Summary:
A Lonely Snow Truck Driver Seeks Revenge After The Murder Of His Son
My Thoughts:
“Cold Pursuit” follows Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson, “Widows”, “Silence”), a lonely snow truck driver in Denver Colorado, where apparently some areas are full of lush greenery, but in others there’s ten foot tall labyrinths of snow that Coxman must plow through every day to clear the road (this is Colorado not Norway). After a few scenes of loose character development we learn Coxman’s son has been killed in a drug related incident, and knowing his son was never an addict, Coxman surmises this had to be some sort of mob dealing. So Coxman decides to take out everyone involved with the murder; there’s double crossings, and twists, but ultimately this movie is fairly cookie cutter action with a few decent scenes and kills. Cold Pursuit is also an American remake of a Norwegian film, “In Order of Disappearance” starring Stellan Skarsgard (“The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”), and the foreign one is far superior to this one. It confuses me as to why director Hans Peter Molland even decided to film this remake.
Getting into it, both this and the Norwegian film are classified as ‘dark comedies’, and while the latter definitely fits that mold, this American version stumbles quite often. At times it does hit its mark, such as when Coxman laughs hysterically with his bloodied victim, before finally ending the baddy’s life. But there are times when the humor just doesn’t work this time around, one example of this being the title cards after each death. In the Norwegian film, each death card is timed in comedic fashion, each time ramping up the violence and the humor. In the remake, each title card feels forced, as if they’re just there to serve as homage to the original; there’s not a lot of thought that went into it. The story is the same way: it’s just an American rehashed version of the original, every plot point and beat is the same. This might be more entertaining if one hasn’t seen the original, but then again, it’s hard not to point out the glaring issues if one has. Luckily for the original’s director, the Norwegian film is so good that even this run of the mill remake can’t quite ruin all of it, the twists are fun and the growing chaos of getting the Natives involved still hit the right spot, but unfortunately none of it really seems necessary.
If a remake is going to work, it needs to expand on the original’s ideas, such as last years ‘Suspiria’ which went above and beyond the original, and brought in a whole new mythos to the world. “Cold Pursuit” is simply the same film as the foreign one, but with English speaking actors. It feels like the dumbed down version for people who don’t like to read subtitles. Some of the scenes are shot for shot the same as it’s foreign counterpart, nothing new is brought into this film to make it stand out. The location itself is off, for some reason the director decided to go from the always snowy region of Norway, where every hour of the day is a whiteout (which is an awesome element in the original), to the city of Denver, Colorado, where the seasons change like every other Midwest state. It’s as if he forgot Alaska is part of America. At times it really ruins the suspension of disbelief, we see Coxman plowing massive areas of snow to create a road system, but in the very next scene he’s in the city where’s there’s almost virtually no snow, Norway is such a great location because it’s literally all snow, taking the viewer out of that element is a jarring experience.
Liam Neeson is always a pleasure to watch, even if this is just another revenge flick, one of many he’s starred in over the last decade, and for what little developmental writing is in the script, Neeson is able to create a character on his own, it’s easy to see what kind of man Nels Coxman is by his subtle mannerisms, and the obvious way he reacts to his son being murdered. But overall it feels one dimensional, there’s not really an overall character arc so the final product is just kind of flat, there’s no real catharsis for him, his character is too deadpan is really deliver any humor through dialogue, which is shame because in the original the characters are just as good as the story. Although the gag in which Coxman brings all the bodies to the exact same spot to dispose is still just as funny as the original, which was a nice relief, as it never really hit that anywhere else. The villain in Cold Pursuit is another story though, Tom Bateman (“Murder on the Orient Express”) plays Trevor Calcote, the young drug lord who is ultimately responsible for the death of Nels Coxman’s son, an interesting character on paper in whatever context, but Bateman absolutely beats the tough guy persona to death in this film. It’s not that it’s a bad performance, it’s just way too much of the same, there’s no changes, no influxes of tone just the same bad boy “no one messes with me” attitude. He treats his ex wife poorly and he’s a narcissist, there’s nothing else to him, no humor no candor, just a flat angry line throughout the entire film, which kind of sums up this movie as a whole.
I can’t say I recommend Cold Pursuit unless you’re a diehard Liam Neeson fan, or if you’ve seen the original I guess this is an interesting watch just for the comparison, there’s just really nothing here, the story is fine, it takes the original and puts a simplified, glossy American finish over it, with English speaking actors, and a city that us simple Americans will recognize, but the city is half the problem as it’s just a confusing choice of location. The humor never hits the same force of hilarity as the original, and the actors don’t seem to have much direction, especially Tom Bateman who’s villainous performance is annoying at best. Overall Cold Pursuit isn’t the worst way to spend 100 minutes, but it’s definitely not the best, it is just another Liam Neeson revenge movie, which is a shame because the source material is so good.
I give Cold Pursuit 3 stars out of 5.
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