There is something so enjoyable about a bunch of misfits coming together to form an alliance and fight the bad guy. Especially when they all are underdogs living an uneventful life – until everything changes for them, leading to an extraordinary situation where they have to battle all of their insecurities, bash their moralities, and save the day. In Riders of Justice such a moment occurs in the life of Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), who has to go home to his teenage daughter, Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg), after his wife Emma (Anne Birgitte Lind) dies in a tragic train accident. It seems like an accident until statistician Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), who gave up his seat for Emma on the train, and his two colleagues show up.
The survivor’s remorse hits Otto hard, as he begins to uncover the reality behind the explosion and discovers that there is more to this than meets the eye. Using his statistician’s brain, with help from his best friend Lennart (Lars Brygmann) and colleague Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro). He takes his discoveries to Mathilde’s war veteran father, Markus, whose idea of grieving is to bottle it up deep inside, drink beer, and use violence when necessary. They soon begin seeking revenge on the local biker gang who call themselves Riders of Justice that may have been behind the whole thing.
The great thing about the movie lies within its element of surprise. As an audience, you might find yourself on the familiar grounds of a revenge story, but Riders of Justice is more than that. Writer-Director Anders Thomas Jensen makes sure that you’re getting more from these characters than your usual dose of a bunch of guys looking for violence. The exploration of grief and found family is in the spotlight here. With Mathilde being the anchor to get these feelings out of these misfits, it kind of leads to both humorous and emotional situations where you find yourselves getting attached to these characters quite easily.
The use of violence in this movie is quite entertaining and unique in the sense that it differs from what we usually witness in action movies. With only Markus being the weapons and combat expert, he has to pick up the slack for Lennart and especially Emmenthaler who is having the time of his life, only to realize he is not a man of violence. Jensen’s use of these characters who find themselves in an extraordinary and unusual situation only leads to more amusing instances than anything else. But everything comes in with a balance, especially the moments of emotions in which we learn the motivation behind Otto’s guilt, Lennart’s antics, and Emmenthaler’s enthusiasm.
Leading Riders of Justice is Mikkelsen, who immerses himself in his character Markus so brilliantly that you won’t believe that he is the same person who just gave an emotionally breathtaking performance in Another Round. He is on point with his emotions, the reason why Markus tends to lean on violence rather than expressing his emotions through conversation and declining to go to therapy. But it is not just Mikkelsen who shines here, Bro who plays Emmenthaler takes the spotlight away in every moment he is in the frame. Brygmann who plays Lennart makes you laugh and cry in the next moment. Kass as Otto brings his brilliance by playing his character, who is filled with guilt and loneliness, with high emotions and at moments in annoyance. And Gadeberg who plays Mathilde becomes the adult amongst these misfits bringing them to unity and to open up about their feelings and emotions.
Riders of Justice leaves you wanting more. And that’s not a bad thing to have with a story that builds on revenge only to take a journey through grief, loneliness, and the emotional bond that these characters have between themselves. Riders of Justice is a story that gives you the unexpected, with Jensen making sure the audience finds themselves connecting to the characters all the while enjoying an action-packed drama with great performances, emotional core, humor, and action.
