Riders of Justice

A hybrid that has almost everything. That wouldn't be so unusual, but what is extremely extraordinary is how cleverly and sophisticatedly the filmmakers were able to combine the different aspects of the film together and what a whole they managed to make out of it. A bit of a guy drama full of weirdos, a bit of John Wick, occasionally a black comedy with typically Nordic, goofy humour and grunting actors. (04/27/2021)

Danish filmmakers put me in a good mood yet again. Jensen's usual suspects showed me what it looks like when near-unquestionable facts triumph over lies and hatred, and I had a great time throughout. Since I watched very closely, it didn't escape me that Anders Thomas Jensen added a subtle human touch to the witty, action-packed, and extremely violent frenzy. (04/27/2021)

Cause and effect. A bloody drama about revenge flips over into a bizarre comedy in the inimitable style of Anders Thomas Jensen. Mads Mikkelsen excels again in a role of a taciturn soldier coming back from the war to bury his wife and find the way of connecting with his daughter. The investigation of the train catastrophe which moves the movie towards the quest for revenge is in the hands of three strange IT divas. Nerds reeling off hilarious lines create a strange antithesis to the silent Mads, an aspect that the screenplay exploits rather unexpectedly. The excellent action scenes are among the best I have seen in this genre and the surprisingly pleasant ending makes sure that Riders of Justice is a classic Christmas movie. (03/14/2021)

Actually a perfect return to the cinema. It's exactly the kind of film where a different row is laughing every moment, because the range of humor here is really wide. Occasionally there's a "yay!" from the left, a "dude!" from the back, and when someone sitting in front of you laments "Oh, shit" in one scene, you shake your head with a frown. Like the action scenes, which rival Gareth Edwards in brutality. Plus, it's a great grab bag of familiar faces (Mia Goth got fat? Dylan Moran can speak Danish? Is that the frog from Nachtmahr?) who are actually someone else. Plus, personally, I have a soft spot for movies whose cathartic punchline is how nothing actually matters. After all, how else to handle a story about how a crusade of male stereotypes (the most IT IT crowd, the most PTSD soldier, the most gay gay) avenge the death of a lady in a manner they're so forged into that they screw it up with grace from the ground up. The Egypt punchline is totally FTW, I'm still laughing at it as I type this. The first Jensen that sat well with me, though he's still clearly recognizable in this. (05/26/2021)

Soldier Markus returns home from the war to take care of his daughter and cope with the tragic death of his wife, who was killed in a train accident. But when he discovers that a dangerous gang may have been involved, he decides to take revenge, even if it means working with a trio of antisocial geniuses. Riders of Justice is a clever multi-genre film that alternates funny moments with poignant ones, and bloody shootouts with intimate drama. But thanks to the great cast and the confident direction, it all fits together perfectly. (02/08/2021)