Even Liam Neeson is getting tired of his own action movies. He stated in January 2021 he was finishing the bone-crunching flicks he was contracted, but not signing on for any more ass-kickery.

It appears the Taken star is limping across the finish line with the hamfisted, ridiculous The Ice Road.

To say Neeson – an Oscar nominee – is good in everything he does isn’t a stretch. The man exudes an understated charisma that most actors could only dream of. He makes it look effortless.

But with The Ice Road, you can tell he’s putting in the bare minimum he has to, and it shows.

He’s had a successful leap into action fare for over a decade, but this story about three truckers who try to rescue miners trapped under a diamond mine in Canada just spins its wheels for far too long.

What could have been a well-told, grounded story quickly turns into an over-the-top conspiracy plot that just doesn’t fit.

Writer-director Jonathan Hensleigh is someone I’d consider great in the genre. He wrote Jumanji, Armageddon, and The Saint, but he’s sliding all over the track here.

Neeson is joined by Laurence Fishburne, a bright spot in the proceedings, but the two just can’t seem to dig out of a plot frozen in 1995.

It has some really great action sequences, but The Ice Road eventually drowns under too much exposition and not enough ambition.

2/5 Stars