Timur Bekmambetov

The other day I went to the cinema to see “Wanted“. I’ve been waiting for this film for some time now, since I liked the trailer and heard quite a few positive reviews from people who saw it earlier. It wasn’t a disappointment at all. On the contrary. I really liked it. In fact, I’m planning to go and see it once again, while it is on the large screen, and then I want to get myself the DVD with all the extras and special features.

Excellent special effects, great soundtrack, and quite a few twists in the story – some of which are predictable and some are not – all these makes it into an excellent entertainment. Of course, Angeline Jolie with gun fights and car chases is a major attraction as well. Morgan Freeman is a nice addition. But what I liked the most about the movie is its originality. Not breathtaking kind, but the kind which really made me watch it in full attention. Rarely do I come across something from Hollywood and have this feeling.

Overall, 9 out of 10. Strongly recommended.

I promised not to watch any more of the Russian movies and managed to escape them for some time now. Until today. “Nochnoy Dozor” has been widely advertised in Russia and there was a lot of hype about it. Some people were even weighting it as an answer to Hollywood. My own mother wanted me to watch it. The copy of the film was available on the net, so I decided to see it.

This film sucks. Yes, it is better than many other films. It might be one of the best films from Russia for the last few years. But it still sucks. The biggest problem I have with this movie is the same as with all the other Russian films of the last 10 years or so – greyness, sadness, and depression. It has so much of negative energy that I had troubles focusing on the actual content of the film. Most movies (at least the ones similar to this) use contrast to strongly separate good and bad characters – good characters are usually surrounded by joy and happiness and bad characters are surrounded by spider nets, bats, and other creepy stuff. This film, on the other hand, is totally dark and grey. Good characters look like they have been drinking for a couple of weeks before the shooting. City scenes are dirty. People in the crowd and subway are angry. Blah blah blah. Yuck.

So, now once again I have to say – this was the last Russian-made movie that I watched. Enough is enough.