At one point in darkly comic revenge film Cold Pursuit (watch the trailer below), one of Nelson Coxman’s victims says to him, “You don’t know who you’re messing with.” Come on, this is Liam freakin’ Neeson we’re talking about!
The actor might have landed himself in hot water thanks to comments he made recently about some violent thoughts he had many years ago, but snow-plough driver Nels, like the action characters Neeson has played since the career-revitalising Taken, knows how to handle himself just fine.
It’s a pity the taciturn fellow didn’t pass on his survival skills to his adult son, Kyle (Micheál Richardson), who inadvertently finds himself on the wrong side of some nasty drug dealers. It’s a case of wrong place, wrong time. When Nels learns his boy has been killed, and doesn’t buy the “he must have been a junkie” line he’s fed by disinterested authorities, he enacts a methodical revenge.
Snuffing out the gangsters responsible one by one, Nels works his way up the hierarchy in the process. Things get complicated when he learns the identity of the crime boss involved – a psychopath named Viking (Bateman), who is less easy to get to.
What makes Cold Pursuit more than just a vigilante spree by a grieving dad is the humour injected into the film, itself a remake of Norwegian action movie In Order of Disappearance. It’s funny without being flippant, and anchored by a rock-solid performance by Neeson as the stoic, single-minded Nels. (Out now) 4 stars
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