A Ridiculous Liam Neeson Movie Is Top-10 On Streaming
A totally ridiculous and silly Liam Neeson movie is currently sitting in the top-10 on streaming lists. It is quite the surprise
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While we’re not quite sure how, or why, a fatuously ridiculous Liam Neeson movie is currently sitting pretty on HBO’s streaming Top-10. Liam Neeson toppled headlines this week as he broke silence regarding his possible retirement from Hollywood, being tapped to break into a new film genre. But with plenty of acclaimed films under the Irish native’s belt, it’s still hard to believe that The Ice Road would land a trending spot on any services Top-10.
Following the explosion of Liam Neesons typecasting in action thriller films, 2021 brought the actor to star in yet another action-packed hair-raiser. Distributed by Netflix, the film was written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. Previously working on hits like Con Air, Armageddon, and Gone in 60 Seconds, Hensleigh’s Ice Road did not claim the same success his other projects had, even with a star-studded casting backing the project. Liam Neeson starred alongside Laurence Fishburne, and the film also touted Benjamin Walker, Amber Midthunder, Marcus Thomas, Holt McCallany, Martin Sensmeier, Matt McCoy, and Matt Salinger in supporting roles.
Skipping the box office altogether, The Ice Road headed straight to streaming services. And it’s easy to see why, as even the premises for the film seems daunting. With Liam Neeson starring as Mike, a big-rig truck driver, Neeson leads a team on a dangerous mission over frozen lakes and winter roads on an impossible rescue mission to save trapped miners. The film was largely dubbed a flop, as it played out more like an episode of the reality tv series, Ice Road Truckers.
Ice Road follows Liam Neeson as a trucker sent on a mission through the icey roads of Canada to help a number of guys trapped in a mine. While the overall idea sounds pretty simple, this is Hollywood after all and things go pretty quickly off the rails. There are other factors at play and not everyone involved with the mission has the best of intentions. This isn’t new ground for a guy like Neeson who’s been dealing with this kind of crap in movies for some time now. But this one just has a different setting, on the cold roads of the tundra.
Before it’s all said done, Liam Neeson and company will have dealt with every possible mishap, underhanded stunt, catastrophe the writer’s room could come up with around a big-rig hurtling through the slick icy roads of a frozen climate. Is there a plot? Not really, but that’s also not really the point. It seems like they came up with the title first and then just filled in everything else around it.
The Ice Road instantly suffered from bad ratings. Rotten Tomatoes critics dubbed the film a flop, with an average approval rating of 43% from critics, and an unusual and lower audience rating of 31%. However bad the film was, with Liam Neeson at the center of the story, The Ice Road remained on Top-10 streaming lists for months after its release before landing there once again nearly a year later.
Starring in nearly 104 films, Liam Neeson didn’t always possess the action thriller stardom he is known for today. Before undergoing his action film revival in 2008 through Taken, he was rarely even seen as an action star. While it’s notable that Neeson played the typecasted role in films like 1981’s Excalibur and his portrayal of the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Neeson’s early career usually found him playing more dramatic roles such as his Oscar-nominated role as Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List.
Though it seems Neeson might enjoy starring in these basic roles at his age, the actor’s acclaimed career chocked full of award wins and nominations left a sour taste in fans of the beloved actor. Currently, Liam Neeson is keeping up with the b-list action roles. His newest film, Blacklight debuted recently with an embarrassingly low rating of 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. Later this year, he will star in Memory as an expert assassin with a reputation for discreet precision. With Briarcliffe Entertainment set to release the film theatrically on April 29, we certainly hope Liam Neeson’s next project will be significantly more amusing than his last few films.
