Polar Rescue
review by Bobby Blakey
Martial arts icon Donnie Yen has been kicking major ass for years on the big screen with films like Flash Point, the Ip Man franchise, Star Wars: Rogue One and more recently John Wick Chapter 4. In addition to bringing the pain in front of the camera he has led the charge directing. Now he has teamed up with Lo Chi Leung to co-direct the film Come Back Home aka Polar Rescue co-starring Cecilia Han and Jia Bing. Could this flick offer up something different for Yen worth rescuing or will it be too cold for fun?
Polar Rescue follows a young boy who gets lost during a bitter snowstorm and his frantic parents seek help from the local police, who are soon faced with a desperate race against the clock as hours tick by with no sign of the child.
Like most I prefer to see Yen kicking some ass on screen, but also understand that actors want to be able to stretch their acting muscles with different kinds of roles. Knowing this I headed in with no expectations of the usual Yen stylings and let this film just play out as it is intended. The result is a bit of a hit and miss, but still a decent flick.
The story is simple enough but is initially confusing in its cuts and pacing. There is some major plot issues initially that left me confused and if I missed something, but as it plays out they fill in the gaps trying to make it be more of a mystery. It needed to be structured differently to make it work smoothly as the idea is great to give it more layers, just fractured.
Once the film gets to moving it isn’t nearly as exciting as you would expect but
does have those moments here and there. It plays out more of a family drama as this family is not only dealing with the loss and trying to find the boy, but also their own issues with each other. This isn’t a bad thing and makes for a good story, it just goes in a direction that doesn’t feel like what they are initially pushing as the narrative.
Despite some issues with the film, Yen and the rest of the cast are fantastic. Everyone brings their A game to their roles and all the emotion needed to feel the sadness, grief and struggle they are going with. The slow pacing of it all makes the film drag at times, but in the end is a decent film, just not the adventure style thing you might think you are heading into.
Decide for yourself and grab your copy of Polar Rescue when it hits Blu-ray and DVD on March 26th from Well Go USA.