<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by Hans Petter Moland. Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Tom Bateman, Tom Jackson, Emmy Rossum, John Doman, Julia Jones, Domenick Lombardozzi, William Forsythe, Ben Hollingsworth

Running time: 2 hours

After all the Taken films and most of his other movies, you’d think Liam Neeson would take revenge on anyone who steals his yoghurt! Expecting little and not quite sure where this film was going in the first 20 minutes, I was gleefully surprised at the turn the movie takes at parodying all those ‘revenge films’ and having so much fun while people are killed off every 10 minutes.

Neeson does what we know him to do best: pound the shit of the bad guys until he gets his revenge. And in this icy setting in Kehoe, Colorado, revenge is indeed a dish best served cold.

Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) owns a company that uses giant shovelling vehicles to burrow through mountains of snow to clear a path for the residents of the ski town of Kehoe. But his life is quickly turned upside down when his son is murdered and he decides to take matters into his own hands. There’s not much background explanation to his extraordinary strength or skills at tracking down the bad guys or deftly disposing of bodies. At first you’re wondering if this is a badly made film or just some quirky satire. It’s certainly the latter with heaps of dark humour, dry wit, smart references and nods and knocks to other films in this genre.

Neeson’s character in Cold Pursuit is based on the lead in director Hans Petter Moland’s Norwegian film In Order of Disappearance (2014), which Cold Pursuit is based on. And you can see that European sensibility through this film, which saves it from the formula, mindless action flick it would have turned out in Hollywood’s hands.

Nels’ revenge rampage leads to drug cartel lord Viking (Tom Bateman) warring with an American Indian cartel leading to some vicious beheadings and very comical killings. And in between all of this is Viking’s neglected son and several other characters with so much ‘character’ that there’s never a dull moment. And this isn’t just superficial violence and action. There are some very heart-warming moments in Cold Pursuit. But I won’t give them away; you need to go watch for yourself.

Go watch it with your buddies and laugh out loud at this truly weird tale that could well achieve a cult following. We certainly need more cinema like this.