DirkH’s review published on Letterboxd:
Damn, this one knocked the wind out of me.
I expected to see a well-crafted action flick and I did. What I didn't expect was that it would be intelligent as well. The storyline isn't really original, but it's what is between the lines that makes this film extraordinary. This isn't merely a story about survival, it's also about what gives people their purpose in life. It asks questions about faith and doesn't provide any easy answers.
At the centre of all this is Neeson's character. This is by far the best performance I have seen from Neeson. His character is burdened, on the brink of death and really doesn't have anything to live for (the reason for this only becomes clear in the end by a single, beautiful shot) and yet he is someone who is determined to survive. He gathers his strength from the suffering he has endured and at some points I felt as if he kept going because he wanted to prove life, death, God, the heavens, whatever you want to call it, wrong. He vocalizes this in an incredibly acted scene where he shouts at the heavens and asks for, well, something, only to conclude that he will just have to do everything himself. Stuff like this makes this film a cut above the rest.
Another star in this film is the sound. The howling of the wolves, the shrieking of the icy winds, they just cut through you like a knife. The bombardment of sounds accompanying the incredibly filmed plane crash is truly impressive.
Now, I could be seeing too much here, but I could not stop thinking about Moby Dick. This film is about man vs nature/fate/God, a theme very prevalent in Melville's novel. Neeson's character is no Ahab, but he does share his obsession to keep going till the bitter, bitter end. Speaking of which, I loved the ending. Many people found it unsatisfying, but I thought it fitted the theme very well. Life isn't always about where you end up, it's the experiences that get you there that matter.