User reviews

You know what they say ... how certain things lead to other things happening. And it all seems to start with a girl wanting a bicylce ... you would not imagine where this leads too. So many variables and so many different things playing into this.

And a movie that is not afraid to be violent and crazy. It switches from funny to sad to over the top action. And it works - if you let yourself dive into it. The actors are doing a great job with it. If you've seen a few movies, you may be able to recognize a couple of them anyway, not just Mads Mikkelsen.

This will not be everyones cup of tea, but those who love movies that are off beat and are quite hard to describe, let alone guess where they go next ... who live from crazy yet relatable characters ... well they will rejoice and be as entertained as they can be. Do not expect this to be like a smooth US movie - that would be by the numbers and this is doing anything but that. It may even offend you in one way or another ...

A bunch of misfits, most with anger issues, try to go on a rampage, led by a PTSD-suffering Mads Mikkelsen.

This movie features many of the best male danish actors. It has strong perfomances and a laugh-out riot dialogue, especially from the supporting cast, that you have to hear to believe.

It's not a revenge-movie per se, but deals with issues like parenthood, friendship, and forgiveness. Because of this, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and think it's the best movie to come out from Denmark in years.

After watching some mediocre movies lately Retfærdighedens Ryttere (or Riders of Justice for the English title) was exactly what I needed. Finally a movie that stands out from the rest. Majoritarily in Danish, which isn't a problem at all with subtitles, this movie starts intriguing to finish in total chaos. Good twists and turns keep the audience interested in the story. But not only the story was highly entertaining, also the acting from the entire cast was most enjoyable to follow. Mads Mikkelsen is the top name in this movie, and he always delivers so no surprise here. The funniest character to me was Emmenthaler played beautifully by Nicolas Bro. I can't think of anything bad to write about this movie. Definitely a movie I will watch again in the future, when I forgot everything about it, if that's even possible.

I became very impressed with Anders Thomas Jensen's new installment to his bizarre and unique film universe!

The film delivers comedy in top class, and have some impeccable acting performances particularly from Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, but the rest of the cast (Nicolas Bro, Lars Brygmann, Roland Møller, Andrea Gadeberg etc.) also does a good job!

The script and the lines were really well done. How the characters interact and talk to each other felt very natural, and none of it seemed "staged", which shines through as ATJ is one of the most talented screenwriters we have in Denmark.

I found the film's unique plot and its special "idea" to be incredibly thrilling, and made the film have a lot of thoughtful elements, where the cinema-goer is actually challenged intellectually, which we rarely see in Danish films.

All in all a great danish film!

9/10.

In the US we associate indies with sub-par film-making. Because they are cheap productions destined to fill the pipeline for some low-end cable channel, and most of the cash never makes it to the screen. This Danish gem is the exception to the rule. For a tight $5.0 mil budget we not only get top production values and acting, but a story that defies expectations at every turn. Tarantino meets Keystone Cops. Engaging. A treat. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167 Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

A darkly funny & emotionally riveting slice of Danish delight that's brought to life with the right amount of care, compassion & subversiveness, Riders of Justice makes for an amusing, heartbreaking & thoroughly captivating comedy of errors that balances simple co-incidences with clever orchestrations and is greatly uplifted by its handful of quirky characters who are brilliantly rendered by its fabulous cast.

Written & directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, the premise setup is quick, character introductions are swift and while humour is detectable in the most unlikely of places, the emotional beats do brim with an honesty & depth that shines through. Jensen is sensible in handling the themes of loss, grief, neglect, abuse & sidelined morality in pursuit of vengeance, and has a clear grasp of his characters' inner turmoil.

The story comes packed with hilarious segments no doubt but where it warms the heart most is the way these idiosyncratic folks, all broken in their own ways, come together to help a grieving family bond & become whole again. Mads Mikkelsen is reliable as always but the supporting cast is right up there with him throughout the journey. Everyone chips in with deftly measured inputs & leaves behind nothing to complain about.

Overall, Riders of Justice is humorous, poignant & refreshing in the zaniest of ways and is an action-comedy of heartfelt warmth & surprising intimacy. The chemistry & interplay between the geeks & muscle allows for wholesome entertainment and the finale is cathartic in ways that just fits. To sum it up, this Danish revenge-thriller is a roller-coaster ride that promises plenty of fun, is sincere in its emotions, and has its heart at the right place.

This film is both serious, funny as hell and insanely well produced. You feel with these guys and laugh at their lack of social skills, while rooting for them as they go rogue and break the law in so many ways. I haven't seen this for the last time.

IMDB thought that if I like this movie I should watch Nobody. The suggestions algorithm needs some serious improvements. If US could produce a revenge movie that was even half of what Riders for Justice stands for then I wouldn't mind giving them another go but I seriously doubt they'll ever get to the same level ever with scandinavian cinema and storytelling. So anyone out there that is fed up by John Wick mania give this one a go.

The opening of Rotterdam FF is a fascinating film, built on a solid script with brilliantly developed characters. Between the dark comedy and the thriller, it has characteristics of other ATJ titles, but in some moments, in the game of coincidences and the weird tone, it is reminiscent of the Coen brothers. Addressing topics such as grief and the consequences of our actions, this film is full of surprises.

"Riders of Justice" is just good enough to make you wish it was better.

I'm not sure the Danes are the go-to people for comedy. Which is strange, because I know Danish people and they have great senses of humor. But it somehow doesn't translate all that well to Danish films. This one is an uneasy mix between psychological thriller, crime drama, and slapstick comedy that provides some decent entertainment but doesn't do any of what it's trying to do particularly well. The humor is strained, though there are moments that are pretty funny. It's a film about the trauma induced by letting rage and violence be a person's dominant way of dealing with the world, as embodied by the character played by Mads Mikkelsen, great as always, a man who seeks revenge on the people who are responsible for the death of his wife, yet is surrounded by people who try to convince him that there are better ways to find healing. It's a good premise, and it offers a nice divergence from the usual revenge movie tropes. How disappointing then that the finale finds this ragtag and lovable bunch of characters gun down an entire gang of criminal thugs with no compunction and worse, no apparent consequences. A movie that spends an hour and a half convincing us that killing others leaves humans permanently scarred ends with a scene of casual violence that makes guns look cool. Boo. Please Danes, don't become just like Americans.

Speaking of Americans, they are bound to remake this movie someday, with someone like Hugh Jackman in the main role.

Grade: B

It's unlikely a revenge film as odd as Anders Thomas Jensen's Riders of Justice you will ever see again. It is in the Liam-Neeson, vengeful old-man "Taken" tradition with a father, Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), consoling his daughter, Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadesberg) over the death of his wife, at the same time seeking revenge for the train explosion that may have been planned.

What's odd is his cohorts espouse a data-driven theory that claims to be able to predict events, thereby identifying the perpetrators based on the data. Writer/director Jensen layers in enough comic bungling with these three eccentric buddies for the revenge thriller to qualify for a Danish Three Stooges spinoff. With their information, Markus goes after the baddies.

Never has this genre been so light and so dark at the same time. Markus, under a heavy beard, doesn't crack a smile (missing therefore the haunting Mads visage), and the automatic weapons take a considerable toll, while the buddies also dabble in the possibility that chance trumps data. The discussion is worthy of a more sophisticated film yet cogent enough here to make the aud think about a theme of chance.

Looked at in every sequence, chance is present from the train explosion to flawed data. Although Markus, as a soldier in the Afghanistan conflict, shows superior marksmanship, the clash between data and chance takes over for the thinking audience. Although Markus is accomplished in warfare, like Othello, he bungles his role in the civilian world as the two cultures are wholly different.

In any case, Riders of Justice (named after the biker gang which is the object of Markus's wrath) is a unique revenge film, light-hearted and philosophical while maintaining the formula's stringent demands for satisfactory violence. It has it all.

Being a Danish film, Riders of Justice is certainly a new type of viewing experience for anyone accustomed to products of Hollywood. And I must admit, that most of its differences make it better than many American films.

Almost every character in the film is idiosyncratic and has his own story going, but what for once it's actually there to provide meaningful depth to them as well as the entire picture instead of just being slapped on for the sake of it. The actors themselves are equally interesting and prove that being able to convincingly convey something is transbordering. The film has a good mixture of humor, action and pathos; and the plot is not only deeply entwined and full of twists & turns, but is constructed with some thought and asks the same from you.

Though it has some of that minimalistic style that's beginning to cross the Atlantic, Riders of Justice carries many elements that warrants a larger audience.

This movie follows a group of both interesting and hilarious characters. We see them go through hell, in belief of what they are doing is for the greater good. And hilariously so. Definitely a 2020 must watch.

Entertaining but somewhat lacking in substance. A lot of improbabilities. Stereotypical but funny characters. The violence seems totally gratuitous and unjustified. The characters are explained but they have no depth. A crowd pleasure with all the good elements. Clever popular writing far from being a masterpiece.

'Riders Of Justice (2020)' is an anti-revenge thriller. Though it has moments of more traditional genre fare, it's far more interested in exploring its broken characters and potent underlying themes than it is in providing cathartically violent thrills. The piece is mostly a meditative drama about grief, trauma, family and healing. It also features a fair bit of rumination on coincidence and causality, ultimately positing that trying to trace exactly why things happen is as painfully pointless as it is practically impossible. It's a melancholic movie that dismantles not only the inherently harmful concept of vengeance, but also the culture of toxic masculinity that prevents many men from productively coming to terms with the trauma they've faced. The protagonist expresses his atheism early on and warns his daughter of the perils of assigning meaning to meaningless things, then spends much of the flick attempting to do exactly the same thing, searching for someone who he can blame for his horrific situation. For him, violence is the default response; he's much more comfortable pointing a gun at someone - and, even, pulling the trigger - than he is reconciling his own emotions. Sometimes, bad things happen. That's all there is to it. Of course, it'd be easier if there was always someone - or something - to blame for the bad things that we experience, but there often just isn't and that's okay. This is an incredibly poignant and relevant thematic underpinning. The film's exploration of it is both thought-provoking and emotionally affecting. It elevates the overall affair to something much more viscerally impactful than you'd perhaps expect. It's an intelligent, intriguing and extremely technically competent experience that never quite does what you expect it to. Its oddball characters are highly compelling, its performances are heartbreakingly realistic, its humour is often unexpectedly effective, its general vibe is very empathetic and its overall message is surprisingly hopeful. Its drama is as enjoyable as its infrequent but punchy action. It's a phenomenal picture that's as traditionally entertaining as it is thematically rich and emotionally resonant. As of now, it's my favourite film of 2021 (based on its UK release date). 8/10.

Ravishing cinematography.

A motley cast with timely comedic chops and script.

A psychological, cognitive analytical and realistic story.

Not your usual Liam Neeson-kind of hero against the baddies.

"Riders of Justice" is an Action - Drama movie in which we watch a group of people doing some very dangerous and important actions without thinking a lot about them since they believe that they are doing it for the greater good.

I liked this movie very much because it had a very interesting plot that consisted of some plot twists that I did not expect and the combination of drama with some comic relief moments was simply amazing. The direction which was made by Anders Thomas Jensen was also very good and he succeeded on making us feel what his main characters being through and follow them on their journey. The interpretation of Mads Mikkelsen who played as Markus was simply outstanding and he proved his talent. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Nikolaj Lie Kaas' who played as Otto, Nicolas Bro's who played as Emmenthaler and Lars Brygmann's who played as Lennart. Lastly, I have to say that "Riders of Justice" is an amazing movie and I strongly recommend everyone to watch it.

It has so many great parts - characters are solid, acting is great, story is thoughtful and asks some controversial questions. But at the same time, it's very unbalanced - some characters are too comic to be tragic, yet too broken to be funny. The story tries to be funny at times yet it's too serious to laugh. The parts are good, but the sum is somewhat torn.

Mads Mikkelsen after the global exposure gained with several Hollywood blockbusters, came back to his motherland, and took part in some Danish projects. "Riders of Justice" is one of his latest flicks and most probably nobody would even consider watching this thing if it was not for him.

This is some sort of revenge movie, with plenty of Deja-vu: a man loses his wife in what seems to be a train accident, but then a group of nerds came into his life, telling him that what happened was not just a coincidence, but a premeditated assassination. This was already explained in the release trailer, so I am not spoiling anything. There is no major plot twist, no interesting action sequences, however some characters such as Lennart and Otto are compelling, because through them the director explored a little bit the topic of personal trauma. There are in fact many interesting subjects discussed, such as taking care of the individual's mental health, and don't be afraid to seek professional help when in need. The problem is that none of this can be taken seriously because the director ridicules some of these topics pretty heavily. In one scene he is talking seriously about abuses, and in the next one he is basically mocking the same exact situation, but with trivial and, in some cases, offensive jokes. I have no problem with black humor, but it needs to be done smartly. It is not easy to joke on psychological issues and be funny.

This is a movie that suffers from an identity crisis: it is an action flick, full of shootouts and violence, but at the same time it wants to be deep and meaningful, while being funny. There are just too many elements all together mixed up pretty badly and incoherently. Writer should have simplified the screenplay. They wanted to represent too many things in one single movie. The result is a messy production.