THE ICE ROAD should be exciting, daring, and unrelenting, but at the end of the day, it is just another white-out movie.
Over twenty diamond miners are trapped in a collapsed tunnel in northern Canada. The only way to save them with the necessary equipment is by trucking over frozen waterways and dangerous snow-covered passes – cue gritty Liam Neeson to the rescue.
The problem with THE ICE ROAD is not enough empathy. The writers didn’t spend the necessary time to draw in the audience and make us care. It’s just too “talky” for an adventure film, and no amount of gruffness or scowling can make a difference. I never even worried about the trapped miners. It was a very dark cave-in, and they all argued about methane with each other. I needed a heart-felt moment that would make me cry out for Liam to save them. Never happened.
THE ICE ROAD could have been so much more. It totally “missed the boat,” so I will keep on “truckin.” It is available to stream or not on Netflix.
