Written by: Jayson Rothwell (screenplay by), Víctor Santos (based on the Dark Horse graphic novel "Polar: Came from the cold" by)
Directed by: Jonas Åkerlund
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Hudgens, Katheryn Winnick, Matt Lucas
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
The world's top murderer, Duncan Vizla (Mads Mikkelsen), aka The Black Kaiser, is settling into retirement when he's employed against his will. He finds himself back in the game going head to head with an army of younger, faster, ruthless killers who will stop at nothing to have him silenced.
Verdict
This is crude, violent, and over the top. The story is less than original, but this attempts to establish itself as unique with a style that's outrageous. It feels a bit like a comic book and while Mikkelsen does a good job, the whole is less than the parts with an uneven tone. This has an interesting idea that painted in bright neon colors, an idea that's soon forgotten as the movie assumes you'd rather watch mindless violence.
Skip it.
Review
This is based on a comic and takes a bit of that aesthetic with stylized text to introduce characters and settings. The style is excess, and I imagine the comic is excessive as well. There's a lot of sex and violence, making this feel juvenile since it doesn't bolster characters or the story. It's a male teen's dream movie.
There are a lot of movies with the laconic bad guy turned hero and this doesn't do enough to set itself apart. What is unique isn't appealing. This tries to overpower you with an aesthetic. The premise is intriguing, assassins are all in one organization and this revolves around pension. It almost is like John Wick with this interesting world that's relegated to a side story, but John Wick truly felt cool and well thought out. Polar is an underdeveloped idea thrown into the chaos and violence of this movie. This is individual scenes that are violent and wild, but they don't add up to much. The ending is a twist that doesn't feel credible. Why does the greatest killer in the world need a redemption story? At no point in this movie does his character develop in any way to make that credible
Mikkelson is in a different movie from everyone else, and that creates an uneven tone. Mikkelson's character lacks personality. Killing machine assassin is just too generic. The other characters are bright and loud, but they aren't developed. The villain of the movie who'd rather kill assassins than pay them pension is just silly.
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