- Director : Lo Chi Leung
- Actors : Donnie Yen, Cecilia Han, Jia Bing, Tang Xu
- Subtitles: : English
- Language : Mandarin Chinese (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), Mandarin Chinese (Stereo)
- Studio : Well Go Usa
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Country of Origin : China
- Number of discs : 1
- Media Format : Blu-ray
- Run time : 1 hour and 43 minutes
- Release date : March 26, 2024
There seems to
be a consistent pattern with martial arts action stars in Hong Kong and China,
where they inevitably reach an age where their physicality is in decline and
choose that time to make a purely dramatic film. Jackie Chan had the historical
drama, 1911 (2011). Jet Li made Ocean Heaven (2010). And Donnie
Yen has followed suit with Polar Rescue (previously titled Come Back
Home), a film steeped in melodrama surrounding a child gone missing in a
mountain snowstorm. Melodrama often works best when paired with other elements
like action and suspense, but even these sequences are not enough to distract
from the contrived and emotionally manipulative plot points of Polar Rescue.
The film begins
by introducing a happy family on a day of their mountain vacation in northeast
China, enjoying the pleasures of a resort before setting out to visit a nearby
lake. When the family patriarch De (Yen) momentarily gets their vehicle stuck
in the snow, his 8-year-old son Lele (Yuan Jinhui) recklessly tries to wave down a passing
car, nearly causing an accident. Ignoring the pleas his wife Xuan (Cecilia Han),
De briefly leaves Lele behind to teach him a lesson and take their younger
daughter to use the restroom. When the family returns, Lele is nowhere to be
found and soon a full-blown search rescue is needed to find him as the weather
turns harsher.
In order to
stretch this extremely simple plot into feature-film length, the plot takes
increasingly ridiculous twists and turns. De is forced to combat the apathetic
approach of certain local members of law enforcement, comes up against a group
of opportunistic kidnappers, faces a full-on avalanche, and traverses a lake
with dangerously thin ice. Along with an escalation in the events, the
melodrama is also amped up in the climax of the film. It culminates in a
predictable and emotionally manipulative resolution which makes the set-up feel
even more contrived as a result. Can Yen handle the dramatic material? Yes,
much better than some of the other cast members, but even his performance can’t
save the film from its worst tendencies.
The Blu-ray
release of Polar Rescue doesn’t come with special features, or many
other reasons for the upgrade. While some of the sequences feature CGI effects
that tend to look better in high definition, the priority is in the emotional
storyline rather than the spectacle. And the effects often reflect these
priorities.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 5.5/10
Historical
Significance: 2/10
Special Features: 0/10
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