Editing decisions and tonal problems undermine any good work that Mads Mikkelsen is doing.
Mikkelsen is Duncan Vizla, a hitman whose agency turn on him as his 50th birthday is approaching in order to save paying him the extensive pension that he's accrued over the years. Though Vizla is haunted by dreams from an earlier hit that didn't go as planned, he's not willing to go quietly into the night and attempts to turn the tables on the gang of younger assassins that are sent to retire him permanently.
There's almost two films at play within "Polar". One, whilst never making it to the realms of "Good", is an acceptable, if derivative assassin story that see's Mikkelsen retreat to his isolated cabin, interact a little with his neighbour and await the time his would be killers launch their assault. It borrows liberally from other Assassin stories, particularly "John Wick" (at whose expense an early parody falls flat) and "Leon" as he establishes a non-standard relationship with a younger woman (this time played by Vanessa Hudgens). There is enough in all of this aspect of the film to make you care about the pair a little, they at least feel like real people, admittedly though where one of them has a very unusual job. When the film works at all (which isn't very often) it's when it leans into these aspects.
Unfortunately, anything good there is undermined, vomited on and the buried in concrete by the other half of the movie. A witless, childish mess of colours, noises and actions that's principle demonstrated by the villains of the film. A hopelessly miscast, Matt Lucas is the films lead villain. His character a collection of sexual threats, odd perversions and a complete incapacity to think through a plan. Though given nothing to work with, he is, frankly, awful and is fortunately that more people won't see his Razzie worthy turn to have it be a contender next year. The rest of his gang of assassins is also a lowlight. Logically, the team should have a series of different skills but here they appear to have got their roles based solely on looking unusual. They, and the cavalcade of drug addicts, snuff film makers and morbidly obese characters they interact with are, I think, supposed to be funny and edgy. They are not, they are eye-rollingly awful.
The potential that was present in "Polar" is squandered entirely by this desire to be quirky or offbeat. So much so that the film must be an early contender for worst film of the year.
