Good film, liked the over all look and style. BUT everyone in the film is clearly speaking english as speech matches mouth movements yet everyone is dubbed in annoyingly unrealistic voices that don't match their character at all. I don't understand why they do this I would much rather someone speaking English with their native accent than the weird disembodied voices they have, made the film difficult to watch and take seriously and spoiled it massively. Would have given up and switched off if kid didn't seem to be enjoying it.
137 Reviews
Unfair Reviews
claudio_carvalho25 May 2020
"Abigail" is a Russian fantasy-adventure film with a good story and magnificent special effects. The director Aleksandr Boguslavskiy is absolutelly unknown for Western audiences and uses the surrealistic style of French directors Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet on "La cité des enfants perdus" (1995), a.k.a. "The City of Lost Children". The huge buildings are typical in Eastern Europe and the city recalls a guetto in World War II. The authorities look like nazi officers and the epidemic that closes the borders of the city recalls most of the societies with the COVID-19 pandemic in the present days. The magic is a twist in the storyline and the flying machine is original. In the end, "Abigail" is neither a masterpiece nor what the IMDb reviews describe, but an entertaining movie for fans of the genre. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Abigail e a Cidade Proibida" ("Abigail and the Forbidden City")
Title (Brazil): "Abigail e a Cidade Proibida" ("Abigail and the Forbidden City")
Original accents would've been far better
hayleyjeanphilp20 December 2020
I love this movie; it's fantastical in almost all of the right ways, but I wish they'd rerelease it with the actors' original accents. I am highly disappointed with the dubbing. Original accents would add even more exotic magic.
Good story, great visuals, terrible dubbing/dialogue
kelli_mm27 June 2020
The overall storyline and visual effects are pretty good, but it is unfortunately let down every time a character speaks.
The terribly unauthentic dubbing detracts so much that it's almost cringeworthy to watch.
Whilst the concept and direction of the story is really good, it could have been fleshed out so much more. Character development was also lacking or rushed as a result, with the dialogue feeling awkward or confusing throughout. Eddie Marsan and his character were the only ones saved of this. Sad to see the missed opportunities here though.
But if you can get past the dubbing/dialogue, then this really is worth watching.
The terribly unauthentic dubbing detracts so much that it's almost cringeworthy to watch.
Whilst the concept and direction of the story is really good, it could have been fleshed out so much more. Character development was also lacking or rushed as a result, with the dialogue feeling awkward or confusing throughout. Eddie Marsan and his character were the only ones saved of this. Sad to see the missed opportunities here though.
But if you can get past the dubbing/dialogue, then this really is worth watching.
Eddie was good but overall disappointing
chrisst44 January 2020
Ok, let's start with the good points...
1. Eddie Marsen - best actor in this film by a country mile 2. Visuals and cinematography are good.
Now the bad...
1. The dialogue is absolutely awful - no sentence of more than about 5 words and each line is spoken/shouted with really strange intonations. Seems to be dubbed and/or spoken by actors who just don't know what they are saying in English. 2. The script - a lot of the time it just does make any sense e.g. someone saying they don;t understand something when they were told it 5 minutes previously! Did anyone listen to this before it was released!! 3. All the acting (apart from Eddie Marsen of course) was wooden: no character or personality - they just barked each line of the script at each other in pseudo English (usually in a petulant manner for no obvious reason). 4. The story - apart from the start and end it simply lacked a clear direction for the most part.
In short, Eddie Marsen's great, visuals are good but if you speak English then this will be a painful experience.
1. Eddie Marsen - best actor in this film by a country mile 2. Visuals and cinematography are good.
Now the bad...
1. The dialogue is absolutely awful - no sentence of more than about 5 words and each line is spoken/shouted with really strange intonations. Seems to be dubbed and/or spoken by actors who just don't know what they are saying in English. 2. The script - a lot of the time it just does make any sense e.g. someone saying they don;t understand something when they were told it 5 minutes previously! Did anyone listen to this before it was released!! 3. All the acting (apart from Eddie Marsen of course) was wooden: no character or personality - they just barked each line of the script at each other in pseudo English (usually in a petulant manner for no obvious reason). 4. The story - apart from the start and end it simply lacked a clear direction for the most part.
In short, Eddie Marsen's great, visuals are good but if you speak English then this will be a painful experience.
NICE VFX, WORST STORY TELLING
joon_ong1 September 2019
The story telling is falling into pieces and all the points are hardly connected. Story progress are so confusing and so hard to catch up. I personally thinks that there is something wrong with the storyboard that makes the movie losing their main focus in almost every scene. Character dialogues are so clear without sufficient environment noise, makes them sound like a voice-over. The created music are good but the volume are so constant throughout the movie. However, kudos to the VFX team who tries their best to work on the film. The effects are actually quite good, but it cannot save this movie with other elements fall so behind.
HUH?
amylynnrobert2 January 2020
The horrid dubbing and voice actors ruined it for me, I would have rather read subtitles.
I have watch all kinds of films and I really can't figure out who this was written for. The story was all over the place.
Maybe it was just a workshop for the film/editing crew? Awesome visuals, so kudos to them!
Different fantasy
lxj197419 January 2020
Well that was underwhelming :\
Aktham_Tashtush25 December 2019
The plot itself lacked ingenuity ,, the script looked all over the place ,, really hard to follow at some scenes and the story just disconnected .. add to that I watched it with some weird voice-over ,, so even they were speaking english their lips movement looked like they were speaking russian or something... so that piled up on my misery.
The acting was another disaster !! I mean goodness me !! with all the money spent on the visual effects (which were really good) you'd think they would spare a few grands for at least a B list actors !! ... The only actor I knew was Eddie Marsan who was there for like 10 minutes ,,and that says A LOT ...
I think this was a nice try by the young russian lad, Aleksandr Boguslavskiy, he had a great opportunity but he totally missed... But I personally believe if the movie was all Russian movie, like script, cast and all it would have looked much better.
The acting was another disaster !! I mean goodness me !! with all the money spent on the visual effects (which were really good) you'd think they would spare a few grands for at least a B list actors !! ... The only actor I knew was Eddie Marsan who was there for like 10 minutes ,,and that says A LOT ...
I think this was a nice try by the young russian lad, Aleksandr Boguslavskiy, he had a great opportunity but he totally missed... But I personally believe if the movie was all Russian movie, like script, cast and all it would have looked much better.
Entertaining
paindweller18 January 2020
An empty as beautiful effort!
GIOSER16 December 2019
I really liked the movie
alaskantimber15 August 2021
Great special effects , great original and inventive storyline . If this were made in the U. S. it would have been a hit. The dubbing is fine and easy to follow. I've recently discovered several really good movies coming out of Russia. As long as they're dubbed , I can understand the language.
Hollow yet beautiful
kosmasp8 January 2021
No I'm not describing myself (I think), but rather this movie. Now of course you may feel different about the hollow part, but there is no argument on the pretty part! This does look very good (and that is no pun concerning the actors involved). If that plays a role for you.
Unfortunately there is not a big connection for the viewer. Yes of course we will root (most likely) for the good guys in this one and hate the bad guys. But a bond is not something I see building for most who watch this. It is stylized, it looks good, it has a decent story (scrambled together with bits and pieces from other movies, paying homage to them I reckon would be the way to say it), but something is missing to make this actually remarkable
Unfortunately there is not a big connection for the viewer. Yes of course we will root (most likely) for the good guys in this one and hate the bad guys. But a bond is not something I see building for most who watch this. It is stylized, it looks good, it has a decent story (scrambled together with bits and pieces from other movies, paying homage to them I reckon would be the way to say it), but something is missing to make this actually remarkable
Great graphics and effects, but terrible acting and voice over
alyshia_chin27 August 2019
The acting is terrible and so awkward. Chemistry between Abigail and Bale seems so forced. Love the Father's acting though. The rest just gives a really bad voice over vibe. Great effects, really thought that was beautiful. Plot flow could have been a lot better.
A poor execution on an otherwise interesting concept.
nitohryu-9552822 September 2019
Steampunk story should be an interesting concept, and steampunk movies should at the very least inspire such curiosity from their audiences.
"Abigail" does NOT inspire anything, other than writhing pain from cringe and utter confusion.
Extremely awkward conversation and acting, cheap and terrible CGIs, Cringy-as-hell romance, extremely bad world-building, and horrendous pacing, plot progression, and character development- these are but a few of the flaws in this utterly flawed movie.
My expectation was low when I went to the cinema to watch this movie; I had thought to myself that I was probably going to see some Harry Potter-like rated E movie, but in a Steampunk universe. But, instead of watching a not-so-good, but not-so-bad young adult movie, I was presented with another kind of bad movie.
It's like I was watching a terrible fanfiction story made into a movie, and compared to other terrible wish-fulfillment movies about children with super-powers and magic, "Abigail" can be counted among the bottom-scrapper of the movies in that category.
If anything, "Abigail" managed to achieve something for me. It managed to achieve a spot in my list of terrible decisions that I made.
"Abigail" does NOT inspire anything, other than writhing pain from cringe and utter confusion.
Extremely awkward conversation and acting, cheap and terrible CGIs, Cringy-as-hell romance, extremely bad world-building, and horrendous pacing, plot progression, and character development- these are but a few of the flaws in this utterly flawed movie.
My expectation was low when I went to the cinema to watch this movie; I had thought to myself that I was probably going to see some Harry Potter-like rated E movie, but in a Steampunk universe. But, instead of watching a not-so-good, but not-so-bad young adult movie, I was presented with another kind of bad movie.
It's like I was watching a terrible fanfiction story made into a movie, and compared to other terrible wish-fulfillment movies about children with super-powers and magic, "Abigail" can be counted among the bottom-scrapper of the movies in that category.
If anything, "Abigail" managed to achieve something for me. It managed to achieve a spot in my list of terrible decisions that I made.
Bad
waikang-2972226 August 2019
not bad fantasy
natcalgary30 January 2020
Seemed that they invested a lot of money into the visual effects but not so much the cast. I am sure the movie will lose millions of dollars. Goes to show marketing is what makes a movie. It can be the worst movie in the world but the right amount of marketing will profit. Unfortunatly , although this movie is ok the marketing let it down.
6.1
6.1
Great concept, poor execution
noir_weizz22 September 2019
I admit that I watched this movie solely because the steampunk concept. But I regreted it deeply. It's a waste of time and money. The visual still not worth it.
The plot is a mess, the inconsistencies are everywhere (really stumped me at the fighting scene where the whole room is on fire), the characters' motivation, action and relation of each others just don't make any sense. I even hate the main prontagonist, Abigail seems condescensing at times and others obnoxiously aggravating with no subtlety in her actions, and Bale is so uninteresting as someone who supposedly the leader of their cause and very shallow. My fave was Stella (hey, a good character who is quite level headed, why doesn't she become the leader), but then nevermind, they ruined her halfway. I forced myself to sit until the end to see if they have at least one tiny bit of redeeming part. They don't.
How can they release or approve that kind of script and editing is a big question for me.
The plot is a mess, the inconsistencies are everywhere (really stumped me at the fighting scene where the whole room is on fire), the characters' motivation, action and relation of each others just don't make any sense. I even hate the main prontagonist, Abigail seems condescensing at times and others obnoxiously aggravating with no subtlety in her actions, and Bale is so uninteresting as someone who supposedly the leader of their cause and very shallow. My fave was Stella (hey, a good character who is quite level headed, why doesn't she become the leader), but then nevermind, they ruined her halfway. I forced myself to sit until the end to see if they have at least one tiny bit of redeeming part. They don't.
How can they release or approve that kind of script and editing is a big question for me.
Decent story, let down by some bad decisions...
MamaPapaXP1 January 2020
Most of the English 'voices' were dubbed by Native speakers in post but, for an actor experienced in ADR/dubbing booths, lip-syncing to the Russian actors shouldn't have been too hard.
No, the trouble arises with the very words the Russians and their English colleagues were uttering; I get the distinct feeling that a great screenplay had been written but, with the decision to film a Russian movie in English, someone ran the script through Google Translate or a cheap Russian translator. (Not an English one, as they would surely have spotted 'the problem'.)
And the problem, when you get right down to it, is that NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH THE WAY THESE CHARACTERS DO. It is jarring. Constantly. Because words are being constantly uttered, badly, in every single scene.
That being said (sic), some of the dubbing was actually ever so slightly off and the script and film editing did need a little more care and attention, as did some of the fight choreography.
Weirdly though, I still actually enjoyed the movie. The titular character and her father have a nice interplay, the grown Abigail is pleasing to the eye and I assume is acting quite well, (given the bad script she has to read,) and most of the rest of the cast are decent enough too. (The villain and the absent minded old-man were a little off-putting but i'll put that down, again, to the script.)
The sets, costumes, sound design, lighting and camerawork are excellent and, of course, the CGI is breath-taking. (Something the Russians seem to be able to do for minimal budgets these days, take note Hollywood.)
If there any scenes removed that give a fuller back-story to the world and history outside the walls, these should be put back for the eventual DVD release but, in its present state, i'd say it is not as bad as has been made out elsewhere but does have room for improvement. 6/10
No, the trouble arises with the very words the Russians and their English colleagues were uttering; I get the distinct feeling that a great screenplay had been written but, with the decision to film a Russian movie in English, someone ran the script through Google Translate or a cheap Russian translator. (Not an English one, as they would surely have spotted 'the problem'.)
And the problem, when you get right down to it, is that NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH THE WAY THESE CHARACTERS DO. It is jarring. Constantly. Because words are being constantly uttered, badly, in every single scene.
That being said (sic), some of the dubbing was actually ever so slightly off and the script and film editing did need a little more care and attention, as did some of the fight choreography.
Weirdly though, I still actually enjoyed the movie. The titular character and her father have a nice interplay, the grown Abigail is pleasing to the eye and I assume is acting quite well, (given the bad script she has to read,) and most of the rest of the cast are decent enough too. (The villain and the absent minded old-man were a little off-putting but i'll put that down, again, to the script.)
The sets, costumes, sound design, lighting and camerawork are excellent and, of course, the CGI is breath-taking. (Something the Russians seem to be able to do for minimal budgets these days, take note Hollywood.)
If there any scenes removed that give a fuller back-story to the world and history outside the walls, these should be put back for the eventual DVD release but, in its present state, i'd say it is not as bad as has been made out elsewhere but does have room for improvement. 6/10
potential spoiler
aldilahs18 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Good visual, bad script
I enjoyed the stunning visual effect but the script so boring and none of characters are worth to follow even the main protagonist is not a likable character and they end it with a kiss, what a mental people who can kiss a new girl he met after his long time girlfriend die in the same day even after war.
I enjoyed the stunning visual effect but the script so boring and none of characters are worth to follow even the main protagonist is not a likable character and they end it with a kiss, what a mental people who can kiss a new girl he met after his long time girlfriend die in the same day even after war.
Best Fantasy Film in Years
gypsygaldiana13 January 2020
Very bad
borisnainggolan19 September 2019
Excellent fantasy movie for all the family
leonidasstathopoulos26 December 2019
Just to be fair , i have seen worst than this movie , i.e it is not the worst ever
yaskhidhir8 November 2019
If you are familier will Russian/USSR movies you will not be surprised .. they have the technology ,creative deep musician , they extremily fail when they try to follow the westren style .. if and only if this movie re produced in russian language and totally the russian old fasion way it might be something else than WORST STORY TELLING as the other guys comments
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