'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
A mere 15 minutes into The Ice Road you’ll feel certain that the action-thriller is going to be laughably bad.
It opens with the collapse of a remote diamond mine in the far north of Canada – a disaster that leaves a group of people trapped inside with only a day’s worth of oxygen to breathe. Not only does the explosion look unreal, but the accompanying dialogue to introduce Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Holt McCallany and Laurence Fishburne’s characters is so dry that the film's 108-minute running time immediately feels like it’s going to be torturous.
Neeson plays Mike, a veteran trucker desperate for cash, who, alongside his younger brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas), signs up to drive the life-saving drilling equipment to the miners, across an ocean of incredibly thin ice in an 18-wheeler. Mike and Gurty’s makeshift crew is led by Fishburne’s Jim Goldenrod, and is rounded out by Benjamin Walker’s Varnay, who works for the company. Meanwhile, Midthunder plays Tantoo, an ice-road expert whose brother is trapped in the mine.
Despite its rocky opening, The Ice Road’s first action sequence manages to deliver, as it quickly establishes how dangerous and suicidal the mission is. Writer and director Jonathan Hensleigh shot this scene perfectly, ramping up the tension and thrills in a genuinely enthralling manner, with the film’s intimidating and frosty locale even making it feel original, too.
Hensleigh, who previously had a hand in writing Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jumanji, Con Air and Armageddon, manages to quickly open up the world of The Ice Road by suddenly revealing a previously hidden threat.
While this reveal won’t be surprising to action movie fans, it at least provokes Neeson’s Mike to utter the words that will get fans of the genre excited: “Now I’m angry. It’s not about the money. It’s personal.”
Neeson doesn't bring the same level of menace to his performance as he does in Taken, Run All Night or Honest Thief, but the longer The Ice Road goes on the more his screen presence grows.
Hensleigh has tried his best, squeezing as many set-pieces and obstacles into the film as he can, as the treacherous landscape starts to crack beneath them and members of the ragtag crew begin to turn on each other.
While it’s hard to ignore the flaws, there are a few instances when scenes are set up well, and you’re left to wonder how the characters are going to get out of their predicaments.
However, The Ice Road ends up feeling like it goes on for way too long, leaving the viewer completely detached from the events unfolding. Ultimately, considering the enormous talent involved, the film feels like a disappointment.
The Ice Road is on Netflix and will be out in UAE cinemas on Thursday, July 1
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
more from Janine di Giovanni
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
FIXTURES
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
|
1.
|
United States
|
|
2.
|
China
|
|
3.
|
UAE
|
|
4.
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6.
|
Canada
|
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
|
8.
|
Australia
|
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
