Liam Neeson in Generic Action Sequel

Liam Neeson, or at least the characters he plays, should probably avoid all forms of public transportation. The man simply can’t get on a vehicle, whether it’s an airplane (Non-Stop) or a train (The Commuter), without getting himself into serious trouble. In his latest action movie, Ice Road: Vengeance, he boards a tour bus in Nepal for a trip to Mount Everest to scatter his late brother’s ashes. Needless to say, it doesn’t go well.

As its title indicates, the film is a sequel to 2021’s The Ice Road, Jonathan Hensleigh’s thriller that premiered on Netflix and seemed to offer limited possibilities for a follow-up. After all, the only real characteristic that qualifies the lead character, Mike McCann, as an action hero is that he can drive heavy vehicles really well. And, well, that he’s played by Liam Neeson.

Writer-director Hensleigh returns for this installment, which finds Mike, previously seen attempting to rescue trapped miners in Manitoba, impulsively traveling to Nepal to fulfill the final request of his late brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas, repeating his role via flashbacks). Upon arriving, Mike meets up with his Everest guide Dhani (Fan Bingbing, essentially replacing the previous film’s Amber Midthunder as Mike’s kickass female cohort) and hops on a bus labeled “Kiwi Express,” manned by cheeky Australian driver Spike (Geoff Morell). The passengers include several other mountain trekkers, among them an American professor (Bernard Curry) and his teenage daughter, Starr (Grace O’Sullivan), the latter’s nature instantly signified by her pouty demeanor and inability to put away her cell phone.

Unfortunately, one of the riders is local resident Vijay (Saksham Sharma), who becomes the target of three would-be kidnappers — including the lethal Jeet (Amelia Bishop) — who take over the bus. It all has to do with a crooked businessman, naturally, and a land dispute involving the building of a vital dam. Not that the plot details matter once Mike, who has the ability to disable the bus from a passenger seat, swings into action.

And yes, much of it involves harrowing drives on treacherous mountain roads, only a few of which — disappointingly, considering the title — are icy. Along the way there are plenty of fights and shootouts, with both Mike and Dhani exhibiting the sort of commando skills that would belie their professions of truck driver and mountain guide, respectively. Eventually several other characters demonstrate their fierceness as well, including the previously bratty Starr, who undergoes a severe personality change after losing her phone.

It’s all about as predictable and rote as could be. Much of the mayhem involves the urn containing Gurty’s ashes, which Mike both risks his life to retrieve and uses as a weapon. And rest assured that there are plenty of incidents featuring vehicles dangling precariously on the edges of precipices.

Neeson, of course, can do all of this in his sleep, but he manages to give the impression that he’s not going through the motions. His most emotive moment, ironically, comes not when his character is in mortal danger but rather when he angrily corrects someone who refers to him as American, not Irish. (You get the feeling that the actor inserted the line as part of his contract.) Fan offers solid support, providing plenty of engaging personality to go along with her character’s steely fighting skills.

Destined to be quickly forgotten even by fans of its predecessor — I had to completely refresh my memory of the first film, and I reviewed it— Ice Road: Vengeance proves as generic as its title. Let’s hope that Neeson knows when to get out of the action movie business, lest he become the new Charles Bronson, who made four, count ‘em, four, sequels to Death Wish.