Vertigo Releasing presents Riders of Justice in select cinemas now.
Synopsis
Markus returns home to care for his daughter when his wife dies in a tragic train accident. However, when a survivor of the wreck surfaces and claims foul play, Markus suspects his wife was murdered and embarks on a mission to find those responsible.
Review
We really do need to give credit to Mads Mikkelsen who has truly become an acting sensation over the last decade. From his roles in Doctor Strange and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to Academy Award winners like Another Round, the Danish actor really has become one of the best working actors in Hollywood. Now, with his latest film, Riders of Justice, finally hitting UK cinemas after a fantastic premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival earlier this year, here is why Anders Thomas Jensen’s latest directorial effort is one of 2021’s finest.
The film follows Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), a veteran soldier working in Afghanistan, who must return home to take care of his daughter Mathilde, after a horrible train accident that kills his wife. However, on his return, Markus has an unexpected encounter with the statistical analyst, Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), one of the few survivors of the accident, who is convinced that there is more to this tragedy than meets the eye. Indeed, it seems that many secrets are hidden in plain sight. Now, lethally dangerous, Markus has no other choice but to delve deep into the mind-boggling world of possibilities to get answers to his unspoken questions.
From the opening twenty minutes, Riders of Justice throws you into the story and opens on a gritty and rather bleak note that deliberately tries to shock the audience. The entire train crash (which is shown frequently in the marketing) is brutal making you immediately feel for our bunch of characters. Mads Mikkelsen revolutionizes himself by playing a character that is far different from anyone he has played before; he is dark, twisted and willing to murder anyone on his hunt for answers. The rest of the cast are great too – particularly, Nikolaj Lie Kaas’ Otto. He clearly is the smartest person in the group and seeing Otto slowly put together the puzzle with the audience is fascinating and is done in a clever and fun way that works incredibly effectively.
The action too is handled brilliantly. The shootouts are choreographed to perfection while hand-to-hand fistfights are handled with great care. Tension is built drastically with every single scenario our protagonists face which all leads to one explosive finale filled with twists and turns. The film never goes over-the-top in trying to make the stakes overly-high but instead takes a grounded approach that feels realistic, brutal and surprisingly comedic, at times.
Speaking of the comedy, Riders of Justice does have some great comedic timing amongst the dark story that is being told. Every now and again, there could be just a throwaway line or visual gag that keeps the tone from being completely dark. It finds a nice balance between telling a hard going story whilst having a visual gag which makes it different to most revenge movies.
Verdict
Riders of Justice may run out of steam towards its ending but it is one of the most well-made and entertaining films I have seen all year. Mads Mikkelsen is superb here delivering a grisly performance unlike anything we have seen from the actor before; the supporting cast all bring their A-Game creating a brilliant set of characters that you love to spend time with. The action is top-notch creating some great shootouts and bloody moments that intentionally give you an emotional punch.
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