Once Upon a Time in Ukraine

Too many relations to Mr.Tarantino. Too many anachronisms. The plot is really flat and sometimes is silly. I guess this is made just for kids who don't want to think, but they need only fight and violence(which was not so bad in this movie)

This film is a great cocktail made of Ukrainian and Japanese mass culture and popular stereotypes added to the shaker with all the Quentin Tarantino's filmography and shook well.

There are no reasons to comprehend it as a serious work. It's as absurd, silly and explosive as it is meant to be. There are no deep thoughts or well-written dramatic lines. But there is a great amount of colorful action scenes of a high quality and a lot of ludicrousness.

It is well-known fact, Tarantino is a master of hidden or not so hidden allusions, homages and replica scenes from a variety of other film directors of the past and present. True Quentin's works admirers will be happy to see the same principles applied in a production of this movie. The only difference is the fact all those scenes are from the Tarantino's films. The serfs owners resembles slaves owners from Django, Haydamaks resembles Jews Squadron from Inglorious Bastards, messing around with eastern fighting arts stereotypes is clearly an homage to Kill Bill. And so on. Good luck to find all of them.

Set in the mid-1800's Ukraine and awash in Tarrantino and Sergio Leone, this is an action comedy that also is about freedom, bigotry, and... well just a lot more action. If you know something of Ukrainian culture, you may guess the identity of the Ukrainian protagonist before it's revealed. A lot of fun here and a fair amount of fairly cartoonish violence. The characters are quirky, the situations are deadly serious, and the movie moves along at a rapid clip. There is a stand-out scene the subverts the usual "fight training" cliche. The dialog is well-written and the rental version on Amazon has both Ukrainian with English subtitles and a dubbed English version. Definitely a good Friday night flick!

Those who are not used to irony, homage and a little bit of absurd probably won't enjoy it. But with the right attitude this movie will be a fun watch. The acting is on point, the fight scenes are not bad (or bad when they are supposed to be), and there's not a dull moment in the pace. And special thanks for the soundtrack, including Ukrainian funk.