Before the events of the first film, Gurty survived his Iraq deployment and so did his “in-the-event-of-my-death” letter, but McCann only just uncovered it amid their old papers. Evidently, he wanted his ashes dispersed on Everest, so off McCann goes.
Fortunately, he hired a dependable sherpa, Dhani Yangchen, who also happens to be a veteran (and a Buddhist, but the film never specifies which kind). That means both spring into action when two assassins try to hijack their bus. They intend to kill Vijay Rai, the son and grandson of activists resisting a sketchy dam project, but, obviously, everyone else on-board will be collateral damage.
In an extremely ironic twist, McCann and Dhani must lead their fellow passengers across the Chinese border, where they will be safe for the corrupt Nepalese cops collaborating with the assassins. To get there, they must traverse some extremely steep mountain roads and maneuver several ridiculously twisty hair-pin turns, but that sort of thing happens to be McCann’s specialty.
The original Ice Road was a Netflix hit, but obviously Chinese sources took over funding the franchise. At least there was an effort to be subtle, but there are still several positive references to China’s Belt-and-Road initiative, which is really a predatory lending scheme designed to enmesh developing nations in CCP debt. There is also a dubious association between the Chinse side of the border and law & order. For the reality, ask India about Chinese cross-border violence.
Frankly, Hensleigh finds a clever way to preserve the essential formula of the first film, while presenting it in a radically different setting and context. He and cinematographer Michael Yezerski also fully capitalize on the cinematic Himalayan backdrops that were mostly filmed in Australia. Recommended for fans of Liam Neeson films (weirdly, the more limited the release for his newer action pictures, the better they tend to be), Ice Road: Vengeance opens today (6/27) in theaters, including the Kent Theatre in Brooklyn.
