Directed by:
Anders Thomas JensenScreenplay:
Anders Thomas JensenCinematography:
Kasper TuxenComposer:
Jeppe KaasCast:
Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro, Gustav Lindh, Roland Møller, Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt (more)Plots(1)
Anders Thomas Jensen, scriptwriter for filmmakers like Susanne Bier and Kristian Levring, feels at home in many genres, yet his own directorial style sticks out. Just like Adam’s Apples (2005) and Men & Chicken (IFFR 2016) his latest film is a black comedy with a plot only he could come up with. Riders of Justice starts with a series of sad events: a stolen bike, dismissal, a train accident. Coincidence or a causal link? Data analyst Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) examines the matter aided by his eccentric colleague Lennart (Lars Brygmann) and their even stranger friend Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro). Together with professional soldier Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), who lost his wife in the train wreck, the men develop into angels of wrath. The mission leads to results, though perhaps not the intended ones. Riders of Justice’s bone-dry humour and inimitable logic makes it another absurdist, yet educational and moving highlight in Jensen’s oeuvre. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)
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Reviews (12)
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.
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As they say, "Coincidence is stupid!" but when coincidences start piling up suspiciously, things tend to get ugly. Riders of Justice foreshadows the plot causality inherent in virtually every story. In this case, however, this mundane plot attribute is provided with a compelling theme and accompanied by an incredibly bizarre cast of characters and plenty of moments in which black humour, blood, fisticuffs and swearing are not spared, while a few serious scenes from life are also included. Whether by chance, fate, mistake or algorithm, Anders Thomas Jensen's film is - not coincidentally - a solid watch.
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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.
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Riders of Justice has so much to offer that I feel like I've only watched very limited films up until now. You want drama and emotion? You got it. You want action? You got it! You want laughs? Oh, for sure. I would never doubt Mads Mikkelsen as an actor, but I would never have expected him to have such fists. And the whole pack of them, just like the combination of genres, comes together nicely. Ah, Denmark. 4.5 stars
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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.
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