Bumer: Film vtoroy

First, i must say that I really enjoyed watching the Bumer. It was an interesting and original experience of Russian cinema. In short, it's one of the best movies from Russia I have ever seen (the other one for me could be 9-ya rota so far). Therefore I went to cinema with high expectations. After watching this flick of Buslov there was not a frustration, but i realized that sequel did not manage to achieve the superb level of its predecessor. More or less this was completely another kind of story. Of course, there is a strong connection with events of the first film, though you are free to watch it even if you have not seen the first Bumer. It's not a flawless movie. There were several short disturbing ''black breaks'', which made Bumer: Film vtoroy a bit spotty. Also this made the plot scattered. One excellent thing about this is soundtrack. It's truly outstanding. With scenes of todays Russia, witty dialogs, tragicomic story - it is a good movie and a must-see for fans of Bumer, although some of them may be disappointed.

I think that is the main idea of both Bumer movies.

Cops and KGB are the ultimate evil. Both movies send a message that one can not be a free and honest man/woman in Russia, without having any problems with cops. Well, of course, in the first movie, the four guys were just a regular extortionist gang… apparently, not very close to the concepts of "honesty" and "freedom", but the movie still sent a message that they were "good guys". Rama said a counter-argument: "Such are not us, such is the life around us." (1st movie).

"The life has changed" (Dimon, 2nd movie). Dimon's life has changed because he chose not to mess with cops, but rather to deal with them by their rules. That's what most of us in this country actually do every day. We don't know about laws and *beep* like that: we only know that cops are people who really love cash and are endowed with power to do anything. No law is need if you're a friend of cops, and no law will protect you if you're not.

Having earned money, he saves his friend from the jail by bribing the cops. Dimon's new life is controversial. "I don't know what I would do in a situation like that" – Cot said. After an accusation like that, Dimon thought that probably he was not completely right, although by doing what he did, he saved his own life and later a few years in the life of his friend (Cot had a 15-year sentence for armed robbery)… He realized that he had to sacrifice a large part of his honesty to this. Saving Cot's life a few minutes later, he probably restored his honesty, at least in the eyes of Cot.

Dashka is a also a controversial character. Although she's a little bitch blackmailer, her victim is a large piece of that cop and KGB *beep* (some cop chief). So, eventually, she's depicted as a warrior of truth. I won't tell you how Dashka is related to Cot (watch the movie, it's the drama and love story part of it), I'll just tell you that the two finally decided that their free souls will not be able to survive in this country, and they decided to leave it. Dashka: "And who's gonna stay here?" Cot: "-- The cops!" They wanted to escape. But the cops got them. At least they killed Cot. Dashka escaped. Cot has joined his fellows in the gangstas' paradise. Dashka went to a paradise on earth (she stole some cash and went out of the country).

Again, what's left here… The cops. It's a message to all those who live in this country. To think about it. From that point of view, the movie indeed is naturalistic. A story like that could hardly happen in reality, but the message it sends is a real one. We're not a free country. That's very important to understand.

"1) Why did they kill the real brother of Dasha (Offcource to let Kot go n kill him outside the prison so no suspicion... but wouldn't it just be easier to "just" kill Kot like they killed Dashas brother and let the brother live (offcource than the movie would be 20 min long, but still its pretty stupid decision by the prison authority)" They killed her brother so they could give Kot his documents and get him out of the prison (Dasha's brother's sentence was about to end). They wanted to free Kot because they were paid to by Kot's friend on the outside...eh...Dimon.

"2) Who the hell would want to kill Kot? It obviously was some fat "businessman", but what was the motives? He was involved in killing of FSB agent but it seemed like no1 knew about it... or maybe its cos of that situation on a petrol station? I thought it was Dimon, but than he died protecting him so that was really great start of the movie. Buslov was thinking a lot on that i guess. As far as i can see no1 had serious reason to kill Kot." The cops wanted to kill Kot because he was too much of a liability, if he was caught by police again the whole thing about his release from prison would come back to haunt the cops who freed him. Aka if he is caught his fake passport (the one with Dasha's brother's name) isn't going to fly and that would start an investigation that eventually would lead to the prison cops who were paid to free him and who killed Dasha's brother.

"3) Kot wanted to start over but wouldn't it be easier to sell his half of car show room than let the girl rob tourist agency? He knew she was desperate at that stage of her life... he could predict she would do smthn stupid..." That question doesn't really make much sense.

"4) When he met her, why didn't he just tell her the truth straight away? Or he could just give her a letter n say that her bro is dead n then leave..." He felt responsible for her brother's death, because her brother was killed because of him.

Now my own opinion, honestly I liked the first one better, the second one was kind of kind of riding on the tittle a little bit even though it is still a worthy movie to watch.

Do not expect this movie to be similar to the first "Bumer". Coz it is not. You better try to think of it as the one trying to become more mature, like a teenager trying to grow up. I guess it did. Though, with doing so, by becoming "smarter", it also became somewhat boring. It felt like the movie lacks some rhythm, some drive, which made the first one the classics of its genre. I'm not saying Bumer 2 was bad, because it wasn't. It was just…I don't know…weak? Unshaped? Misguided? Actors weren't pathetic, but it certainly wasn't enough. The plot was OK, but it lacked sense. Some important thoughts were brought up, but the development of those was totally lacking. Sad enough, but the four mobsters on their BMW made a far greater impact...

Sequels are always a dilemma for directors, it's very easy to miss and Buslov gets a lot of credit for moving straight into a sequel as his next feature project.

Instead of returning to the same old story twice, Buslov wisely chose to make the story about redemption and effectively introduced a new lead in the form of Dasha, a girl that seems fated to repeat the footsteps of Kostya's gang and played masterfully by Svetlana Ustinova.

The story is sufficiently realistic, though he takes a few more chances than with the original there are no holes or dilemmas that would irritate. Casting is very high caliber and the music doesn't fail to deliver again. Cinematographically Buslov evolved to a slightly faster paced style, there is less moving camera than with the original Boomer (something I personally enjoyed), but close ups are very effectively utilized. On the other end, one or two sequences are overextended time wise, but not to the point of irritation.

Note: unlike with the Brother films of Balabanov, it does help to see Boomer 1 prior to watching this film.