The Ice Road

Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, The Ice Road follows Liam Neeson’s Mike McCann as he agrees to take on a perilous gig transporting life-saving equipment across a frozen lake in his big rig. It’s almost inherently compelling subject matter that’s slowly-but-surely squandered by filmmaker Hensleigh, which is a shame, ultimately, given that the picture admittedly does kick off with a relatively engaging first half – with the watchable vibe heightened by Neeson’s typically commanding turn and a smattering of engrossing sequences and set-pieces. (The latter is particularly true of a stirring interlude wherein a fellow trucker, Laurence Fishburne’s Jim, finds himself caught in a life-or-death situation on a particularly precarious stretch of road.) There’s little doubt, then, that The Ice Road‘s decline is due primarily to its growing reliance on less-than-enthralling (and flat-out needless) elements, as Hensleigh, armed with his own screenplay, takes the emphasis off the natural (and engrossing) threats and instead begins to stress the encroaching menace of a seriously bland villain (Benjamin Walker’s Tom) and his corporate overseers – which, when coupled with a prolonged, hopelessly anticlimactic third act, ultimately does cement the film’s place as a disappointing misfire that could (and should) have been so much better.

*1/2 out of ****