Ice Road: Vengeance (2025) Parents Guide

You’d think by now we’d run out of places to throw Liam Neeson and a truck—but apparently, the Himalayas are still on the map.

Ice Road: Vengeance isn’t a terrible movie, but it sure is a strange one. It’s the kind of sequel that answers a question nobody really asked but sort of respects that someone cared enough to follow through anyway. Directed once again by Jonathan Hensleigh—the same guy behind the 2021 original—it trades the icy, white-knuckle tension of frozen Canadian lakes for something taller and thinner: the perilous cliffs of Nepal.

And it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Neeson action vehicle in 2025: solemn revenge, a few grunted one-liners, and lots of “what now?” looks between explosions. It’s not reinventing the wheel—in fact, the wheel’s a little wobbly—but for those who live for this particular brand of grizzled-man-goes-solo-against-mercenaries cinema, it scratches a very specific itch.

The Story & What It Tries to Say

The story follows Mike McCann, still grieving the loss of his brother Gurty, which hit audiences hard in The Ice Road. This sequel opens on a quieter note: Mike, now semi-retired and weathered by both time and trauma, heads to Nepal to fulfill Gurty’s final wish—to have his ashes scattered on the Road to the Sky, the legendary (and very real) highway to Mount Everest.

It starts almost meditative. There’s reflection, loss, and a hint that the movie might dig deeper into the emotional toll of Mike’s life. But don’t get too comfortable—because just as Mike boards a bus full of locals and tourists, including a wise and grounded guide named Dhani (played with a cool elegance by Fan Bingbing), all hell breaks loose.

The bus is ambushed by mercenaries—not the usual cartoonish goons, but well-armed, tactically trained killers. They’re after a young Nepali man, whose family has refused to give up ancestral land to some faceless, evil corporate entity. And now, Mike, who was not at all intending to be involved in violence on this trip, is back in survival mode–only this time, it is thin cliffs, not thin ice.

Thematically, the film gestures toward larger concepts corporate greed, exploitation of the global South, the sanctity of land and heritage but never really takes the time to develop them.

These are threads that drift in and out of the story like mountain fog. Grief is the most striking theme, unsurprisingly. Mike is still reeling with the death of Gurty, and all that grief tints much of his decision making. It has a lovely small moment when he makes a fire under the stars, talking quietly to the memory of his brother, and it suggests the emotional potential of the film. I wish there were more of that.

Performances and Characters:

Liam Neeson is, uh, Liam Neeson. Whether he can do these roles is not even the question at this point, it is whether he should. He adds that trademark blend of stoicism, regret, and granite-jaw determination, but the weariness is in the eyes. Not just character fatigue, but actor fatigue. It’s not phoned in, exactly—but it’s a performance on cruise control. We know this man. We’ve seen him in different coats, on different continents, always facing the same kind of evil.

That said, there are flashes where Neeson taps into something more vulnerable. His grief over Gurty, his reluctant connection to Dhani, and the moments where he sees himself in the young villager trying to protect his home—those parts feel genuine. They’re brief, but they matter.

Fan Bingbing, as Dhani, is easily the highlight of the supporting cast. She brings grace and control to a role that could’ve easily been one-note. Her chemistry with Neeson is understated, more rooted in mutual respect than anything romantic, which is refreshing. Together, they form an unlikely team—two people carrying different burdens, but walking the same perilous path.

The villains, sadly, are nothing to write home about. They’re brutal, yes, but not especially memorable. The rest of the passengers on the bus get minimal development, though a few are given just enough screen time to make you kind of care when things go sideways.

Direction, Visuals & Pacing

Jonathan Hensleigh, who wrote and directed both films, seems to want Ice Road: Vengeance to be bigger and bolder than the first. He changes the landscape—both literally and stylistically—opting for steep Himalayan roads, dangling buses, and hand-to-hand fights on rocky ledges. There’s ambition here, and I’ll give him that.

But the execution? That’s where things get bumpy.

Some of the green screen work is painfully obvious. One climactic set piece involving a tour bus hanging over a cliff edge should’ve had me gripping my seat. Instead, I was squinting at the oddly static background and wondering if the actors were just reacting to wind machines on a soundstage. It also has a tonal confusion that permeates the entire film, part character drama, part eco-thriller, part action shoot-em-up. The mood shifts are not always smooth.

The timing is not terrible, but it is not even. The film begins slowly, develops tension effectively, then sinks into interminable sequences of formulaic action. It is as though you are observing a heartbeat machine that goes up and down, then goes flat again. You can feel where the adrenaline is supposed to come in but the editing never quite sells the urgency.

Nevertheless, a few good action scenes remain. A brawl in a tunnel in the mountains is particularly dirty, and Neeson takes whatever is at hand, chains, rocks, even a seatbelt, as a weapon. It is in those physical, desperate fights that the film gets its footing. You simply wish there were more of them.

Ice Road: Vengeance (2025) Parents Guide

Violence & Intensity: Expect plenty of edge-of-your-seat scenes, though not overly bloody. Think ambushes on mountain passes, tense hand-to-hand scrambles, gunfire, and life-threatening cliffhanger moments. Some of it feels genuinely perilous—bus precariously dangling, fight choreography with pipes and cables, avalanches, and close brushes with death. There’s no graphic gore, but emotional dread is high.

Strong Language: Language is moderate but salty. You’ll hear one use of the f‑word, several “shit,” “bastard,” “crap,” and unfortunately a “retard” slur. The curses mostly appear during high-stress confrontations.

Mature Themes: The story wrestles with grief (Mike mourning his brother), revenge, sacrifice, and moral courage. There’s also hints of corporate greed versus local rights. It’s thoughtful territory, but the film doesn’t dive deeply—it uses these themes as motivation for action.

Substance Use: A couple of quick adult drinking scenes appear—nothing excessive or glamorized. No heavy drug use shown.

Recommended for: Families with teens who appreciate suspenseful, survival-driven storytelling and can process mild profanity.

Conclusion & Recommendation:

Ice Road: Vengeance is not a disaster or a triumph. It is a middle-of-the-road Neeson thriller that is just enough to keep you engaged but not enough to make an impression. It does the hits: grief, justice, revenge, survival. And should you be already attuned to that frequency, it will go down easy, like an old episode of a show you used to love.

However, should you be seeking something new, something that takes this long-in-the-tooth franchise, or even Neeson himself, into a new direction, you are out of luck. The emotional beats are present, but they are too soft. The action is workable, but it is too familiar. It is a movie that seems to have been produced under duress as opposed to inspiration.