My take on story - I will compare it to first film of Bumer, since I find sequel amazingly similar, unlike most people. It got really long, sorry for that.
First movie, "Bumer" was about fragility of freedom and tragedy of those, who decide to oppose law in such regime as it is in Russia. Bumer 2 tries to pass this message again, only this time, it's written in big letters, painted red and followed with memorable quotes & song "Svoboda".
Since many of messages and plots are subliminal, many might be confused with this movie, like who did this or why, so it's quite safe to say that to fully enjoy this flick, you have to think along and concentrate.
Apart from violent events (which I miss, really) Bumer 2 isn't very different from prequel: post-Soviet Russia still makes totally mysterious, unbelievable world where anything is possible, nature is still breathtaking and just like in first movie, once glorious civilization feels still sad, abandoned and broken, simple Russian village life sounds still so idyllic and stress-free, in comparasion with city-rush... minus local thugs, of course... and a BMW-series car is still only thing protagonists have left in this godforsaken world. It was all shown in first movie and it is amplified in this one.
Some more random observations: First movie played with word 'curse'. Four friends were cursed and whatever they touched or left behind, became tragic for others. Like Dimon's stolen Mercedes, which eventually killed a policeman, gift of a baseball bat, which turned youngster into crime, fake 2-dollar bill, which caused policeman to lose his hand, screwdriver from Dimon's wound - which later paralyzed truck driver, character "Rama" who left behind a child, etc etc.
I was waiting for similar subliminal plots from Bumer 2, but there wasn't much left for Kot. True, Dimon had his last bit of unluck, freeing a friend caused Dasha's brothers death. During whole movie, Kostya made only one mistake, that was - refusing Dimon's offer - and killed Dimon by this and by conclusion, himself also. So basically, the theme was there, but whole movie was built around only one event instead of many. Which is good, because from reviews of Bumer 1, nobody has figured previous part out, it seems.
Another interesting thing is that Bumer 2 feels like longest 2 hours in the world. And not in a bad sense. Some movies pass so quickly that it feels like 30 minutes. This one feels more like 5 hours. Is it because of thinking it requires to follow or are those 4 hours untold & unfilmed, and you add them in your head? Probably.
I personally missed violence. All that mystical, fragile and hopeless world movie created around characters felt a bit... unused. Whatever the grand, philosophical message in this movie wasn't, about freedom and Russia and whatnot, movies are still for some fun and adrenaline. And judging from drama, I'm sure that more adrenaline and action could have been added in a way it wouldn't ruin anything really. Producers feel really competent. Maybe their talent was wasted/underutilized a bit here too.
If you liked Bumer 1, and all the atmosphere, Bumer 2 delivers, and truckloads of it. Instead of brawn, wits are required this time, to fully enjoy it, but it's still as good - if not better - than first movie.
First movie, "Bumer" was about fragility of freedom and tragedy of those, who decide to oppose law in such regime as it is in Russia. Bumer 2 tries to pass this message again, only this time, it's written in big letters, painted red and followed with memorable quotes & song "Svoboda".
Since many of messages and plots are subliminal, many might be confused with this movie, like who did this or why, so it's quite safe to say that to fully enjoy this flick, you have to think along and concentrate.
Apart from violent events (which I miss, really) Bumer 2 isn't very different from prequel: post-Soviet Russia still makes totally mysterious, unbelievable world where anything is possible, nature is still breathtaking and just like in first movie, once glorious civilization feels still sad, abandoned and broken, simple Russian village life sounds still so idyllic and stress-free, in comparasion with city-rush... minus local thugs, of course... and a BMW-series car is still only thing protagonists have left in this godforsaken world. It was all shown in first movie and it is amplified in this one.
Some more random observations: First movie played with word 'curse'. Four friends were cursed and whatever they touched or left behind, became tragic for others. Like Dimon's stolen Mercedes, which eventually killed a policeman, gift of a baseball bat, which turned youngster into crime, fake 2-dollar bill, which caused policeman to lose his hand, screwdriver from Dimon's wound - which later paralyzed truck driver, character "Rama" who left behind a child, etc etc.
I was waiting for similar subliminal plots from Bumer 2, but there wasn't much left for Kot. True, Dimon had his last bit of unluck, freeing a friend caused Dasha's brothers death. During whole movie, Kostya made only one mistake, that was - refusing Dimon's offer - and killed Dimon by this and by conclusion, himself also. So basically, the theme was there, but whole movie was built around only one event instead of many. Which is good, because from reviews of Bumer 1, nobody has figured previous part out, it seems.
Another interesting thing is that Bumer 2 feels like longest 2 hours in the world. And not in a bad sense. Some movies pass so quickly that it feels like 30 minutes. This one feels more like 5 hours. Is it because of thinking it requires to follow or are those 4 hours untold & unfilmed, and you add them in your head? Probably.
I personally missed violence. All that mystical, fragile and hopeless world movie created around characters felt a bit... unused. Whatever the grand, philosophical message in this movie wasn't, about freedom and Russia and whatnot, movies are still for some fun and adrenaline. And judging from drama, I'm sure that more adrenaline and action could have been added in a way it wouldn't ruin anything really. Producers feel really competent. Maybe their talent was wasted/underutilized a bit here too.
If you liked Bumer 1, and all the atmosphere, Bumer 2 delivers, and truckloads of it. Instead of brawn, wits are required this time, to fully enjoy it, but it's still as good - if not better - than first movie.