Holding a whopping 96% Rotten Tomatoes score, this action comedy is a real crowdpleaser.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Saturday, 10 May) is Riders of Justice, the incredible 2020 action comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Hannibal).
In the film, Mikkelsen plays Markus, a Danish soldier in Afghanistan who returns home after his wife dies in a train crash.
While struggling to look after his teenage daughter (Andrea Heick Gadeberg), Markus is approached by a man named Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) who was on the same train as his wife.
An introverted person who is an expert in statistics and probability, Otto determines that the crash was not an accident.
This leads Markus, Otto and two of Otto’s fellow outcast friends (Lars Brygmann and Nicolas Bro) to seek out the people that they believe are responsible for the crash – a motorcycle criminal gang dubbed the Riders of Justice.
On one level, the Danish flick is a classic vengeance movie elevated by a tough-as-nails performance by Mikkelsen and hard-hitting action set-pieces.
At the same time, however, it’s also a deeply emotional and surprisingly funny portrait of a group of lovable if damaged people coming together to help each other through their trauma.
And ultimately, through its unpredictable plot, the film winds up subverting many of the conventions of revenge movies.
Boasting a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score, Riders of Justice is airing on TV tonight/tomorrow morning on Film4 at 1.10am and is well worth recording.
It should also be available to stream on Channel 4’s website after it airs.
Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:
Out of Sight – Legend Xtra – 9pm
George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez light up the screen in this great crime caper from director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven).
Ted – Comedy Central – 9pm
Thunder buddies for life.
Ronin – ITV4 – 9pm
Robert De Niro, spies, unbelievable car chases – what’s not to love?
Anna – Film4 – 9pm
Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren and Luke Evans are among the cast of this action thriller about a young woman (Sasha Luss) who becomes an assassin.
Highlander III: The Final Dimension – Legend – 9pm
Also known as Highlander III: The Sorcerer in some parts, this poorly regarded third entry in the fantasy franchise sees Christopher Lambert reprise his role as an immortal Scottish warrior.
Murder on the Orient Express – RTÉ One – 9.35pm
Kenneth Branagh is the gentleman sleuth Hercule Poirot in this Agatha Christie adaptation that launched a trilogy.
A Man of No Importance – TG4 – 9.50pm
This 1994 comedy drama sees Albert Finney play a friendly, poetry-loving bus conductor in ’60s Dublin.
Resident Evil: Afterlife – MTV – 10pm
The fourth instalment in the zombie film franchise adapted from video games.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – Channel 4 – 10.05pm
The fourth entry in the Tom Cruise-led action spy franchise, which has that incredible sequence at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
Prince of Darkness – Legend – 11pm
This underrated horror from legend of the genre John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) follows a group of scientists in LA who are asked to assist a Catholic priest (Donald Pleasence) in investigating an ancient cylinder of liquid discovered in a monastery.
Little Monsters – Film4 – 11.20pm
Lupita Nyong’o stars in this hilarious horror comedy as a kindergarten teacher trying to protect a group of young schoolchildren during a sudden zombie outbreak.
Blood and Money – Legend Xtra – 11.20pm
In this 2020 thriller, Tom Berenger (Platoon) plays an ageing Vietnam veteran who becomes tangled in a web of murder and deceit when he makes an unnerving discovery while hunting in the snowy forests of Maine.
Motherhood – RTÉ2 – 11.25pm
A critically panned comedy-drama with Uma Thurman.
Another Country – RTÉ One – 11.40pm
This ’80s romantic historical drama stars Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, with the latter making his film debut.
This is the End – Comedy Central – 12am
In this hilarious comedy horror, the apocalypse kicks off while a bunch of celebrities (all playing themselves) are at a gaff party in LA.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
