It’s safe to say that John Wick has had a significant, positive impact on the on the currents state of action movies. Wick captures everything a moviegoer wants from an action movie. Although this article is not about John Wick, it feels necessary to mention its influence in order to talk about Netflix’s recent film, Polar. As much as I think this film should be talked about on its own merits, I find it difficult to completely separate the two because the movie goes to such great lengths to be obvious about the influence John Wick has on it.
Mads Mikkelsen plays an aging assassin known as Duncan Vizla who works for a firm of assassins that requires him to retire at the age of 50. As he approaches retirement, he carefully prepares for a fresh start in a secluded cabin in Montana. Blut, the boss of the firm, has other plans for Vizla. His contract states that if he dies in an “accident” his retirement pension of $8 million will go back to the firm. Blut sends out a team of young assassins to track down and kill Vizla, hoping to recoup the money to pay off his debts. What ensues is a fun, bloody massacre as Visla fights his way through a slew of colorful characters in order to reach his retirement.
This movie is like John Wick meets Smokin’ Aces; every assassin has their own unique personality and abilities that they utilize to eliminate their targets. While this was an attempt at giving us some fun and interesting characters, I think it fell short in its execution. They ultimately felt like familiar, shallow characters but with worse dialogue. I tried to have fun with them and their banter, but the film’s attempts fell flat.
Mikkelsen is the best part of this movie. His character was interesting, smart, and always one step ahead of the game. He’s no John Wick, but I was still interested to see where his character arc was going and I had fun watching him settle the score. Again, I know Vizla is based off of the Polar graphic novels and is not trying to be the next John Wick. But I felt like the movie couldn’t help but be self aware of their similarities, playing to them a little too much. It attempts to build a world and characters that falls short of what John Wick and Smokin’ Aces was able to accomplish in their own way.
Despite all of its similarities to other movies, I was more or less having fun watching it. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. The action scenes were smooth, well-executed violent messes that I could have fun with. The movie also has a twist that sets up a premise that is more interesting and exciting than the premise explored here. Vanessa Hudgens plays a character with a certain connection to Vizla that I hope is fleshed out in a sequel down the road. Duncan Vizla may not be the next John Wick, but he has a lot to offer as a cold-blooded killer with a moral compass. I do hope we see a sequel at some point.
