Pánico en el metro

A touching story all over the two hours, not just in the end. Intrigues - all over the movie, not just in the start. The end of the story - it may end at any moment, and it would still be great. No particular connection to Moscow, Russia, subterranean train - it can be anywhere, any time. People meet each other, struggle, about to die, struggle, survive, get to know each other on a new perspective.

It's a "must pause" every time you go to the bathroom. 'Cause even without the "subway drama", it's still a deepest drama, and it would rise your sentiments to a whole new level. 9 out of 10, but it starts from 9.

From the cinematic point of view, this is a pretty good movie, and it shows excellent craftsmanship and directing skills. This is a showcase of capabilities of Russian filmmakers and production facilities that won't get unnoticed by international distribution and producing circles.

There are, however, numerous inconsistencies and illogical situations in the script that require a HUGE suspension of disbelief for people who are familiar with how the subway system functions.

Other than that, there are normal for this genre stereotyped characters, a love triangle, and, of course, a catastrophe itself that changes everything...

It's like the Russian version of a typical Hollywood disaster movie. ("Daylight" is very similar to this one.) So the characters are clichéd, the escape at the end is quite unrealistic, there are no conflict between the characters, everybody just wants to survive. The acting is almost amateur.

On the contrary, the directing, the cinematography and the visual effects are amazing, they're even better than in many Hollywood movies. The main catastrophe and the immediate consequences are shown in a quite impressive way, almost better than in any other disaster movie before.

Because of this, I can recommend this one for watching, but don't expect anything better than a clichéd story.

In Metro, a breach in the old subway system of Moscow lets water pour in, trapping an entire rush hour subway train underground. The crash scenes are spectacular and the rest of the film follows a small group of survivors trying to get to the surface.

This is what Stallone's Daylight should have been. There is no heroic saviour that solves everyone's problems, but everybody for themselves. The tension, the interaction between the characters, the very beautiful Svetlana Khodchenkova and Katerina Shpitsa and a kind of over the top coincidence involving a love triangle, they all bring quality to the film.

At more than two hours long, I can say that I did not feel the desire to fast forward even once, which is very rare. The Russian references have that sad/funny feel about them. You could laugh at them if you didn't have to go through them yourself, and then it's kind of sad, but you appreciate the recognition.

Bottom line: get yourself a decent translation (unfortunately I did not have one) and watch Metro. Its flaws are minimal, mainly related to acting, and you can easily enjoy the film from start to end.

Accustomed to the fact that in modern Russian cinematograph there are very, very few good films, I did not expect much from this either. The 6.5 rating only reinforced this concern. As a result, I was very surprised that I was very wrong. This is a very good movie. Not without it's small roughness and a few clichés, but definitely deserves rating above average. Generally maybe 8. But for me, as I was pleased that I caught a good Russian film - totally 9. P.S.: Never ignore dangerous signs.