Polar (2019)

This is a bit of a strange movie. Part of it feels like a pretty good, dark and gritty thriller, part of it feels like a wannabe Tarantino movie and part of it feels like a comedy. Overall I would classify it as a B-movie but a pretty good B-movie. As strange as the movie is I have to say that I liked it. I kind of watched this movie on a whim. It popped up on my Netflix home screen and I kind of liked the blurb. A type of story that I like. Then I saw that Mads Mikkelsen played the lead role and this sold me on it. I quite like Mads Mikkelsen in these kind of roles. The movie starts off in a fairly normal way for this kind of movie. You know, some assassinations, introduction of the hero, the bad guys, the even badder guys and all that. It is fairly clear already from the start that there will be blood splatter. That it would reach the levels it did towards the end of the movie was a bit of a surprise though. I did like Mads Mikkelsen in his role as Duncan, the somewhat brooding and grim assassin starting his retirement. But then I’m not really surprised. It’s a perfect role for him. The rest of the actors, well let’s just say that their acting was for the most part forgettable. Maybe with the exception of Matt Lucas as Blut. But then, his role was so comical and wacky so one wonders if it required acting skills or just a good dose of insanity (or some chemical products). The blurb states that he is deemed a liability. Well, that is not exactly the truth actually. It is more that his overly wacky boss is trying to screw him. This is where it starts to get into comedy land. Already in the first couple of scenes it is clear that this guy is a nut job. Then he let’s loose his assassins and at that point the movie escalates in a orgy of blood, violence and comedy. I cannot really make up my mind if it would have been a better movie if the violence would have been less comical or not. With the comedy this movie becomes a bit unusual and sticks out. Without it it would risk becoming just another thirteen on a dozen assassin thrillers. Also, as comical as it is, it is fairly well done. Anyway, there is of course a pretty dramatic and violent fight as the movie draws to a close. I quite liked that one. There is also a little twist that I actually did not see coming at the end. Overall, it was a fun movie to watch.