El niño 44

Set in the Stalin era of the Soviet Union in the Fifties . Although it starts in 1945 with the conquest of the Berlin Parliament in which some soldiers raising the Russian flag . Some years later, horrible discovery of a maimed young boy near the railway tracks in Moscow is investigated by a suffered member (Tom Hardy) of the Russian military . After that, other killings occur here and there. The gruesome murders point to an invisible prowler who preys on the innocent children . However , the state would not hear of the existence of a child murderer let alone a serial killer . His thorny investigations and his suspicious wife (Naomi Rapace) accused to be a spy lead to his detention , as he disgraced police gets demoted and exiled on a remote location in Siberia. Nevertheless, he decides, with just the help of his spouse and to go on pursuing the case . He finds similarly strange deaths happen there , notably targeting the 'unthinkable' gay minority , and begins hunting for a serial murderer . How do you find a killer who doesn't exist? . Catch the killer. Expose the truth. How many more must die before the truth is exposed? . In a system where distrust is ever-present, what separates an accident from a killing ?.

Thrilling and chilling flick set in the Stalinist era , being based on the first of a trilogy by novelist Tom Rob Smith . In Child 44 there's a sharping depiction of the Stalinist society where people lived terrorized and chased , holding rigid and strict existence in which whatever unusual opinion and abnormal activity being relentlessly pursued and punished . The interesting plot deals with a police investigator decides to find out a series of child murders in a country where supposedly this sort of crime doesn't exist. Main and secondary cast are pretty good . Tom Hardy delivers a serious and nice acting as an idealistic pro-Stalin security officer whose life goes wrong , being demoted to the deputy chief of the local police, while his suffering wife is well played by Naomi Rapace . Support cast is frankly excellent , all of them giving splendind performances , such as : Paddy Considine , Jason Clarke , Vincent Cassell , Charles Dance , Tara Fitzgerald and special mention for Gary Oldman as General Mikhail Nesterov , while Joel Kinnaman and Fares Fares , Daniel Espinosa's regular actors, provide stunning interpretations , as well.

It contains a sensitive and memorable musical score by Jon Ekstrand . As well as evocative and adequate cinematography by the great cameraman Oliver Wood . Director Daniel Espinosa replaces a bit of bada-bing with class warfare in this thriller titled Child 44 (2015) . Daniel got big hit thanks to the international film ¨Snabba cash¨. As Espinosa earned critical acclaim and subsequently hired by Hollywood , where has directed other successful films as ¨Life¨ and the hit boxoffice ¨Safe house¨ with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Rating : 7/10 . Better than average . The motion picture will appeal to historical thriller enthusiasts. Well worth watching.

'CHILD 44': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A mystery thriller film; starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Gary Oldman. Hardy plays a security officer, that's investigating a child murderer, in 1950s (Stalin era) Soviet Union. The film was directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Richard Price; it's based on the novel, of the same name, by Tom Rob Smith (the first of a trilogy of books). It also costars Joel Kinnaman, Vincent Cassel and Jason Clarke. The movie was a bomb at the box office, and got mostly negative reviews from critics, but I enjoyed it.

Leo Demidov (Hardy) is a former war hero, that now works as an MGB agent, in the 1950s Soviet Union. He's a strong supporter of Stalin, and his country's ideals, but when a series of children start turning up dead, his loyalty is put to the test; being that murder is not supposed to exist there (it's believed to be only a capitalism crime). When his partner's son is killed, he refuses to go along with the government's cover-up (of the crime), and he's exiled; along with his wife (Rapace). Despite their treatment, Leo continues to pursue the killer, and justice.

The movie is well directed, written and full of great performances; especially Tom Hardy (my favorite male actor). Some people have a problem with the fact that the actors all speak English, in the film, but with Russian accents; that didn't bother me. I actually like the characters (especially Hardy's) and the insightful political commentary of those times; I found the movie to be quite involving as well. Maybe one of the main problems, with the film, is that the first cut was 5.5 hours long; and now it's less than 2.5 hours. It's a lot of story, and character development, crammed into one movie. The film is actually pretty fast paced too, it just doesn't quite come together right. I still enjoyed it though.

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The fair portrait of last years of Stalin reign can be the basic virtue of this very special film.

It is special for acting and for inspired storytelling.

In same measure, for atmosphere and for the levels of story.

For great work of Tom Hardy and for the inspired end.

For moral kicks to real punches, for unrealism of a fist of scenes, well used in context of story, for the image of fragility of emotions, for the sketches of fear and cruelty, for the back ground and for the roots of evil. Short, just special.

This is a movie I've kept my eye on ever since it was revealed. Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman are two of my favorite working actors, and having them co-lead a Russian serial killer film seemed like a slam dunk. Unfortunately, Child 44 is not the slam dunk it could have been. It has the talent, it has the story (based on the best-selling novel); all the ingredients necessary for greatness are there. But it also has a plethora of baggage that bogs it down to mediocrity.

Tom Hardy is the star of the film through and through. It's a story about his family life and professional life clashing over the case of a dead child. The officials want to pass it off as a train accident, but witnesses swear that it was a homicide. As more and more bodies start turning up and the higher-ups continue to look away, it's up to Hardy to find the killer and bring him to justice. Again, the acting in this film is great, as is the story. The problem is the way it's presented. Half of the movie is focused on the serial killer angle and Hardy's character going through the loops of finding the right person to help him on the case, and the other half is about Soviet officials exiling his family and stripping him of power for his disobedience. The way these stories intertwine is messy and confusing, for a number of reasons.

For starters, the tone is all over the place. What should be a dark, gloomy mystery among the cold streets of Soviet Russia ends up as a haphazardly arranged domestic dispute due to political interference with a child murderer lurking around somewhere. There's no time for momentum to build when it's constantly changing course. Gary Oldman being billed a co-lead is a huge stretch. He's in the movie for about 20 minutes total and his character doesn't do much to further the story. Mind you, it's Gary Oldman so he gives a fine performance, but as someone who was looking forward to Hardy and Oldman sharing the scene for two plus hours, I was disappointed to say the least.

And then there's the practical aspect. Hardy and Oldman are accent chameleons, there's no doubt about that. I didn't even know Oldman was British until I saw him in an interview. But why on earth are these Russian soldiers speaking to each other in English? For a wider audience no doubt, but it's such a basic matter of common sense that it bugged me continuously throughout the film. It's also far too long. A serial killer hunt stretched over the course of two hours and 15 minutes is exhausting. The tension becomes less and less dire as the movie progresses until you're just waiting for it to end.

Child 44 isn't a bad movie, but its flaws are glaring. It's not the dark, edgy thriller you'd expect. In fact, to call it a thriller would be a misnomer. Child 44 is a tone-deaf political drama filled to the brim with wasted potential.

I watched this film with a definite unease, having read the description of the film I didn't find it hugely appealing, just because of the subject matter, which is particularly dark, but because Mr Hardy is in it, I had to watch it. They managed to take us back to Stalin's Russia, we see a brief glimpse of how tough life was for people back then, those poor people were living in horrendous conditions. The story in brief, The State have turned Russia into a Paradise, crime simply isn't possible, and the thought of a child killer unthinkable, but when young boys are being found murdered along the train tracks the unthinkable is happening. Security Officer Leo Demidov is disgraced, but believes a Serial killer is to blame, and despite the vast obstacles the state puts in place, he sets out to find the killer. Tom Hardy (of course) and Gary Oldman are particularly brilliant, and there are also wonderful performances from Paddy Considine and Petr Vanek and many others. As I've mentioned it is quite harrowing matter, but it's not overly done, mercifully the scenes aren't that gory, it could have been dreadfully overdone. I eagerly anticipate the next instalment. 9/10