Polar Review

January 29, 2019 at 7:15pm
By Jason Stettner

Polar is a Netflix Original film based on a comic that follows a retired assassin. Things are looking good for Duncan (Mads Mikkelsen) as he starts to relax and enjoy a peaceful life. One issue is that the past is trying to catch up with him, and another is that the company he worked for does't like to give out pensions. They aim to acquire these pensions by eliminating the assassins as they retire. This usually works well for them, but this one man is not a fan of death and heads out on a revenge spree. Not every past assassin is an easy target I suppose.

The man just wanted to relax, interact with his young neighbor Camille (Vanessa Hudgens) and spend his days chilling. This aspect is actually a large part of the film as it takes quite awhile to get going. They really focus on the relaxing elements while mixing in bits of this ultra-cartoonish gang. I immediately thought this overall story felt like a comic in nature, and that proved true after I did some reading into it. The plot is rather random, with lots of ultra violence and intense action. They don't hold back on gore, and present another classic Netflix hallway scene. There's even a fun little "watch that scene again" button prompt that shows up while watching, I found that rather funny.

Now Polar wasn't anything too amazing, but I enjoyed it for what it was. It was just action, tons of violence and one badass guy taking out folks that thought they were clever. It was over the top at every moment, which is fine for what they were aiming to emulate. Just come in with lower expectations and go for the ride. The acting was fine, I thought Mikkelsen was great as this quiet yet incredibly deadly assassin.

Just a calm and collected killing machine that walked through life. There are a few rather long sexual scenes in this, which I guess were generally how assassins got things done. Weird, but I suppose it mostly worked for them. The gore was excellent, lots of intense gun fights and some minor tactics. The plot was all over the place and some things were just silly.

The Conclusion

Polar isn't a great film, but it can be enjoyable if you just want action and ultra high levels of violence. It delivers somewhat of a plot with perhaps some surprises that won't really surprise you. There are some characters present, they don't get much development aside from the lead. A lot of the plot just stumbles along and some things just happen, or other moments are forgotten entirely.

It does have that comic aesthetic to it, never holding back in terms of the gore or what it showed. Again, I enjoyed watching it though certainly will admit it wasn't anything special. It does have some neat levels of violence, creative characters and some wacky costumes. They always had some weird looking character on screen, bringing high levels of exaggeration.

Polar Review at Home with Streamed Viewing

Rating Overall: 5.2