'Ice Road: Vengeance' Review: The Sequel That Nobody Was Asking For
- Jack Ransom
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
By Jack Ransom - July 6, 2025
What is 'Ice Road: Vengeance' about?
Ice Road: Vengeance sees Mike (Liam Neeson) travel to Nepal to scatter his late brother's ashes on Mt. Everest. When Mike and his mountain guide (Bingbing Fan) encounter mercenaries on a tour bus, they are forced to fight to save themselves, the passengers, and the local villagers' homeland.
I know it’s been said many-a-time, but Liam Neeson’s post-Taken action offerings have been very much all over the place. He had a string of 2010’s decent action entertainers —Unknown, Non-Stop, The Commuter), then suddenly turned a swiftly into direct-to-streaming dross such as Blacklight & The Ice Road, with his last full solo action cinema release being the COVID-drop Honest Thief (which was also terrible).
I genuinely don’t think anyone was really expecting (or asking for) a follow-up to 2021’s The Ice Road, but here we are. Arriving only just 11 days after its trailer debuted this sluggish, cheap, 112 minute actioner is only really saved by unintentional hilarity and sprinklings of interest regarding its Everest location switch up. The plot is generic as it comes: faceless bad guys, predictable character beats and the potential to explore further into the culture/peoples that live around Nepal is squandered, despite inklings of interest.
I say unintentional hilarity as the opening scene sees an (allegedly) grief stricken, potentially suicidal Mike free-climb a rock-side before Neeson unleashes what might just be the most half-assed scream of anquish. Parody-level cheesy flashbacks of Mike and his brother, Neeson accidentally spilling some of his brother’s ashes in the loo… Also, the title is pretty much a lie: not only is there no vengeance to be had, but there is practically zero ice roads! Which at least made for a somewhat refreshing locale switch up and initial idea for its predecessor.
Visually the film is pretty appalling. Woeful CGI implementation is all over this: from the falling rocks, dodgy frame-rated vehicles, moviemaker explosions and the finale chase sequence looking like a PS3-era cutscene. The green-screens are instantly noticeable, and the stylistic approach is to make the film look very much like an advert or skit in terms of quality. The action also sucks, especially the smattering of shootouts that have barely any cohesion, zero tension in the choreography and utilise cheap props.
As expected Neeson is on autopilot, clearly not showing how thrilled he is to be returning as the iconic Mike McCann. Bingbing Fan, Geoff Murrell (as the most clichéd Australian man ever) and Amelia Bishop (who essentially is just playing Ruby Rose’s John Wick: Chapter 2 character), at least try to inject some personality into this snoozer.
Ice Road: Vengeance is once again another Neeson-led action outing that will skid into the blackhole of streaming nothingness. Outside of a smattering of unintentionally (yet very) funny moments and moments off turn your brain off investment, this is boring, cheap and features appalling CGI, woeful shootouts and cliché ridden characters. Ic3 Road next?
'Ice Road: Vengeance' is available on digital platforms (US)
Want more film reviews? Check out more content on our website Film Focus Online!
