Polar

[Brian in Mesa]

Polar

Release date: January 25, 2019
Studio: Netflix
Director: Jonas Akerlund
MPAA Rating: N/A
Screenwriter: Jayson Rothwell
Genre: Action

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Hudgens, Katheryn Winnick, Matt Lucas

Plot Summary: Polar is based upon the Dark Horse action noir graphic novel Polar: Came From the Cold by Victor Santos. The world’s top assassin, Duncan Vizla (Mikkelsen), aka The Black Kaiser, is settling into retirement when his former employer marks him as a liability to the firm. Against his will, he finds himself back in the game going head to head with an army of younger, faster, ruthless killers who will stop at nothing to have him silenced. The action, mystery and intrigue will be set entirely to a custom body of menacing productions by deadmau5.

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[Chaplin]

Interested, but isn’t this just another version of John Wick?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Interested, but isn’t this just another version of John Wick?

That would be ironic since the main character in Polar (Kaiser Black) predates Wick.

Haven't seen it yet, but considering the source material, it was likely a very different process in getting made. Hard to say if the filmmakers changed things to be more Wick-like or less Wick-like. I'll be interested in seeing how closely they stayed to the original story.

I imagine an animated film would have been an easier adaptation because of its background/style: Polar depicts the story of international hitman Kaiser Black, the titular character of Santos' 2009 graphic novel Black Kaiser, as he is forced out of retirement after an assassination attempt is made on his life. The story, described as "bleak", features a femme fatale character and a large amount of gore, and it is set in an icy landscape. The webcomic is notable for its lack of dialogue and speech balloons, and features a somewhat minimalistic style in color, being rendered entirely in stark black, white, and orange.

Polar is based on graphic novels/webcomics. Created in 2009 by graphic novelist Víctor Santos.

Here were the influences behind Polar: Santos has listed a large number of influences on the Polar website. He states that the minimalistic and "direct" style is inspired by films such as Le Samouraï (1967), Tokyo Drifter (1965), and Point Blank (1967), as well as novels like The Killer Inside Me (1952) and The Eiger Sanction (1979). Santos describes Polar as "a tribute to artists like Jim Steranko, José Antonio Muñoz, Alberto Breccia, Alex Toth and Frank Miller." Santos got caught in the "manga explosion of the '80 and '90s" during his teenage years and came in touch with many United States' comic book artists while at university. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Santos said that he was introduced to many 1960s films by someone from his cinema class, and that they both were big fans of the works of John Woo during his university years.

Wick was written as a film treatment. Created by screenwriter Derek Kolstad in 2012.

Here were the influences behind Wick: The premise for John Wick was conceived by screenwriter Derek Kolstad who began work on a treatment about a retired contract killer coming out to seek vengeance, entitled Scorn. After one month of work, he had completed the first draft of the screenplay, and once he had addressed several issues he pitched the script to various clients, garnering at least three offers. Kolstad was influenced by film-noir classics and the themes of revenge and the antihero and what might play out if the most evil man found redemption only to have it taken away. The works of Alistair MacLean and Stephen King influenced Kolstad in creating the story in terms of world-building and characterization, respectively.

Both creators reference similar themes and influences. Not unreasonable to think that two individuals could create similar characters/situations, is it?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Man, that was a long-winded "We'll see."

 

[Brian in Mesa]

This movie is a mess. Some good scenes, but most of the movie is too stylized, too over-the-top, too forced, and it feels like there are two separate movies going on at once. Felt like a lot of the swearing and sex was there just to be in your face and didn't move the plot or anything. Same with the gore.