I enjoyed the minimalism & well executed low-budget production style - costuming and props were immersing and highlights of the film. I'm a big fan of sci fi thought experiments involving encounters with exceedingly foreign cultures. Sadly, this exploration is riddled with internal inconsistencies. It asks the viewer to swallow a lot without ever delivering a good cause. I suspect that many nuances are lost on non-Russian audiences but even excusing excessive cultural references the story is vague and thinly premised.
The aliens were totally unimpressed by the sudden appearance of these strangely dressed foreigners in their midst. They can read minds deeply yet are surprised when the humans don't know their cultural subtleties. Honesty is totally unvalued yet they keep trying to make deals with one another, as if *this* time it will all work out. That's not ironic, that's annoyingly stupid. Rednecks - alien and otherwise - have been done before and better.
The humans eventually make dubiously large leaps of logic to figure out how to survive with the dangerous and treacherous aliens, yet are unusually obtuse and bull-headed most other times. "Ah, common matches are worth a thousand times their weight in gold here, and the few I have could buy a planet. I guess I'll keep lighting my cigarettes with them until they are gone." The writer repeatedly makes heavy handed points about integrity and loyalty, forcing Dyadya Vova to prove himself to no one in particular. These weak and pointless gestures serve as major plot devices throughout the film, while failing to contribute to any overall theme. Also employed for no particular reason or contribution to the plot were: time travel, time dilation, instant travel across space, Benevolent Master Race, Malevolent Master Race, specialized vocabulary, silly hats, mysterious architecture, wacky craft, goofy sound effects, and sassy women. I'd complain about the dei ex machinis, but the lack of internal logic renders that pointless.
At first it seemed to develop the aliens as depraved scum with a racist and arbitrarily brutal society in contrast to the Russians. It turns out that everyone is pathetic. There is no cause, no lesson, nor any character development. The second act ends with a suicidal giving up gesture, sucking dry the little empathy that remained for the protagonists. In the end they succeed through pure mechanism and luck despite ineptitude and consistently poor choices.
The final insult was the "It was all a dream! Or WAS it???" card played out IN FULL at the end. I can't believe that hackneyed bit is new anywhere. Perhaps I didn't "get" this turkey. It gets a few stars for the effective visuals on a budget and trying so hard to be original.
On a side note, I saw another reviewer refer to this as the "Russian Star Wars". Please - draw for me some parallels to support this, because I don't see it.
The aliens were totally unimpressed by the sudden appearance of these strangely dressed foreigners in their midst. They can read minds deeply yet are surprised when the humans don't know their cultural subtleties. Honesty is totally unvalued yet they keep trying to make deals with one another, as if *this* time it will all work out. That's not ironic, that's annoyingly stupid. Rednecks - alien and otherwise - have been done before and better.
The humans eventually make dubiously large leaps of logic to figure out how to survive with the dangerous and treacherous aliens, yet are unusually obtuse and bull-headed most other times. "Ah, common matches are worth a thousand times their weight in gold here, and the few I have could buy a planet. I guess I'll keep lighting my cigarettes with them until they are gone." The writer repeatedly makes heavy handed points about integrity and loyalty, forcing Dyadya Vova to prove himself to no one in particular. These weak and pointless gestures serve as major plot devices throughout the film, while failing to contribute to any overall theme. Also employed for no particular reason or contribution to the plot were: time travel, time dilation, instant travel across space, Benevolent Master Race, Malevolent Master Race, specialized vocabulary, silly hats, mysterious architecture, wacky craft, goofy sound effects, and sassy women. I'd complain about the dei ex machinis, but the lack of internal logic renders that pointless.
At first it seemed to develop the aliens as depraved scum with a racist and arbitrarily brutal society in contrast to the Russians. It turns out that everyone is pathetic. There is no cause, no lesson, nor any character development. The second act ends with a suicidal giving up gesture, sucking dry the little empathy that remained for the protagonists. In the end they succeed through pure mechanism and luck despite ineptitude and consistently poor choices.
The final insult was the "It was all a dream! Or WAS it???" card played out IN FULL at the end. I can't believe that hackneyed bit is new anywhere. Perhaps I didn't "get" this turkey. It gets a few stars for the effective visuals on a budget and trying so hard to be original.
On a side note, I saw another reviewer refer to this as the "Russian Star Wars". Please - draw for me some parallels to support this, because I don't see it.