Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

Duncan (Mads Mikkelsen) is nearing retirement, and though this should mean holstering his guns and access to a hefty pension, his last few days as an active agent is spent trying to keep him and his jittery neighbour (Vanessa Hudges) alive.

This movie wasn’t what I was expecting. From the trailer, I had envisioned something between Kill Bill and Sin City – and to a certain extent I got that, but comparing such well known, cinematically stylized classics to Polar – well I guess disappointment was inevitable.

Admittedly there were things I did like about this movie; there were some great imagery, stellar fight sequences and even the gore was contextually cool. Mads Mikkelsen was fantastic as the grouchy unreadable Duncan, and he looked badass standing naked in the snow as he gazed down at his victim.

What kept getting me is how at odds Duncan was to the other “assassins” in the organization he worked for. Where the Z list Suicide Squad were all technicolour with a penchant for unnecessary violence, and it took all five of them to kill a single person with zero matching skills, Duncan was overcast, slick and seemed like an actual professional.

I didn’t like those characters in the slightest, nor was I a fan of Matt Lucas’ man behind the curtain. It didn’t help that it was never made clear who the organization was and what their aims were. Did they just hire sociopaths and give them guns and no training or did you actually have to have some sort of skill to be in the league?

Much much more could be said from my negative opinion about the movie but I’ll just leave it there.

A massive disappointment from what I was expecting however I will say that both main characters – Vanessa Hudges and Mads Mikkelson did very well in their roles.