Forteresse

Time travel ... one of the biggest fantasies human kind has. Not sure how it would work (though the multiple universe thing sounds the closest one to make actual sense), but until that becomes a reality ... if ever that is - we have movies like this one to enjoy.

It's a fantasy movie that brings us back into a different world ... with certain innovations from the present day ... which therefor almost make it look like a larp event. Interesting and introguing, the movie has also one of the things I never will understand: not Russian/Ukrainian dialog is being dubbed ... over the real voice, so you hear the dialog twice or overlapped ... it's a pet peeve but maybe you are bugged out about this too. A fun ride, for those willing to take it.

This film is an acceptable and cute children's film. However, its weaknesses are several. The film is too slow and boring and the plot holes and inconsistencies are numerous and make the film largely without any purpose. To criticize is also the evolution of the protagonist who is too fast at the expense of the overall slowness of the film.

Viktor's parents died in a car crash when he was very young still. The car veered off a bridge and Viktor has a fear of heights ever since. When him and his friends go in a school group to the mountains to view an eclipse that only happens once in a hundred years, Viktor freezes up when they have to cross a hanging bridge, and runs away ashamed.

Shortly after, an earthquake hits and Viktor is sucked into a portal, transporting him to the year 1120AD. As soon as he arrives, his life is in danger, and is saved by the legendary knight Oleshko.

Oleshko takes him to their village, where Viktor explains that he was transported from the future. Once they believe him, Viktor learns their ways under Oleshko's guidance. In order to get back home again, Viktor has to find the Perun stone, but the evil Cumans are after the stone as well, hoping it will give them power.

'The Stronghold' is an action fantasy adventure and although there was much to enjoy here, it definitely would appeal more to a teen demographic. There's also a teen romance in the movie with Viktor falling in love with Olenka. Due to the fact they are just kids, I didn't care much for their romance, and it felt forced for the sake of a romantic interest. Oleshko and Rosanka's relationship would have made a far better romantic interest.

'The Stronghold' is predictable in the vein of teen protagonist fantasies. This is not a great movie, but nevertheless entertaining with interesting (not great) visuals. Also, Viktor was stuck in 1120AD for several days, if not weeks, yet when he returned to his world, he appeared to have been away for a few seconds only. Does time move super slow in the past? Yes, I know this is high fantasy, but even so there has to be some sort of logic.

Off the get-go, be advised this movie has subtitles... I don't mind unless they are done poorly, but these seemed just fine to me.

I normally break down movies into pros & cons, but honestly, almost everything about this movie falls into the "pro" category... the acting was really good / story was good / special effects were done really well / even fight choreography was really quite decent / camera work was fine / audio was fine... there really isn't much I can find fault with this movie...

If you enjoy fantasy / adventure movies, this has to be one of the better ones I've seen in quite some time...

That said...

Cons ( and these really are minor ) - 1 - The CGI work on the "evil super monster" could have been better... It was still better than most stuff on SyFy and whatnot, but still looked fake / 2 - There were a couple of plot holes that had no explanation other than the movie saying "because I say so" / 3 - I really wish they had played off the "fairy tale" aspect of more of the knights... ie, a little more character development with more than just 1 knight...

Again... these are all minor complaints... the movie as a whole was 100% enjoyable... Two thumbs up from me... ( Would I watch it again and again? probably not or at least not right away... which is why I'm giving 7 stars instead of like 8 or 9... )

But... good flick.. highly recommend.

( Side note... I assume the Cumans were actually speaking a different language during the movie... thus they were dubbed as well as subtitled? I didn't mind, but some of the dubbing sounded a little out of place... )

Unfortunately, watching a movie with subtitles is never optimal. This is a decent fantasy story that has fairly solid acting. The movie gets a bit goofy in parts, but overall the script is not bad.