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An 18th century English cartographer, Jonathan Green, sets out on a journey to map the uncharted lands of Transylvania, only to discover the dark secrets and dangerous creatures hidden in a cursed, fantastical Romanian forest. With some anticipation rising regarding 'Viy 2' starring Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger i wanted to see and review the original movie as well. Now despite some great special effects and make up as a whole this film wasn't that great neither on story wise or acting wise and it was basically just bad. (3/10)
Max Nemtsov
The other day, I decided to be with my people (in their collective hell), and watch this je ne sais quoi. What to say here. They can't write, for they're basically illiterate, and they can't act, for the mugs of the "Moscow theaters actors" (tm) are too well-fed. Everyone speaks in those pumped-up husky voices that are expected to mean passion from females, and courage with the other kind. For me, personally, though, they signify only people sitting on their potties trying very hard to give birth to something immortal, needles first.The cinematographers seem to have learned shooting eye-pleasing pics, though they say it's not very hard to do, these days. They have also learned how to steal nice-looking stills for our desktops from others. Although, it seems that all visuals were created not by Russians but by Czechs, Germans and whom not, so maybe I should take this last statement back. You know, it's all like giving bright neon building blocks to an idiot child—he would definitely build something with them, and it would certainly catch the eye yet it would be utterly meaningless. For there is absolutely no logic in the plot, and the montage of those nice-looking pictures, there's no even the Hollywood logic in it. The sense is totally absent from this product, like lip-sync (for all actors were dubbed like in a bad TV production).All PR effort (and the Wiki article) only confirm that the movie was targeted at brainless idiots who salivate from Photoshopped landscapes, and fast-changing camera angles. Also, xenophobia detected: the film creators seem to convey a very simple idea that all the worst in humans comes from within, and as the most humans in the film are, obviously, the Ukrainians, they look like the evil incarnate. On the other hand, Nicholas Gogol apparently thought so, too, although he didn't like all people, not only the Jews.A slight anti-clerical pathos makes a welcome respite from all this stupidity but the creators apparently didn't dwell on this. Judging from what and how they speak in the promo documentary, they have no dwelling place in their brains. Their aim was "to catch up and overrun," like Khrushchev used to say, and "to produce the movie with the highest, globally accepted standards of intiteiment" (I kid you not, this is the word they use on a dumb card in the promo film; and I just love this provincially soviet demagoguery).But the theme of rebooting classics is rich, no arguing about it. They now are free to re-shoot The Petty Demon, for example, creating the small dusty monster there with the multifaceted LED eyes, like what they did here. It will give much pleasure to the young and broad audience, no doubt.
Nickolay Merkin
Of course, this film is _based_ on a Gogol's story, not a direct screen version. And this is most interesting, because it creates an intrigue.If one had read Gogol or had seen the film of 1967, he/she could expect to see something like that, just with 3D effects. These expectations disappear immediately, leaving the spectator face to face with an enigma.As the director of this film said in an interview, they used an early edition of Gogol's text. The screenwriter continues from the very point where Gogol has put the last period.On my mind, the story of Viy 3D resembles Umberto Eco's "The Name of The Rose", but with cossack's specifics.It is dark - but not black. It is mystic - but not fantastic. (A bit of fantastic, of course). It is hard to predict if there would be happy end or not - many times. But this is not typical noir or horror.Who or what is the "boss enemy"? Where the root of the evil hides - in the spirit of savage forests, in black souls of bad guys, or just in alcoholic delirium? What will triumph - an European rationality or Russian mystic? And many, many more questions.And finally I must conclude: the film is positive. This is a perfect tale.P.S. The priest, father Paisiy, is similar to Vsevolod Chaplin, the chief of public relations of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was quite funny to see his face in this context.
