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Cold Pursuit

review by Bobby Blakey

Coldpursuit_3D_4K_OCard_Skew_R2 copy_edi

Ever since Liam Neeson transitioned into the action role with his 2008 Taken film he has for the most part kept that train moving with numerous other entries into the genre. Now he is back with another in Cold Pursuit co-starring Laura Dern, Emmy Rossum, and Tom Bateman, but does it bring the action fans want or will it freeze in its tracks?

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Cold Pursuit follows Nels Coxman, a family man whose quiet life with his wife is upended following the mysterious death of their son. Nels' search for justice turns into a vengeful hunt for Viking, a drug lord he believes is connected to the death. As one by one each of Viking's associates "disappear," Nels goes from upstanding citizen to ice-cold vigilante, letting nothing - and no one - get in his way. I love Liam Neeson in everything he does even when the film around him isn’t all that great all the way back to Krull. From the trailers I was ready from some great revenge action, but what I got was something a bit off in both good and bad ways.

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This film plays up more like a dark comedy in some parts and the rest is just a very strangely structured story. The pacing and editing is all over the place with it being surprisingly kind of slow for the majority of the film. Neeson is fine bringing his usual rugged style to the role, but just about everyone else in the film are kind of annoying. The mob guys of sorts especially their leader are over the top and laughable making it hard to really buy into anything they do. No one here really feels like a threat other than Neeson who is on a rampage, but his actions are strange at times.

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While the overall film doesn’t deliver what I had hoped there are some great elements that make it work in other ways. There is a fun kill counter of sorts that shows up every time someone dies that is both funny and fits along with some fun action. They never fully went all in though with some of the kills implied, but thanks to Neeson they still work. This is far from a great movie, but still has moments of coolness that made it still work more often than not for me, but can see it being one that may miss the mark for most.

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In addition to the film this release includes bonus content including interviews, deleted scenes and a featurette that takes you behind bringing this film to life. Grab your copy of Cold Pursuit available now on digital, 4K Ultra, Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate.  

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