Skif

Short review today: This movie is generally about two guys traveling together from point A to point B, having a few fighting moments "en passant". The story is simple, honor-packed ending ... acceptable. As far, nothing convincing. Yet there's something interesting in this movie, lets start from the smallest things to the best:

Good fight scenes, especially sword fights of. Lyutobor.

Great choreography and camera.

Awesome sceneries and overall "mediaval" look including costumes (in my opinion just the music was little ... monochromatic). Plus for believable portrait of uneasy coexistence of multiple religions, yet with no deep thoughts or hidden aims, just as it should be.

What this movie shines with are two main characters, Lyutobor and Konitsa. Perfect choice of actors for these two, Aleksandr Kuznetsov really fits and shines. Together they make the movie very enjoyable..

Closing though: Should their journey be longer with less words told and honor and nobility intrigues suppressed, this movie could become a legend.

But it is still worth watching.

Its not a great scripts, its good and its ok. And its not hollywood acting and surpreme VFX art and CGI. But it is gritty, dirty and violent with a beautifull setting, with actors who really are doing their best to tell a good story. Its is like watching Conan again, and I loved it. If you are a film snob and only love movies for their what ever hidden agenda, its not a movie for you.

This is a dirty, small budgettet, B movie with half naked ladies, violent men in a setting that leaves nothing but a raw taste of blood in your mouth.

The Scythian

The story is fit for epic proportions, for the bards to sing songs and elders to tell tales for generations to come. Though perhaps predictable at times, it's a classic, in the sense of such myths as Jason and the Argonauts or even Odysseus for example. It is perhaps shadowed a little by somewhat forced dialogue at times. I am not entirely convinced though as I'm not that adept at Russian and don't know how solid or accurate were the subtitles, so the fault may lie in that as well.

Acting seems to fit for the most part. Nothing that feels overly awkward. As they are the men of action, they let their fists and daggers and swords and bows and axes do the talking for the majority of the film. The lead seems out of place occasionally and I can't put my finger on it why exactly, but it's really not a that big of a concern because the decent pace will not allow to linger on any particular scene too long.

Visually it has good with the bad. Set design and costumes are on point for the most part and feel authentic, but some the locations seem off. Fighting scenes and camerawork are quite well done, though editing seems a bit flimsy at times and therefore some key moments might fall a bit short. Literally even. Unfortunately it also seemed to be yet another retelling of not just the times when the men were Men, but when ugly was Ugly and beautiful was Beautiful. Which is pretty much every film since the invention of camera. A minor issue of course and most likely goes with the mythic theme, but still.

Music fits well and helps to emphasize the scenes, sound mixing is enjoyable though, and it might be the language barrier again, I think I detected some syncing issues, but it might totally be my own imagination. Otherwise the scenes' and scenic atmosphere is well created.

The adventure is engaging and despite some missteps, you'll enjoy the ride. The action is satisfyingly brutal and better than in many Hollywood's high budget projects. Perhaps mostly because the executives aren't as greedy to force PG-13 ratings on just to cash in slightly more dough. Irrelevant, but I bet that The Dark Tower, for example, would've produced completely different results without these utterly stupid restrictions. But I digress.

It's not going to be the best film of the year, but you will enjoy it. Perhaps even enough to watch it again sometime, should you catch it from the telly. It is a solid effort. The pace will carry you through before you know it. Perhaps even leaving you longing for more.

Great locations, great landscapes. The story is captivating. absolutely not trivial. And the same goes with the characters, very interesting, all of them. I liked a lot also the fact that the setting is not the standard "knight" o "samurai" one, so many of the storylines were pretty new to me, and I would guess to most of the audience. The fight scenes are ok, so does the music. Do not expect too much from dialogue, at the end it's an action movie. I didn't like too much the leading actor, and some FXs (not sure it they can actually be called this way). These however were to me very small flaws. Overall it was a positive surprise, if you are looking for a cloak and dagger movie, and you are willing to explore not-mainstream channels, you won't be disappointed.

In the best moments of Skif, it reminds me of Vikings (with Ragnar!) - we get good and bloody action scenes, nice costumes and settings and here and there even some fine surreal moments (like in Mad Max - the woods tribe and the gladiator scene remind me a lot of the scene in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). Without any modern Hollywood p.c.-regulations Skif is a really enjoyable and entertaining experience. Recommended if you like movies such as The 13th Warrior, the Conan and the Scorpion King movies etc. To sum it up: no masterpiece but good.