"Arctic" is a Harrowing Survival Picture With a Fantastic Mads Mikkelson
By: Keaton Marcus
DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 13, YOU MUST ASK YOUR PARENTS IF YOU ARE ALLOWED, IF THEY SAY NO…IT MEANS NO!
85/100 “sweet”
First-time filmmaker Joe Penna directs Mads Mikkelson survival vehicle "Arctic", it is as gripping as it is entertaining, a terrific romp; The film runs just 98 minutes and proves that a survival feature does not need an overlong runtime, or much in the way of scripting to be successful, especially when the entire film takes place in a freezing cold wasteland. The lead performance by Mikkelson is yet another fantastic outing for the skilled Danish actor, otherwise the gritty storytelling and immeasurable direction help "Arctic" get past the somewhat uninspired concept for the pic.
The film follows the story of Overgärd, a downed cargo pilot who lands in the middle of nowhere, inside the frozen wasteland of Antartica. With no help whatsoever, he must find difficult ways to survive in order to last until help comes; However, he is not completely alone for long, when Overgärd meets a Japanese co-pilot, also after crashing, complicating the already remarkably dangerous and unfavorable situation. Overgärd finds that he must care for the woman and now get them both out of the godforsaken location, developing the plot even further.
Compared to other survival pics, generally based on true accounts or stories, "Arctic" surpasses them all in originality--and while I noted briefly that the storytelling is occasionally uninspired, director Joe Penna creates a never-before-seen experience on the big screen--while providing a sufficiency of entertaining scenes. In Tom Hanks-starring "Cast Away", the talented actor plays the role of Chuck Noland, and while Hanks provides an occasionally fascinating performance, most of the film the character rambles on about his problems by talking vigorously to sports balls, including a volleyball--which gets annoying after a while--instead of complaining about the difficult situation--Mikkelson plays Overgärd with conviction, and invests such emotion into the role, that it never gets boring-also, continuing to the main point, "Arctic" runs a concise 1 hr 37 mins, around 35 minutes less than the seemingly "never-ending" "Cast Away". Otherwise, the film does occasionally compare with Liam Neeson survival vehicle, "The Grey" which finds the actor stranded in Antarctica, constantly battling wolves, this particular film is brilliant, but is never quite as amusing as "Arctic" which benefits from direction, emotion and of course, when Mads Mikkelson is the one doing the surviving, it is impossible not to like.
As regarded many times before, actor Mads Mikkelson provides a landmark exposition for the usually familiar genre; Known for mostly villains, such as the title killer in the grisly, and acclaimed TV update "Hannibal", and the infamous Le Chiffre in the best "Bond" installment to-date, "Casino Royale". Elsewhere in his career, the actor played in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", and critically-loved movie "A Royal Affair", along with actress Alicia Vikander--In "Arctic", his role is never fully developed, but it seldom needs to be, Mikkelson's performance is so incredibly executed, that the audience is so keen to forgive the talented actor. There is rarely any dialogue in the film, but when audiences lined up to see "A Quiet Place" starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, the film used music, scares and brilliant cinematography to easily cover up the rarity of noise coming out of the character's mouth; "Arctic" is very similar using beautiful filming, and an expressive performance by Mikkelson, proving that a good survival pic does not need much in the way of talking (hum... "Cast Away"...Tom Hanks going nuts).
The final verdict is: The storytelling is occasionally uninspired, but survival flick "Arctic" features an invested performance by blooming Danish actor Mads Mikkelson, jaw-dropping cinematography, a concise running-time and overall a compelling directorial debut by filmmaker Joe Penna...$PLURGE IT
By: Keaton Marcus
Box Office Info:
Opening: N/A
Domestic Total: 2.4M
Worldwide Total: 4.1M