Against the Ice
Coming off The Terror's highly engaging and thrilling tale, anything remotely involving arctic survival has an almost impossible upheaval task of paling in comparison. Granted, Against the Ice comes nowhere near the production, the performance, the narrative, and – pardon the pun – the terror of AMC’s masterful first season. There are elements here that impress, and while the issue of stitching together multiple thematics and genres into one piece, Against the Ice just about survives the balance it puts forth.
As aforementioned, Against the Ice stitches together around three genres and thematic moods – one being an adventure, the next a survival piece, and lastly, a psychological horror. The Terror had all elements and motifs in store but allowed them to bloom over eight hours of television. Against the Ice is crafting the same type of mood and thrill and trying to make it compelling in just under two. Ultimately, this creates a Frankenstein’s monster of flip-flopping and rushed tone, an attribute that makes the experience all the more jarring than immersive. Granted, the tones themselves are interesting and compelling enough in what slice of tone and story they craft. Particularly the survival aspects that are undoubtedly harsh and hard-hitting and echo the dire brutality of the setting and story that is taking place.
Nevertheless, the audience never feels for the setting itself, with a production and set design failing to substantiate the widespread fear and killer that is this place the characters on screen are so desperately trying to conquer. This is further complicated by the repetitive nature of proceedings and story that forces these characters to go back and forth between places, undermining the severity of the setting, and, ultimately, immersion. Furthermore, the inevitable psychological breakdown of isolation and depression in the feature’s third act is sadly the most conventional and predictable, which stores the film’s most ambiguous and antagonistic character development but is used with little nuance and terror, often coming off whimsical and light.
Overall, however, one of the two performances are quite compelling; Joe Cole furthers his sophistication and nature as an actor with another substantial turn in a differing role to that of Peaky Blinders. His wit, charm, and camaraderie are deeply felt, so much so, in fact, that without the engagement of his character, it pains to think of how and where this film would pivot in terms of emotional engagement and immersion. He brings layers of charm and heartfelt vulnerability to the role that has little screen time to explore – namely one haunting moment on the ice itself, which is quickly forgotten on-screen to harden up the two characters but feels amiss in detailing its effects on the uninitiated. Alas, the star and co-writer Nikolaj Coster-Waldau puts forward a standard performance that has its moments. Still, the feature languishes far too much in exploring his empty underbelly and psychosis rather than substantiating Cole's more inviting and compelling turn.
Then again, for what it is, Against the Ice suffices in its telling of survival against nature, fellow man, but also the internal struggle within. Granted, it is not without its faults and stumbles along the way with unexplored depths of character and underwhelming production design, but as stated, this feature does a limited about of internal exploration for the audience to just about find immersion and compelling material inside.
