A grieving soldier teams up with three nerds to take down the biker gang
responsible for his wife's death.
Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Anders Thomas Jensen
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro
Hot on the heels of
Another Round, Mads Mikkelsen returns for another very Danish exploration of
masculinity and the Nordic male's inability to express his emotions. On
the surface, the character he plays here – a bearded special forces
soldier who can snap men's necks in a split second - couldn't be further
apart from the timid school teacher he played in Thomas Vinterberg's comic
drama. But scratch below that surface and the two men are simply two sides
of the same coin. Where one uses alcohol to get through his pain, the
other turns to gunplay. Lots and lots of gunplay.
Writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen (Men and Chicken) opens his film with a diversion to Tallinn, Estonia for a small
incident that will unwittingly set the drama in motion. An elderly
man offers to buy a bike for his granddaughter, but she wants it in blue.
The bicycle dealer assures the old man he can order a blue bike in time
for Christmas. Cut to a Copenhagen street, where a thief saws the chain
off just such a bike.
Said bike belongs to teenager Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg), who
is then forced to take the train along with her mother. Riding the same
train is Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), a data analyst who just lost his
job for spending 42 weeks on a statistical analysis his employers found
ultimately useless. Otto gives up his seat to Mathilde's mother, and
seconds later the train crashes, killing everyone on the side of the train
he just vacated, including Mathilde's mom.
Mathilde's father, Marcus (Mikkelsen), returns home from active service in
the Middle East and struggles to adjust. He can't relate to his daughter,
scolding her unhealthy eating habits and her desire to believe in an
afterlife to cope with her loss. Their relationship is further damaged
when he punches her boyfriend. Marcus simply doesn't know what to do when
he doesn't have someone to lash out at.
Fortunately for Marcus, Otto is convinced the train crash wasn't an
accident. Aboard the train was a member of a dangerous biker gang who was
set to testify at an upcoming trial. His death means the gang leader gets
off scott free. Coincidence? Otto doesn't believe in such things. The
numbers don’t lie. Plus, he spotted a man throw an uneaten sandwich and a
bottle of juice in the trash just before departing the train, seconds
before the crash.
Along with two fellow numbers nerds – Lennart (Lars Bryggman) and
Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro) – Otto presents his theory to Marcus, who
doesn't need much convincing. Soon the unlikely quartet is engaging in a
rampage of bloody revenge, gunning down mobsters in the street and outside
restaurants. But is it true that the numbers never lie? Is it a little too
convenient that Marcus gets to cope with his loss in the only way he
knows?
The Fast & Furious movies have long been mocked for all
their superficial guff about "family", but
Riders of Justice manages to pull off just what that
blockbuster franchise fails to do – creating a surrogate, ragtag family we
can buy into. When Otto, Lennart and Emmenthaler move into Marcus's home
for their own safety, they become the fathers Mathilde needs while her own
is too consumed with revenge. Mathilde is encouraged to express her grief,
to drink fizzy drinks and eat cake, all the things her father suppressed.
Marcus is forced to grin and bear it, unable to relate to this trio of men
who have no problem crying in public and discussing their feelings and
past traumas. Whenever they try to persuade Marcus to examine himself, he
reacts by punching their lights out.
It's long been theorised that the biker gangs of Scandinavia are modern
day equivalents of the Vikings, that they're indulging a long suppressed
desire for raping and pillaging. The titular gang here certainly hold up
that theory, but Jensen suggests that through his military service, Marcus
is following the same instinct. Longships have been replaced by gunships
and it's the Middle East that's being pillaged now rather than Northern
Europe, but it's the same impulse. The Vikings probably believed they were
bringing freedom to savages too.
Amid all the grief and violence is a vein of black comedy. Even in the
film's darkest moment – a third act revelation that suggests Marcus's
killing spree may have been for nothing – Jensen interjects a comic aside
that brilliantly turns our preconceptions inside out.
Whoever said revenge is a dish best served cold didn't have
Riders of Justice in mind. Jensen takes the revenge thriller
template and delivers one of the most warm-hearted movies you'll see all
year.
Riders of Justice is in UK/ROI
cinemas from July 23rd.
