Skvoz vremya

While lacking mind-blowing visuals and unforgettable characters, this Russian sci-fi offers a decent escape from the unwatchable horror of Hollywood productions like Avengers. It might not be a masterpiece, but it steers clear of the insult-to-watcher level, making it a sensible choice for those craving a more subdued sci-fi experience.

The film delivers a passable visual experience, not groundbreaking but sufficient to keep you engaged. The characters, while not iconic, manage to get the job done.

Ideal for a laid-back evening session, it's the kind of movie that's good enough to fall asleep to - a mellow alternative to the flashy spectacles Hollywood often serves up.

I rarely do these, but I saw someone say this is better than MCU movies. It's really not. Tommy Wiseau makes better movies than these people. Mediocre effects, silly writing and the acting? There isn't any. This is why you shouldn't start the movie, because god knows I couldn't finish it. I'm pretty sure the entire movie was redubbed, badly, in ADR too. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but if some gives a glowing review to a movie with 3 stars, you have to wonder if they were involved somehow. Imagine having to face loved ones involved in this movie and smile and nod while trying not to lie and compliment at the same time. Find a food you hate and spend 1 hour and 44 minutes eating that instead.

I'm really surprised by all the poor reviews in here. Right up front, this is not a "great" movie. I had doubts when I started it. Dubbing is, meh? Ok. Russian is hard to overdub to. I almost turned it off after 15 minutes or so, but it drew me in. Finally! A movie with a new storyline. One I hadn't come across before. It jumps back and forth in timelines, but in a very different way. It isn't the easiest movie to "follow", but that's OK. Think "Primer" or "Time Crimes". It's made on a smaller budget so don't expect HUGE CGI scenes. I found it quite entertaining. Others might not. But it is fresh, and worth a watch..

The whole movie has a stilted quality like anime or a video game cutscene. This could have been an interesting stylistic choice, but instead I'm pretty sure it's not intended. Much of it is due to the bad voice-over. It seems the movie was made for an English audience (the actors are mouthing English), but I think each actor's voice was redubbed. Poorly.

Then there's the cartoonishly stereotyped characters, and overused plot devices. It's not predictable so much as derivative.

Buoying all this up is some pretty decent production value. Sets and props are detailed and believable, cinematography and lighting are quite attractive. And Underneath it all is a fairly interesting story if you can get past the god-awful over-dubbing. And the god-awful MacGuffin name "quantanium".

I have no idea why all the hate. I enjoyed this movie a lot and was very interested right up until the satisfying end. I watch a ridiculous amount of sci-fi and half of it is indie. I would normally give this a 6.5 but due to all the unfounded hate, I gave it a 7.

The Plot: It starts with a Tony Stark-type person and crew on a plane when it crash lands on an island. The unique power source of the plane is stolen. From here it gets interesting as this fog rolls in and basically, it is like the holodeck projecting a period from the past but also the future.

The mystery unravels as to what is causing the time projections, who stole their power source, what happened to their dad so many years ago and so on. There are unlikely alliances, betrayal, romance and sacrifice.

I won't ruin anything but the story seemed to wrap-up like all to many indie flicks with a moral message and a bad ending. But then the movie carried on for another 15 minutes and I found all of it very satisfying and wrapped up neatly. Overall a solid plot that stayed true to its own set of sci-fi rules.

Effects: For an indie sci-fi I thought the effects were adequate. It was enough to suspend my disbelief and I was pleased with the quality compared to other shows.

Why the low rating?

My guess is that it is a Russian film and they often get low ratings to start. The main actors were good but a couple of the supporting actors were cartoony.

But the biggest issue I had was with the dubbing. Often, the voice actors who dub go overboard and 'ham it up' which takes away from the believability. I am not sure who to fault with that but would like a 2nd opinion from someone who speaks Russian and watched it without dubbing.

I wonder if the plot got a bit complex for some. Movies with time-travel themes often get confusing. Tenet got that way in spots.

This is one I will probably watch again. I would love to see what someone like Nolan would do with it.