Netflix And Chill: Polar (2019)

Based on a graphic novel, "Polar: Came From The Cold", this over the top action movie feels very much like an attempt to capture a viewing audience of John Wick fans. There are moments that definitely feel similar (as will happen nowadays every time one skilled hitman is facing off against numerous foes). But I think the difference can be summed up with one sentence. John Wick lost his beloved dog, the lead character in Polar accidentally shoots one.

Mads Mikkelsen is Duncan Vizla, 14 days away from his retirement after years spent working for the Damocles organisation. He's due a very lucrative pension, which is surely a worthy reward for a lifetime spent in his dangerous line of work. Mind you, the head of Damocles doesn't want to pay out massive pensions, which explains why all employees tend to die just before or after their retirement. A team is sent to track down Duncan and make sure he has no need of his huge pension fund.

I'm not sure who to blame here, having not checked out the source material, by Victor Santos. There's maybe stuff in the graphic novel that works better on the page than the screen, as is so often the case, but Jayson Rothwell doesn't help with a clumsy screenplay, and director Jonas Åkerlund feels as if he's just floating without a rudder from one Wick-lite moment to the next.

It's the tone that causes the biggest problem. Every moment that has Mikkelsen being a composed badass is great, because Mikkelsen can do composed badass in his sleep. There are also many good little conversations between him and Katheryn Winnick, playing Vivian, the mediator trying to hire him for one last job that turns out to have him as the main target. Vanessa Hudgens and Richard Dreyfuss also fare well, but everyone else seems to have been given a script for an entirely different movie.

The group tasked with seeking out our hero (led by Hilde, played by Fei Ren) are almost always shown killing someone in a way that is either gleefully over the top or just allowing them to vent their frustrations on people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although it's worth mentioning the hilarious sex scene that involves Mads (fans get to see some Mikkelbooty) and Ruby O. Fee, who plays Sindy, one of the killers who gives fresh meaning to the term "special finishing move". And the less said about the owner of Damocles (Blut, played by Matt Lucas), the better.

With that glaring disparity in mind, it's hard to judge the performances, considering that everyone involved may have been doing exactly what was asked of them. Lucas still stands out like a sore thumb, he's a whole other level of awful and I really cannot understand why he was thought right for the role (again, maybe it's close to the source material, I just don't know).

Some sequences look great, including the main attempt to capture Duncan and a very satisfying final bout of revenge killing, and there are infrequent moments in which the comedy works (our lead giving a highly inappropriate talk to a classroom full of kids is great fun), but neither Rothwell nor Åkerlund have the confidence to maintain the balance required to make this a success. The fact that it still entertains is all down to the performances of Mikkelsen and Winnick.

This could have been great. It's not. This could have at least been good. It's not. It's just average, which makes it disappointing. Fans of Mikkelsen will still find enough to enjoy, but he deserved a better vehicle for his not-inconsiderable talent.

5/10

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Lords Of Chaos (2018)

As unfamiliar with the Norwegian black metal music scene as I am, I either have to take Lords Of Chaos as truth or take it as an attempt to present a sketch of the events of the early 1990s that led to both tragedy and infamy for some of the key players. Considering how often film-makers have to take liberties with the truth in order to turn it into cinematic entertainment, I am going with the latter. Don't take Lords Of Chaos as an attempt to deliver the truth, take it as an exploration of attitudes, lifestyles, hype, and lies that became muddled up and interchangeable in the minds of some young men who started to feed on an unwise diet of their own flesh and blood. They started devouring themselves more and more vigorously at a dining table that would stretch to accommodate more and more acolytes, creating a self-destructive cycle that would inevitably only end one of two ways, eventual overstuffing (metaphorically speaking) or disappointment and hunger.

Rory Culkin plays Euronymous, the lynchpin of a Norwegian black metal band named Mayhem. When Mayhem recruits a new lead singer, Dead (played by Jack Kilmer), Euronymous is alternately impressed and irritated by his macabre antics, which often involve dead animals/flesh and self-harm. The irritation disappears, however, when Dead shows how committed he is to his lifestyle choice by blowing his brains out with a shotgun. From that moment on, Euronymous moves from being a band member to being a record store owner and the manager of a record label. And that is when his life starts to fully intertwine with a young man named Kristian (who goes by the name of Varg), which is when conversations start to get darker and more extreme, followed up by ego-driven actions.

Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, someone I wouldn't really consider myself a big fan of (I like some of his music videos, really disliked his debut movie, Spun), Lords Of Chaos is a fantastic mix of moments that are filled with dark humour and moments that depict violence in a way that is grim and difficult to watch. Every wound, every moment of pain, every death comes with a serious amount of weight attached. This is all thanks to the script, co-written by Dennis Magnusson and Åkerlund, that takes viewers on a journey that starts with childish bravado and inexorably slides towards life-shattering consequences. There's also something to be said for the energy levels in each scene, with things always feeling busy and energised until any fatal violence occurs, at which time the film slows down, almost as if matching the slowing breath/heartbeat of the victims.

I can understand people being annoyed that the cast isn't made up of more Norwegian actors in the main roles but I'm sure that Åkerlund had to balance out ways to get the film made with potential candidates who would be a great fit in their roles, and he's assembled a fine selection of actors. Culkin is easy to travel alongside, even when he's being selfish and horrible to others around him, and Emory Cohen is impressive as Varg, the one person always willing to take things further and prove that he doesn't just talk the talk. Sky Ferreira does fine in her rather thankless role, Kilmer makes a strong impression with his limited screentime, and you also get a solid supporting turn from Valter Skarsgård.

While this looks at a very particular time and place, a lit fuse that exploded a powderkeg, it's worth praising the fact that Åkerlund and Magnusson don't ever glorify the whole scene being shown (indeed, there's an air of mockery throughout that fans definitely won't appreciate). They also manage to remind you that the main characters involved here are still barely adults, despite their posturing and attempts to act as if they know exactly what they are doing, despite making the basic errors of mistaking infamy for fame, and striving to be creative while embodying a philosophy that is nihilistic and destructive.

A very difficult, at times excruciating, watch. It's also very much worth your time, even if it does nothing more than serve as a springboard to further exploration of how things got as bad as they did.

8/10

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Americans may want to check out this book.