Upon the Magic Roads

I liked the story, overall and the movie isn't bad so 6.4/10 from me. However, here are the issues that just made it worse than it could've been.

1. Bad attention to detail. From bad deep-fakes to background CGI SFX that were too obvious. Some extras wren't very good too.

2. Graphic that looked like out of a computer game from 2010. It all looked very cartoonish. Too cartoonish 3. Storyline didn't always connect so if you don't know the original story, it can be hard to follow. Had to explain to people with me what is happening and why. It almost like they really wanted to make it as short as possible so they cut out the important peaces 4. Subpar "camera work" @ CGI. Eg. Some scenes are slow motion(again not fast but slow) and what seems like 15 fps. All you see is a blur up until the motion of the camera stops. That's just horrible and headache inducing way to film. Viewers want to see the details and not a blur.

5. They could've put a bit more humor. Too many times I was watching and said to myself, "would've been funnier if they did...".

6. A tiny fraction of points were also taken due to a presence of a specific actor who not long ago did something really bad and didn't man up to the consequences; and any time I see him, I don't get a good feeling any more. I don't get any positive feelings when I see his face... Using this actor by anyone these days is quite stupid. Sure, some love him, but some don't and you are alienating half of the people who may not even see a movie because he is part of the script. Something to think about...

Anyways. A good movie overall.

If you like fairy tales, you gonna like this movie. The story is based on an old Russian fairy tale written in the 19th century. Here you will find the traditional Russian hero - Ivanushka the Fool, who disarms the viewer with his kindness, compassion and willingness to help everyone, even forgetting his own interests. You will meet famous magical creatures from Russian fairy tales, such as the Firebird. I highly recommend this fairy tale for children. The acting and graphics are very good generally. Also the music is simply mesmerizing, there are parts from Swan Lake and other classics. The film also has its flaws, such as editing. It is noticeable that the movie was cut to fit within the runtime, which of course had a negative impact on the film product. I didn't like the Tsar's dream with the insert of a modern Russian band and dance, it was strange and should have been cut out. There are moments where the graphics look strange and many people noticed "the stormtrooper helmet" in the sand, it was also worth cutting out. Instead, add more jokes. However, the film has more advantages; now it is one of my favorite fairy tales adapted for film.

Not really bad, but feels very amateur. Low-budget.

There's a lot to blame the movie for. Screenplay, CGI, make up and costumes, some cringey dialogues, actors overacting here and there... But the biggest problem overall is that it looks more like a cheap TV-film, not a cinema-level thing.

On the other hand, there are good points, too. You can't really believe into Kings and Peasants here, but actors truly make you believe their characters' feelings now and again. The writing maybe not too coherent, but some story arcs are just wonderful! They may have severely shortened the original story making it a third of what there were, they may have also changed a lot in characters' development, but in the end they still delivered a nice magical fairy-tale based upon the classics of Russian children's literature.

I can't really recommend this as a movie, I'm afraid. Definitely not the best of Russian cinema! It can't even surpass the cartoon of 1975, by far. Still, if you have a spare evening, you may give it a try.