First off, I am a fan of Russian cinema. Films like Solaris and Salyut 7 are great! So I started watching this some time back, but saw it as a blatant rip-off of The Martian and turned it off after maybe 15-20 minutes. Then I saw a quick blurb online and decided the watch the entire thing.
Pretty disappointing. As others have said here, it's an obvious knock off of several other movies. The mouthy, flamboyant TV guy is exactly the same as in The Fifth Element, and every bit as annoying. About halfway through the movie, I'm starting to think that this is all a parody (satire) and not intended to be serious. Sadly, it is not. This is meant to be a serious movie, and in that it fails.
It tries to be political, and fails. It tries to make a statement... and fails. It succeeds in visuals, which are quite good. The leading characters are good, but they can't carry the whole movie. The sad part is, this had all the elements to make a very good movie.. but just doesn't know to "do" with them. If you are desperate for a sci fi fix.. it'll do. Just don't expect too much..
Pretty disappointing. As others have said here, it's an obvious knock off of several other movies. The mouthy, flamboyant TV guy is exactly the same as in The Fifth Element, and every bit as annoying. About halfway through the movie, I'm starting to think that this is all a parody (satire) and not intended to be serious. Sadly, it is not. This is meant to be a serious movie, and in that it fails.
It tries to be political, and fails. It tries to make a statement... and fails. It succeeds in visuals, which are quite good. The leading characters are good, but they can't carry the whole movie. The sad part is, this had all the elements to make a very good movie.. but just doesn't know to "do" with them. If you are desperate for a sci fi fix.. it'll do. Just don't expect too much..