enthralling manner, with the film’s intimidating and frosty locale even making it feel original, too.

Hensleigh, who previously had a hand in writing Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jumanji, Con Air and Armageddon, manages to quickly open up the world of The Ice Road by suddenly revealing a previously hidden threat.

While this reveal won’t be surprising to action movie fans, it at least provokes Neeson’s Mike to utter the words that will get fans of the genre excited: “Now I’m angry. It’s not about the money. It’s personal.”

Neeson doesn't bring the same level of menace to his performance as he does in Taken, Run All Night or Honest Thief, but the longer The Ice Road goes on the more his screen presence grows.

Hensleigh has tried his best, squeezing as many set-pieces and obstacles into the film as he can, as the treacherous landscape starts to crack beneath them and members of the ragtag crew begin to turn on each other.

While it’s hard to ignore the flaws, there are a few instances when scenes are set up well, and you’re left to wonder how the characters are going to get out of their predicaments.

However, The Ice Road ends up feeling like it goes on for way too long, leaving the viewer completely detached from the events unfolding. Ultimately, considering the enormous talent involved, the film feels like a disappointment.

The Ice Road is on Netflix and will be out in UAE cinemas on Thursday, July 1