It only took 53 minutes for the words “ice” and “road” to be brought up in a single sentence, the two most important and impactful words in the first film! Ice Road: Vengeance or as the title card would have you believe Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky leaves behind the gray skies and heavy snow and literal frozen bodies of water for sunshine and light snow with minimal ice to worry about. 

 

Where the original had Mike hired on as an ice road trucker on a mission to deliver a shipment to save a group of trapped miners, this plot is less captivating in every regard.  An action thriller following a political agenda regarding killing to seize land. 

 

Exchanging out the semi truck for a passenger tour bus, things become a whole lot slower this time around. Any vein of originality from the first film is stripped away for a generic action romp, with Neeson returning in practically name alone. 

 

Liam Neeson’s Mike on his mission to scatter his brother’s ashes on Mount Everest, joins with Bingbing Fan’s Dhani - a surprising badass with mixed acting capabilities. No one will be able to replace the relationship between Mike and his brother Gurdy (we even get a few more flashbacks of his time before his injury), Dhani pales in comparison to even Amber Midthunder’s Tantoo. 

 

When it comes to performances, this film isn’t offering anything significant. In fact a majority of said performances come off as stiff and lacking real emotion - most crucial when a parental figure dies with little immediate grief. To be clear, I’m not saying a character that loses someone should be whining the entire film, but it’s always a good sign to not see someone get over the loss instantaneously. 

 

With writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh returning for his second round in this world, hopes were respectable enough, yet sadly they weren’t close to being met. Where the first had its obvious budget restrictions, even with its limitations The Ice Road (2021) made a journey over a block of ice absolutely thrilling. Ice Road: Vengeance serves far too many bland action sequences for the film to be anything more than a tedious forgettable trip abroad.