Director: Anders Thomas Jensen
Genre: Drama/
Action/ Crime/ Thriller/ Comedy
Runtime: 116
minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Mads
Mikkelsen Lars Brygmann, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Nicolas Bro,
Gustav Lindh, Roland Møller,
Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt, Anne Birgitte Lind, Omar Shargawi, Jacob Lohmann,
Henrik Noël Olesen
Description: Markus (Mads
Mikkelsen) goes home to his teenage daughter Mathilde (Andre Heick Gadeberg), when
his wife dies in a tragic train accident. It seems like an accident until a
mathematics geek (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), who was also a fellow passenger on the
train, and his two colleagues show up.
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 10: A MOVIE RECOMMENDED BY A
FRIEND
Review: A girl asks for a blue bicycle for Christmas. The we see the lock of
exactly such a blue bicycle being cut loose, after which the vehicle is loaded
into a white van. And then we end up again in the story of the girl Mathilde,
who bicycle it was. She and het mother now have to go to the train station on
foot. Due to the delay, they take a later train, which also carries the recently
fired mathematician and computer programmer Otto. He gives up his seat to them
and the train has a horrible accident. Mathilde’s mother is killed in the
process.
Otto soon contacts Mathilde’s
father, the soldier Markus, who has returned from his peacekeeping mission in
Afghanistan after the death of his wife. It wasn’t an accident, says Otto,
because he saw someone fleeing from the compartment just before the accident.
Otto asks a group of men to find out what’s actually going on. And so begins
the quest for justice. And a feud against the terrorist group Riders of
Justice, which soon comes into the picture as the prime suspect. We also get to
find out how explosive veteran Markus can be.
“Riders of Justice” is an
absurdist tragicomedy with moments of action and suspense. It seems like this
movie resembles movies like “Taken”, but you wouldn’t be giving it enough
credit. But the interesting thing about this film is precisely how it contrasts
with a group of socially disturbed nerds, who get in over their heads in a
life-threatening situation. Director Anders Thomas Jensen managed to combine
the ridiculous with the violent.
Something Jensen likes to do
do is play with the expectations where stories like this go. If “Riders of
Justice” might compare to anything, it’s the work of Irish filmmaker and
playwright Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges”): sharp dialogue, colorful characters
and very quirky. It’s delivered with a sense of humor that you just have to be
able to accept. But also with an unexpectedly sincere sentiment for the
character we follow and an engaging basic idea that is severely tested.
Mads Mikkelsen is slowly
growing to become one of my favorite actors, he never lets me down. He didn’t
in “Riders of Justice” either.
“Riders of Justice” is
original, something that is very rare these days. I enjoyed it and would
recommend it.
Rating: 4/ 5
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten