Looking at the poster for today’s new Netflix release, you might first think of two possibilities. One is that it’s the latest Liam-Neeson-fights-wolves survival thriller, only Neeson wasn’t available. The other is that it’s a new project you haven’t heard about from Christopher Nolan where the characters defy gravity in their walks like in Inception and Tenet. It turns out it’s neither, but rather just a snow-set drama about a real-life explorer from Denmark.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, best known as Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones, stars as Ejnar Mikkelsen, the captain of a 1909 Danish expedition whose express goal is to show his country’s claim to Northeast Greenland, which is being challenged by the United States...
Due to the terrain and the very precarious nature of his mission, Mikkelsen is accompanied only by one volunteer, Iver Iversen, played by Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Gangs of London). Even if they do succeed, their journey is made considerably longer by the fact that, should they live, they then have to reunite with their ship to make the trip back home.
What ensues is a mix of The Grey and The Revenant, with the primary focus on these two men and their determination to see their work through to the end. It’s not nearly as dramatic or suspenseful as either of those films, with a tone somewhat similar to the poorly-received (I’m not quite sure why) adaptation of The Call of the Wild. The two personalities featured are quite dissimilar, and seeing them bond simply because they have no one else is worthwhile. The film’s scenes lean heavily on Mikkelsen’s recollections of his home life and his decreasing ability to distinguish memory from reality.
The setup of Against the Ice recalls another cinematic expedition in a warmer climate, The Lost City of Z, another true story that happened around the same time. Mikkelsen’s certainty that he must investigate that which he believes to be true until there is nothing left for him to do is what drives the film, with Iversen’s curiosity and idealistic nature helpful to that sentiment even if that does lead them to clash at times. It’s an interesting tale that proves engaging enough for its 1 hour and 42-minute runtime.
It’s a perfectly adequate film that, no disrespect to the momentous undertaking of its protagonists, doesn’t manage to be all that memorable. But this is a great opportunity to recommend two radically different projects featuring this film’s leads: catch Coster-Waldau in Headhunters, currently streaming on Cinemax GO, and Cole in the six-episode HBO Max imported comedy Pure. And if Against the Ice sounds up your alley, it’s a fine choice too. B
Against the Ice is now streaming on Netflix.