The set-up for this back-to-roots production is as intriguing and captivating as anything you're likely to encounter in your local multiplex.

Before you're given a chance to settle down and take in the stunning snow-capped scenery, Gideon (Brosnan) hears a twig snap and, in the blink of an eye, is hurtling down the mountainside shot, bleeding and without his rifle.

With Carver (Neeson), plus the four men to whom he's paying a daily rate hot on his trail, Gideon suffers through hunger, blood-loss and icy waters in order to evade his pursuers.

Though his character is a man of few words, Brosnan is handed the rare opportunity to really let loose as a 'primal' actor and, especially when performing crude surgery on his own bullet-wound, manages to pull off one of the most engaging, visceral and raw performances of recent times.

So the scene is set. The mood is atmospheric to say the least and right from the opening frame you're submerged in the unforgiving, bitterly cold environment that plays host to their suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse.

Add to this the ice-cool exterior of Liam Neeson with a cauldron full of hatred bubbling away under the surface, and you have the near-perfect set-up. The tone is dark and mysterious and the manner menacing.

Then, as if to mirror Carver's descent from cold and calculating huntsman to irrational, revenge-fuelled hothead, the story comes out from behind the cover of the cold, snowy forest and suddenly starts shedding its structure like it's a winter coat, becoming - like Carver - more and more desperate as the chase continues.

In a storyline headed towards a single, clearly defined resolution, it's baffling that, in the end, nothing is truly resolved.

Still, it's a welcome return to the Westerns-of-old and goes someway towards proving there's mileage in the old bangers yet. What a shame they were unable to deliver on what the first hour had promised.

Dominic Bloch