Cold Pursuit

I would suggest before you watch this or think about watching it: go and watch the original! Way better, way funnier (darker) and feels generally better in tone. Now obviously some may think this is Taken or like Taken - it is not. Which makes some of the people watching this already mad. Especially because they don't know the movie this is based on.

I can only urge you so much to watch the other movie. Which doesn't mean this is bad. The movie this takes its cues from was too good for them to mess the remake up. The actors here try their best though and if you don't care for subtitles (which many will need since it is not in English, the Original that is), you could do far worse.

I was expecting a movie similar to Neeson's "Taken". "Cold Pursuit" was much better. In fact, Neeson was really one of the ensemble actors in the movie. Anyway, Cold Pursuit was really a dark comedy more than a thriller. The film reminded me in a good way of Fargo. It wasn't quite as good as Fargo but it had a similar feel to it. I'm sure this is not the first review to make that observation.

So I am recommending Cold Pursuit with the warning that if you are expecting a recycled "Taken" or "Non-Stop" you will be surprised. Hopefully pleasantly surprised.

This film was not what I was expecting but once I understood and came to grips with the fact it was a dark comedy, in a Fargo-esque sort of way, and a parody of revenge killing films, rather than meant to be taken seriously other than for its beautiful absurdity, I started to really enjoy it.

The whole movie was fun escapism with gratuitous violence, and hyper-exaggerated cliché portrayals of Native Americans, crime bosses and average men being local heroes, etc. Not to mention an exponentially growing kill tally. What is not to love?

It was a special treat for those of us that live in Denver, as although much of the movie was supposed to take place here, none of the neighborhoods, architecture, streets, buildings, trees, landscaping, mountain ranges, etc. matched anything close to what really exists in Denver. I spent the entire movie looking for something I could place as actually being in Denver, but I came up empty. Instead, a totally fictitious version thereof was portrayed (too surreal to match any actual city I am aware of, but closer to a blend of the more affluent parts of Los Angeles and Vancouver than Denver, with world class architecture and night clubs) which fit in perfectly with the artfully crafted alternative universe intended to be created. Like the bizarre relationships between the characters, I slowly began to realize that what first appeared to be a sloppy annoyance was in fact an intentional critique of the genre and actually a quite clever game with the audience.

Many will undoubtedly knock this film for being unrealistic, absurd, over the top, culturally insensitive, and with settings that did not match named cities (at least those such as Denver that actually exist). Those people just failed to see that was the entire point. You shouldn't go in expecting to see realism, complex character development, suspense and drama, or something akin to Taken. Instead, go in expecting to see a dark comedy parody film. Think Fargo meets Peppermint, with a wink to Quentin Tarantino in honor of his impact on modern cinema.

In a snow drenched ski town in Colorado. Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) a snow plough driver's world is disintegrating after his son dies of a suspected drug overdose.

When Nels discovers that his son was murdered, he goes after revenge against the drug gang who were involved in his son's death. Nels manages to orchestrate a gang war.

Cold Pursuit is a remake of the Norwegian film, In Order Of Disappearance. It is better than Neeson's recent action fare since he hit unexpected bullseye in Taken.

The movie has hard action in a bleak snowy landscape. It also has a lot of black humour making it rather quirky and offbeat.

Some thought has gone into the movie and the characters. As if the makers were deconstructing Neeson's other revenge thrillers and playing around with the tropes.

Blood, Vengeance, and Brutal deaths, love it! This is an exemplar of a good action movie to watch. Liam Neeson at his best work.