Donnie Yen gets his ass kicked in one scene in “Polar Rescue,” titled “Sou jiu/Come Back Home” when it opened in China. And frankly, it’s not a good look for the martial arts icon, who has been more at home in the delivering of on-screen ass-kickings than on the receiving end.

But he’s over 60, so maybe the sentimental slop of “Polar Rescue” is his filmic fate from here on out.

It’s a “I lost my kid in a blizzard” story of a family vacation gone wrong in the frigid north of China. And it’s a tale of frustrating lazy cops, not-secret-enough guilt, a mini media circus and the struggle to find a kid we have just enough time to get to know to note is quite the spoiled brat.

De and Xuan (Yen and Cecilia Han) are making the most of their trip “north,” showing their two young kids the pleasures of snow and winter sports. But headstrong Lele (Yuan Jinhui) has his heart set on seeing fabled Lake Tian and its mythic “monster.” He throws a tantrum when Dad informs him that the road is closed. So indulgent Dad finds a back way to drive their rented Chinese SUV there.

Of course they get stuck. Remember, Donnie Yen, “there is only one Jeep.”

That’s when Lele recklessly almost gets run over, standing in the middle of the snowy-icy road. Next thing we know, he’s gone missing and the parents are pleading with a do-nothing cop — “Southerners are so RUDE!” — to try and a search launched.

“How did you lose him?” (in Mandarin with English subtitles) De is asked for the first and certainly not the last time.

Even after the chief (Hou Tianlai) intervenes and a massive search gets underway, a lot of the searchers have their suspicions, which they gossip about in the cold.

De grows more frantic with each passing hour, even as “There’s no hope” and “Even an adult would be dead by now” gloom sets in.

Diving into social media for crowd-sourced “help” just makes matters worse, as users voice their darkest fears for what this seemingly distraught father might have done and online predators show up.

The snowy production design is first rate as this frigid melodrama feels chilly, first scene to last.

But the script, which is credited both to director Chi-Leung Law as “written and directed by” and separately by three other “screenplay by” writers in the credits, is a maudlin mess of weepy anecdotes, head-slappingly obvious parental “blunders,” tepid flashbacks and a pause for a patriotic song by the Red Army Chorus of searchers.

Action beats involving a river the distraught father tries to cross, heedless of the danger, and a frozen lake are impressive.

It’s just that whatever they spent the money on — Donnie Yen, effects and location shooting — it wasn’t on a compelling or even all that competent script.

Rating: unrated, violence

Cast: Donnie Yen, Cecilia Han, Yuan Jinhui and Hou Tianlai

Credits: Directed by Chi-Leung Law, scripted by Xiaoli Zhang, Sin Long Young and Chi Wen Ying. A Well Go USA release.

Running time: 1:42