Brat 2

I just watched Brat 2 after ordering a copy from a Russian video store in New York and I was not disappointed.

I saw Brat on the International Channel a couple of months ago and was blown away. Ever since I've had been trying to hunt down a copy of Brat 2. While these films are not technically perfect they have a rough hewn charm that no longer exists in most American films. (The lone exception from last year being Spike Jones' Adapation.) Then there's Sergei Bodrov Jr. it is a damn shame that he died last year (along with his film crew in an avalanche) because he was a major talent. He is so damn watchable and the unrelenting honesty of the Danila character makes for a compelling anti-hero in the brother movies that reminds this viewer of the great days of early Brando and Paul Newman.

Once again I will remind people to look at the actual vote rating for this film and ignore the silly IMDB weighted total. (The weighted average seems to be based on the strength of the Top 1000 voters whoever they are - it is not however a true weighted average in a classic math sense.) This film may not be perfect but it is one hell of a ride.

I was amused by American reviews of the "Brat-2".

Americans were taken by surprise: how dare those Russians to make a film that depicts Americans as evil gangsters? How dare Danila to shoot Americans? This is not politically correct! It was clearly assumed that Russians are always the bad guys, whose only role in any film is cannon fodder to be shot by American Rambo.

Now "Brat-2" arrives, uncovering the horrifying truth: the bad guys are Americans! And it is OK to shoot them.

After years of Hollywood films depicting Russians as bad asses (no single Hollywood film showing Russians at least from a neutral point of view), the Russian cinema finally strikes back.

This movie delivered a long-awaited entertainment for Russian viewers.

It also proved complete lack of sense of humor of American viewers.

I thought that this film gave off a somewhat one-sided look of Americans. And while that is probably no surprise, what got me was the constant examples of how we were portrayed. From the beginning, we're labeled as conniving swindlers who are just out to cheat people any way we can. From there we are given examples of pimps who seem to rely on foul language (however Americans do have some extremely colorful metaphors), prostitutes, crooked cops and truckers who are more goofy than anything. I liked the film, I enjoyed the plot and the action, and thought that overall, the movie was solid. It just nagged at me the way we were made to look. That's the filmmakers discretion, I know, but I just wanted a chance to say it.

In my opinion, one has to live through the times depicted in this movie to truly appreciate it. If you think this movie was cheap, anti-American and racist, you missed the point. It would be like calling "The Godfather" racist and sexist. Brat 2 does a great job in giving an idea of what life is like in Russia and for russians in post-soviet world. It is a world of great uncertainty. A system that just fell apart with everyone in it left to their own devices. In many ways, Brat 2 is an inspiration and Danila is the hero or the bright light that captivates viewers by his humble demeanor and his good selfless deeds.

The beauty of the movie is that Danila is not played by Arnold, Vin Diesel or Tom Cruise. He looks like an average Russian and that is what makes it real. His military training is not about ripped muscles or fancy acrobatic moves. It is about working in real situations with low resources and odds stacked up against him. His personality is real and he is easy to relate to. He is a simple guy and he believes in good, something that many people lost their faith in.

America is definitely portrayed from Danila's eyes. It is not an attempt to portray the way America really is, but rather how it really looks to a Russian that just came to this country. In addition most of the movie involves russians in America.

In terms of ideologic statements, I don't think this movie tries to convey a message that Russians are about truth and Americans are about money. I think it leaves things the way they are that there are russians who believe in truth and Americans that prefer money, but i think there are enough of bad russians and good Americans in the movie...

Anyways, highly recommend the movie, thumbs up.

This was the first foreign film that I have ever watched and the first movie that I have ever wrote a review on. I admit that I did enjoy this film. The central plot of this film is cultural conflict between Russians and Americans. There is a barrier between language and a barrier toward what the morals and values of each culture is. The other plot in this film is "gangster", referring to the Russian Mafia.What I thought to be interesting in this film was that Danila acts as a "Robin Hood"-like character, in the fact that he takes money from the "rich" and gives to the "poor." Meanwhile, his brother steals from others and keeps it for himself.

I also enjoyed how the Russians were the "good guys" and Americans were the "bad guys" compared to how Hollywood always seems to make Americans the "good guys" and other countries and cultures the "bad guys".

All in all, I found this movie to be humorous and insightful from seeing American through Danila.