Liam Neeson has basically become the elder statesmen of action stars. At the beginning of every year, we get a new Liam Neeson action/thriller vehicle. Some are fun (RUN ALL NIGHT). Some are best left forgotten (TAKEN 2 & 3). They all feel a bit routine though at this point. Neeson seems content to be an action guy now and not really test himself or at the very least tweak the Neeson action formula a bit.
At least that was how I felt until I saw the trailer for the upcoming COLD PURSUIT. Which sees our boy Liam as a... vengeful snow plow driver?! Check it out:
All joking aside (and really that concept is super easy to make fun of), I have to say that this looks really fun. I like the dark comedy vibe I get from large chunks of that footage. It seems like the kind of tweak this formula really needed. The film is a remake of a foreign film called IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE. Both films are directed by Hans Peter Moland. Yep. We have a FUNNY GAMES situation where a director has remade their own film for English speaking audiences.
Here is the official synopsis, if you are curious:
COLD PURSUIT, an action thriller infused with irreverent humor, stars Liam Neeson as Nels Coxman, a family man whose quiet life with his wife (Laura Dern) is upended following the mysterious death of their son. Nels' search for justice turns into a vengeful hunt for Viking (Tom Bateman), a drug lord he believes is connected to the death. As one by one each of Viking's associates "disappear," Nels goes from upstanding citizen to ice-cold vigilante, letting nothing - and no one - get in his way.
What do you guys think? Are you into it? Do you wish that Neeson was squaring off with "The Plow King" played by Danny Trejo? Let's us know!
COLD PURSUIT will plow (get it?) its way into theaters this February.
- Matthew Essary
(aka "Wheels")
