In 2017, the sci-fi movie âThe Last Knightâ was released on the screens. This tape was the second attempt to return Russian cinema to the fabulous traditions of Alexander Rowe. Let's find out how successful it turned out to be. And for this, consider the reviews of the movie "The Last Knight".
The last warrior
This tape is the second, after the "Book of Masters", which was shot with the financial support of Walt Disney Pictures. That is why she had a very impressive (as for the Russian Federation) budget of $ 8 million.
The director of the project was Dmitry Dyachenko, who previously presented the audience with such masterpieces as Radio Day, What Men Talk About, and What Men Still Talk About.
A whole team of scriptwriters worked on the script of the tape - Vitaliy Shlyappo,
Dimitri Yan, Vasily Kutsenko, Pavel Danilov and Igor Tudvasev.
The movie was released in the world rental under the name The Last Warrior 10/26/2017, while in Russia it appeared a week earlier.
Who starred in the project
Before you find out the audienceâs feedback about the movie âThe Last Knightâ, it is worth considering who played in it.
Since this tape was originally planned not only for Russian, but also for global distribution, its creators very carefully approached the selection of performers of all roles.
Perhaps this is why the main villain - the sorceress Varvara - was played by Ekaterina Vilkova (Palm Sunday, Black Lightning). Representatives of the Disney company, she was known for her work on the âBook of Mastersâ, in which she played the role of a seductive mermaid.
As for the main character - the last hero in Belogorye, he was played by Victor Khorinyak, who had previously become famous thanks to the series âKitchenâ, âHotel Eleonâ, etc.
Other fairy-tale characters were performed by: Konstantin Lavronenko (Koschey the Immortal), Elena Yakovleva and Svetlana Kolpakova (Baba Yaga), Mila Sivatskaya (Vasilisa), Sergey Burunov (Vodyanaya), Timofey Tribuntsev (Leshy), Yuri Tsurilo (Ilya Murometsov), Yevgeny Muromyatov, (Dobrynya Nikitich) and Wolfgang Czerny (Alyosha Popovich).
What is the movie about
Before sorting out the audienceâs reviews of The Last Hero, itâs worth knowing what is being told about it.
In the center of the plot is the orphanage boy Ivan Naydenov, who, when he grew up, became a clever scammer, posing as the âwhite magician Svetozarâ. With the help of bribery, arrogance and his own dexterity, he successfully makes a career and is even close to winning the famous television project âThe Battle of Psychicsâ.
Once he deceived the wife of a wealthy businessman, convincing the unfortunate that her husband was unfaithful to her. For extra money, the âwhite magicianâ made a false love spell. However, the woman told her husband everything, and he decided to punish the fraudster.
Hiding from the persecution, Ivan suddenly finds himself in a fabulous country - Belogorye. From Lesha he learns that he is the son of the legendary hero Ilya Muromets.
As a child, he (to save from the evil sorceress Barbara) was sent to the human world. But now, when he has grown up, Ivan must save his homeland from the forces of evil, for which it is necessary to find the Sword-treasurer. Our hero can do this, because only Muromets himself or his son can find the coveted artifact.
Ivan agrees to a gamble, as he learns that it is this object that is capable of returning him home.
In this expedition, the hero is accompanied by Koschey the Immortal, Baba Yaga, Vasilisa and Vodyanaya. If each character has his own motives to find the coveted sword, then the main goal for all is the same - to destroy the spells of Barbara with his help. The fact is that she was able to cast a spell on Dobrynya and, becoming his wife, seeks to destroy all Belogorsk heroes and magical creatures behind him. The first she turns to stone, and the second just exterminates.
Will Ivan and his comrades save Belogorye? To find out about this, you need to go to the cinema and see for yourself this charming fairy tale.
Rethinking the classic images of heroes and the opinion of the audience on this subject
Before you learn more about the reviews of the movie "The Last Bogatyr", it is worth considering how the characters of the classic characters of Russian fairy tales have been changed.
In this story, the scriptwriters decided to turn everything upside down. So, famous fairy-tale antagonists, like Baba Yaga and Koschei, are presented in the film as heroes fighting against the so-called forces of good, who allegedly won in Belogorye.
In the fairy tale, the seductive sorceress Varvara turns out to be a desperate wife, and the valiant hero Dobrynya is an envious villain.
All these facets of characters open in the picture gradually. For many viewers who are used to perceiving these characters in a slightly different way, the new interpretation comes as a surprise. That is why in many reviews and reviews of the movie "The Last Bogatyr" such a plot move has earned a lot of praise.
Most of the spectators were especially pleased (judging by the comments) to rethink the traditional image of Koshchei. As a rule, in fairy tales he worries about two things: beautiful women and his own immortality. However, in The Last Bogatyr, a completely different hero appears before us - who has matured and wiser. He almost right through sees the people around them and their motivation, but he no longer condemns others for their weaknesses, but sympathizes.
As for the other heroes of the story, there was less mention of them in the reviews of the movie "The Last Knight".
A lot of negative comments went to modern Vasilisa. If the beauty of the girl did not leave anyone indifferent, then her character provoked indignation. Many did not like the fact that in her image there is practically nothing from the traditional Russian beauty. Moreover, Vasilisaâs appearance and her hairstyle are often compared to Ray from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It is not known whether such similarities happened or the creators of the tape tried to âplay alongâ with the famous franchise.
As for the image of Ivan the athlete, he caused quite controversial reviews from the audience of The Last Athlete. Despite a few primitive jokes about a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a pension of 6 thousand, this hero was liked precisely by his humanity. So, he is not shown a knight without fear and reproach, but, on the contrary, a guy full of shortcomings, with which he constantly has to fight.
In the total mass of Slavic viewers, this "rebranding" of traditional fairy-tale characters was to their liking. However, in separate reviews of the audience about the âLast Bogatyrâ it was said: such changes are suitable for projects intended for âtheir ownâ, which from childhood are familiar with original fairy tales. But as a presentation of the Russian fairy-tale culture to a foreign audience, such a rethinking of the characters was not very successful.
The fact is that for foreigners this is the first acquaintance with the heroes of Slavic folklore. Due to such transformations in their characters, they may have a wrong idea about Russian fairy tales. Since it turns out that the main evil is noble heroes, and the courageous hero Dobrynya is an envious and vile bastard.
How was the acting played by the leading actors
After considering how the change in the characters of the fairy-tale characters of the tape was perceived (compared to the original ones), it is worthwhile to find out what reviews about the actors of The Last Hero were left by the audience.
Unfortunately, there were many complaints about this. First of all, Viktor Khorinyakâs game was criticized. Although the artist really has a heroic appearance and a pleasant voice, and in the photo he looks simply stunning, but he fulfills his role in the film disgusting. It is hard to believe that 5 years ago, Viktor became the owner of the Oleg Tabakov Prize. Perhaps this degradation is due to the fact that the artist starred in too many series, and his style of play adapted to them.
Also, a lot of critical reviews went to his partner - Mila Sivatskaya, who played Vasilisa. Many viewers in their reviews of the movie "The Last Knight" called her game "slurred" and "wooden." At the same time, her beauty and photogenicity were also noted.
Konstantin Lavronenko and his Koschey received the most praise, as did Ekaterina Vilkova in the role of Barbara. These artists were perfectly accustomed to their characters, and their game was amazingly naturalistic.
Especially many noted the performer of the role of the old Baba Yaga - Elena Yakovleva. Thanks to the make-up and masterful change of voice, many viewers simply did not recognize Kamenskaya.
Timofei Tribuntsev and Sergey Burunov also received praise.
But the performer of the role of Ilya Muromets Yuri Tsurilo was negatively received. Although he played well, his appearance and voice (according to the audience) did not quite match the character. However, this is more likely a shortcoming of casting specialists, and not the artist himself.
Special Effects Reviews
Having examined the actors and the roles of The Last Hero and the reviews about them, it is worthwhile to find out how the audience perceived the special effects used in the project. Unfortunately, this topic has caused complaints, albeit not very numerous.
Among the pluses, it was noted that most of the filming was done outdoors, and not against a green screen, as in the same âLegend of Kolovratâ in 2017.
But among the minuses of special effects, the fact that they looked cheap. So, in many reviews of the film âThe Last Bogatyrâ the painted hut was compared with the effects in the tales of Alexander Rowe, and in favor of the latter. Indeed, in more than half a century, something new could have been invented.
Reviews from the audience about the movie "The Last Athlete"
Despite numerous shortcomings, this picture was very warmly received by the audience, especially by children. And although many of the audienceâs reviews of âThe Last Bogatyrâ note the shortcomings of the project, they praise it, calling it one of the best in recent years. Moreover, the majority believes that it was high time to revive the tradition of making fairy-tale films.
Perhaps that is why the tape managed to collect almost 27 million dollars at the box office and was recognized as the best Russian film of 2017.
As for her ratings, on Kinopoisk she scored 7.143 out of 10. At present, 32 reviews are devoted to her, of which 25 are positive.
On another resource - Kinokrad, the picture was already rated by 663 people, setting a higher score of 7.5 out of 10. However, fewer reviews were left there about the movie âThe Last Heroâ - only 9.
As for the popular foreign film resources - Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes, so far this tape on them has not yet been considered at all. In fairness, it is worth noting that this is a flaw in the project marketing department, because it is their responsibility to help promote movies in all available ways.
The movie "The Last Knight": reviews from critics
If the audience appreciated this project very highly, how did professional critics perceive the output of the picture?
Oddly enough, but here you can observe a paradoxical situation. Usually professional film specialists are less prone to its charm and give projects lower scores than viewers. However, in the case of The Last Knight, critics' reviews are more enthusiastic than ordinary people. For example, at Kinopoisk the rating of film critics is 80%.
Positive reviews about this tape were written by Galina Ivankina from Tomorrow, Katya Zagvozdkina from Interfax, Andrey Piskov from The Hollywood Reporter, Anton Dolin from Vesti FM, Anastasia Rogova from Izvestia and others.
Negative reviews of the movie âThe Last Bogatyrâ were left by such observers from the âRossiyskaya Gazetaâ as Alexander Nechaev and Alexey Litovchenko.
What is the reason for the similar âloveâ of professional critics in this film? Hard to tell. Some believe that some laudatory reviews were prepaid. Others, however, believe that deep in the heart of even the most severe critic lives a moving love for folk tales, brought up by Rowe from childhood. And that is precisely why they forgave the âLast Knightâ for his shortcomings.