The first film, Prityazhenie, was clunky, but had some very captivating scenes and the story was original enough. I was noting then that Alexander Petrov made the movie happen, even as he had just a supporting role, with his emotional range and energetic acting. The ending, too, had a lot of emotional impact, with both Hakon and Artyom dying for the same human woman. The sequel pretty much erases everything: everybody is alive again, Artyom has a brain aneurysm that does nothing to the story - I even googled a bit to see if the actor didn't have this affliction that they inserted in the film, and the galactic water ecologists now attack Earth because (mathematically!) it's the best solution. Oleg Menshikov gets a deserved larger role, but all the others are reduced to cardboard props.
The production value is greater, the actors are doing a good job, the film is more solid, but the story and the way good actors were wasted makes it a poorer experience. It's a decent film, for a Russian sci-fi production, but they have a long way to go still.
The production value is greater, the actors are doing a good job, the film is more solid, but the story and the way good actors were wasted makes it a poorer experience. It's a decent film, for a Russian sci-fi production, but they have a long way to go still.