With 2019’s Cold Pursuit, we get a remake of 2014’s Norwegian production Kraftidioten. In Colorado, Kehoe exists as a skiing town, and Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) runs the plow that keeps open the roads.

Tragedy hits home when his son Kyle (Micheál Richardson) apparently dies of a drug overdose. However, Nels suspects foul play, and he traces Kyle’s potential murder to Trevor “The Viking” Calcote (Tom Bateman), a major drug lord out of Denver.

Intent on revenge, Nels launches a violent crusade to kill everyone involved in his son’s demise. This leads to a mix of complicated paths.

On the surface, Pursuit looks a lot like a bunch of other Neeson films. From 2009’s Taken to date, we’ve seen “Liam takes out a slew of baddies on a violent rampage” umpteen times, and as I went into Pursuit, I expected more of the same.

And I got more of the same – for a little while, at least. Before too long, though, Pursuit diverges in ways that make it more Coen or Tarantino than your standard revenge thriller.

This means Pursuit occasionally threatens to become a little too clever-clever for its own good. With a variety of quirky characters and situations, the film periodically indulges in its idiosyncrasies to such a degree that it almost capsizes.

However, Pursuit largely remains on the right side of this line. Clever, witty and insightful, the movie entertains from start to finish.

Given the chilly setting and the occasional inclusion of cops unaccustomed to the investigation of violent crimes, I feel an initial inclination to push Pursuit toward the Coen side of the street, as the material can feel reminiscent of their 1996 classic Fargo. However, the more I consider it, the more I feel it leans toward Tarantino.

Maybe I should split the difference and view it as a hybrid. Whatever the case, although Pursuit obviously shows the influence of these filmmakers, it does more than enough to stand on its own.

That’s because Pursuit manages to dig deeper than just the glib Coen/Tarantino quirkiness that resides at its forefront. At its core, the movie delves into a story of father/son relationships, and it manages to do so in an unexpectedly effective manner.

Perhaps this shouldn’t surprise me, as after all, the death of Nels’ son motivates all the action. However, Pursuit digs into the themes with a level of depth I didn’t anticipate, so it becomes a richer dramatic exploration than the trailers promise.

Pursuit certainly manages to get more out of Neeson than the usual one-dimensional kill-em-up. Too often Neeson feels like he acts down to the material and operates on cruise control, but he manages to add heart and impact to the troubled Nels.

I feel a bit more torn when it comes to Bateman’s turn as the lead villain. Bateman goes broad and makes The Viking feel like a variant on Heath Ledger’s Joker.

This shouldn’t work, and at times Bateman’s iffy American accent and scenery-chewing performance nearly flop. However, Bateman brings enough manic energy to his health-obsessed drug lord that I ultimately like this work.

While Pursuit may not match up with the great films that influence it, I think it becomes a more than satisfactory twist on its genre. Bright, brisk and involving, it winds up as an oddball winner.

Cold Pursuit appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The movie offered a quality presentation.

For the most part, sharpness worked well. Some peculiar softness impacted a few shots – like the one between Nels and Speedo – but the majority of the flick offered solid accuracy and delineation.

No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I witnessed no instances of edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the proceedings.

In the chilly Colorado climate, Pursuit went with teal much of the time, though occasional instances of other hues like orange materialized as well. While these didn’t dazzle, they seemed suitable for the design choices, and the disc’s HDR added a little boost to the brighter tones.

Blacks seemed dense and deep, while shadows offered appropriate smoothness and clarity. Outside of the periodic soft scenes, the image worked well.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack added oomph to the proceedings, as the soundscape opened up matters in a positive manner. Music offered nice breadth and filled the channels in a consistent manner.

With a mix of lively scenes, the soundfield offered a lot of chances for fireworks, and it used them well. All the various action components popped up and created an involving impression.

Audio quality appeared good, with speech that came across as natural and distinctive. Effects also seemed accurate and tight, with clear reproduction of these components.

Music worked well, as the songs/score boasted solid range and dimensionality. This became a more than satisfactory track for the film.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical, as both discs offered the same Dolby Atmos mix.

Apparently finished in 4K, this disc offered a boost in terms of colors, blacks and delineation. The shooting style restricted improvements to a degree, but the 4K UHD version nonetheless brought a moderately stronger visual experience.

As we shift to extras, we begin with Welcome to Kehoe, a 26-minute, 49-second featurette with info from director Hans Petter Molland, producers Ameet Shukla and Michael Shamberg, screenwriter Frank Baldwin, costume designer Anne Pedersen, cinematographer Philip Ogaard, production designer Jorgen Stangebye Larsen, and actors Liam Neeson, Micheál Richardson, Tom Bateman, Julia Jones, Tom Jackson, John Doman and Domenick Lombardozzi.

“Welcome” examines story and characters, genre/stylistic choices, cast and performances, costumes and production design, sets/locations and the original film and its adaptation.

With 26 minutes at its disposal, I expected decent depth from “Welcome”, but it only sporadically hits the mark. Much of it feels general and promotional, so don’t expect a lot of substance.

After this we get an Interview with Liam Neeson. During the eight-minute, 46-second reel, the actor discusses his character and performance as well as aspects of the shoot. Neeson produces some good notes.

An Interview with Director Hans Petter Moland lasts eight minutes, 20 seconds and features thoughts about the original film and its remake, cast and performances. It’s not the most focused reel, but like Neeson’s chat, it offers a few worthwhile insights.

Five Deleted Scenes fill a total of five minutes, 23 seconds. These tend toward fairly minor added character beats. They’re watchable but not especially compelling.

A second disc provides a Blu-ray copy of Pursuit. It offers the same extras as the 4K UHD.

The Blu-ray disc opens with ads for Our Kind of Traitor, The Commuter and John Wick Chapter 3. We also find a trailer for Pursuit.

While Cold Pursuit looks like just another one-dimensional Liam Neeson revenge tale, it offers something deeper and more varied than that. These curveballs allow it to become a vivid, involving effort. The 4K UHD comes with solid picture and audio as well as a few decent bonus features. Chalk up Cold Pursuit as a winner.

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