Frat Boy At the Movies: Polar
on February 22, 2019 at 1:19 amI wanted to do this on video, but again, technical difficulties. The long and short of it is, it’s a pretty good action flick, but it’s different. Spoilers ahead.
Duncan is a retiring hitman. This sub genre has been beaten to death, but this movie tries real hard to do something new. It’s based after a webcomic. Dark Horse reprinted the comic and developed the movie.
In the first act, it establishes Duncan as a sympathetic character. He’s suffering from PTSD from a hit gone wrong. But the very opening scene has a group of hitmen killing off a retired hitman. You see, the company that hires them, Damoclese, promises big pensions. Hitmen that work for the company must retire at 50.
But the company’s owner wants to sell it and the pension debt prevents that. Therefore, the slimy boss, Mr. Blut, decides to kill them off. Unfortunately, the first retired hitman in the opening is Johnny Knoxville. I’m a fan of Johnny, but he doesn’t come off as a believable retired hitman.
Anyhow, Duncan is up on the chopping block because he’s owed a ton of money, so most of act 2 is twofold: It’s about the squad trying to track down Duncan and Duncan trying to live a normal life and becoming enamored with his neighbor.
The movie drags a bit, although is still pretty entertaining, but the third act is really good. There are lots of twists and turns, some very gross scenes, but lots of surprises. Matt Lucas, who plays Blut, really steals the show. Mads Mikkelsen, AKA: Young Hannibal, ain’t too shabby either. This is being presented as a franchise and I could definite see a second installment.
I give Polar a strong 8 out of 10 keggers. It’s currently playing on Netflix. Stick to the third act. It justifies the entire movie.