Tag Archives: Arctic

Against the Ice (2022).

1909 and it’s Denmark’s, or more accurately Ejnar Mikkelsen’s, harrowing quest to prove that Greenland isn’t split into two. The reviews are mixed but I was really impressed with this.

It goes through all the survival movie tropes but it’s never boring. It takes you right into the action with little need for long exposition, a crime of so many of these films. I wouldn’t say there’s a single memorable shot, but it’s as captivating as anything in the genre I’ve seen since The Grey (2011).

It can make one dream of adopting a husky. And I didn’t once think of Jaime Lannister.

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Arctic (2018) is your proper minimalist survival thriller.

Arctic

I was mightily impressed with this, and it’s most refreshing to watch a flick without a one-liner or a wooden numpty in a cape. No pointless dialogue, no heavy exposition, no pretensions; just life-and-death struggle in a daunting environment, and Mads Mikkelsen’s terrifyingly alluring cheekbones. What a strange occurrence those things are.

The movie reminded me of The Grey (2011) with Liam Neeson, except this one without a sadistic pack of looney wolves.

Tagged , , , ,