Liam Neeson is at it again in the Great White North.  Following Cold Pursuit and The Grey, Neeson is living proof that action-oriented fare can be promulgated in the frozen tundras of Alaska and, in this case, Canada.  The unusual setting certainly provides a thoughtful milieu for this rather obvious rescue tale, while some familiar faces give it gravitas and entertainment value.

Jonathan Hensleigh’s film stages an accident at a diamond mine in northern Canada, necessitating the delivery of rescue equipment from North Dakota, up along an ice road — out of season.  This means that the normally stable ice over large lakes has had a chance to thaw and is inherently more dangerous.  But three rescue trucks with redundant equipment, one driven by Mike (Neeson) and his mechanic, brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas), one driven by supervisor Jim Goldenrod (Laurence Fishburne) and one by young, temperamental Tantoo (Amber Midthunder) take to the somehow still plowed ice road to save twenty-six trapped miners.

By itself, this would probably work as a movie (remember The 33, the excellent Chilean miner rescue movie from a few years back), but writer-director Hensleigh throws sabotage and murder into the mix, as someone from the evil mining company doesn’t want the rescue to succeed.  This rather standard “greedy corporation” ploy, while probably quite realistic, turns drama into melodrama, as the drivers don’t know who to trust as their rigs suffer malfunctions before inevitably sinking into the abyss.  Who will survive?  Will the miners be saved?  You can see how the script lowers what might otherwise be an uplifting story into simplistic good vs. evil formula.

Some of the special effects involving the demise of the big trucks are pretty lame, while one section involving the uprighting of two overturned rigs makes no sense at all.  But, hey, what does that matter when Liam Neeson gets determined enough to save the day?  Some effective moments and dark humor give this movie a few low-key thrills, resulting in passable entertainment.  Neeson is good, as always, but the film’s focus on death and constant near death is tiring.  I wish that Hensleigh had put more faith in his premise rather than on the action-oriented accoutrements that threaten to sink it again and again.  ☆ ☆.  12 July 2021.