There's One Thing About Liam Neeson's New Action Movie That Makes My Blood Boil

Liam Neeson has a new action movie available to stream right now. Unlike the Taken actor’s “really smart” Naked Gun reboot, Ice Road: Vengeance, a sequel to a surprisingly great 2021 action thriller, is one I probably should have left on my “to do” list that never gets crossed off. I liked the first movie and thought to myself that the 2025 movie would at least be fun, but after watching it with my Netflix subscription, I have a major bone to pick.

I have a myriad of problems with Ice Road: Vengeance, with its story about an ice-road trucker traveling to Mt. Everest to scatter his brother’s ashes, but there’s one specific aspect of this movie that makes my blood boil. Allow me to explain…

Ice Road: Vengeance Constantly Cuts Away From The Action, Especially During The Numerous Deaths

Going into Ice Road: Vengeance, I knew it was a PG-13 action movie, and so I didn’t expect to see a lot of violence, unsettling imagery, or any other characteristics of harder-edged thrillers. However, this movie makes a habit of constantly cutting away from the action whenever one of the characters is about to get shot, stabbed, or pushed off the side of a cliff in the Himalayas.

Sure, I was able to put two and two together and figure out what happened to some major characters (no spoilers) or random unnamed gunmen, but at least show the action a few times instead of quickly cutting away to sanitize the violence. I mean, Heads of State, which we gave a 4 out of 5 stars in our official review, managed to be more violent while not losing the PG-13 rating, so what gives?

The Fates Of Certain Characters Were Left Up In The Air Way Too Much

A lot of people die in this movie (like a lot), but for the majority of those death scenes, the camera either cuts away from the action or the scene entirely. I’m not kidding you, there were multiple characters whose deaths were left so ambiguous I was waiting for them to show up again before it was all said and done (this happens, by the way).

Again, this is a tried and true action movie trope where a secondary character you thought was toast shows up to save the day in the end. However, that’s not really the case here, and those characters are given an OK conclusion a few minutes later.

I Really Dug The First Ice Road Movie, But It Was Hard To See This One Through

Though some of my colleagues weren’t too hot on The Ice Road back in 2021 (CinemaBlend gave it 2 out of 5 stars), I really dug the movie and the chemistry shared by Liam Neeson and Amber Midthunder. After the Ice Road ending, I didn’t necessarily need to see a sequel, but I remember thinking it would be fun to see Neeson’s Mike McCann again. However, I don’t feel the same way after watching Ice Road: Vengeance.

It was hard to get through this sequel, even outside of the movie’s habit of pulling away from the action. I’m a sucker for punishment, but a man can only take so much.

Stream Ice Road: Vengeance on Netflix.