SYNOPSIS:
Prepare for the thrill ride of your life!
A student’s life turns upside down when he discovers the battered old car his father gave him can fly…
After his entire world falls apart he makes a choice and shoots from zero to hero as a crime fighter known as “ Black Lightning”. Little does he know that evil forces are watching, they want the incredible car, and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means killing him and destroying the city.
Produced by Timur Bekmambetov (Director of Wanted), this fast-paced action-adventure features the Special Effects Team behind Wanted and stuntmen from The Bourne Identity & Quantum of Solace.
MOVIE REVIEW:
You
got to hop on to the DeLorean DMC if you intend to travel
to the past and future. And if you are considering a job as
a modern-day knight fighting crime, you need KITT, a talking
car equipped with artificial intelligence. Not adventurous
enough for your liking? Then you need something bolder, perhaps
the Batmobile. The eighties saw a series of cool automobiles
coming out of Hollywood, the land of make-believe but with
the decline of creativity and the influx of remakes, reboots,
the trend seems to reach a standstill.
Fortunately,
help is on the way and it comes in the form of Timur Bekmambetov
(Director of Wanted and Daywatch).
Produced
by Bekmambetov and released during the December 2009 holidays
in Russia, "Black Lightning" is conceived almost
like a typical summer blockbuster. It has huge sets, convincing
visual effects, humour and plenty of heart just that instead
of Hollywood, all the cast and crew here helmed from Russia
with finances from Universal Pictures.
The
story is about Dima, a university student majoring in economics,
with a pair of doting parents and younger sister. Like any
ordinary insecure young man, Dima envy his fellow rich friend,
Maxim who can easily afford the latest gadgets including an
iPhone and a Mercedes. And it doesn’t help matters as
both fell for the same girl, Nastya. On his birthday, Dima’s
blue-collar dad gave him an old, black Volga, one that is
also owned by Putin declared his proud father. But what Dima
didn’t know was, the Volga is powered by a powerful
substance dubbed the nano-catalyst and it’s wanted by
an evil scheming businessman, Kuptsov to use it to drill diamonds
out of the ground and the Volga to the uninitiated, actually
flies.
To
be fair, "Black Lightning" is not exactly a 'never-before-seen'
superhero movie and its main protagonist Dima reminds one
of a certain Peter Parker. Rather than a radioactive bite
from an insect, Dima has a powerful gadget on hand to assist
him in fighting crimes and saving the needy. Somewhat similar
to Michael Knight (KITT) or Bruce Wayne (The Batmobile) but
without the capabilities of their owners, Dima is just a student.
Directors Alexander Voitinsky and Dmitry Kiselev spend considerable
amount of time developing the character of Dima and the brief
relationship between him and his father that results in his
determination to use the Volga to good use. There isn’t
an over-reliance on visual effects and technology and every
character is there to tell a story. Hence it succeeds on this
account.
Grigory
Dobrygin who plays Dima makes his first feature debut in "Black
Lightning". The promising young actor comes across as
a young Hayden Christensen look-alike yet he stands on his
own opposite a veteran such as Viktor Verzhbitskiy (Kuptsov).
Ekaterina Vilkova who plays the love interest is remarkably
easy on the eyes and she definitely deserved to be seen in
more international releases.
The
visual effects which make up for the numerous CG shots and
the finale battle between the flying Volga and the villain
are all accomplished by a local effects house and the end
results are surprisingly on par with their Hollywood counterparts.
The various scenic shots of the Moscow skyline and streets
particularly the bitterly cold winter season are beautifully
captured on screen.
"Black
Lightning" is the perfect example of a superhero done
right. While it contains the same old formulas, the efforts
put in by the Russians deserved a much salute. It’s
the summer blockbuster that is missing from the lackluster
2010 slate. This comes highly recommended on your DVD watch
list.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Other than the usual interviews and behind-the-scenes,
there’s nothing special for The Making of.
The Deleted Scenes contains footages mostly
from Dima’s interactions with his florist boss and also
a very humourous running gag involving a boozer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Audio
is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and makes good use of the
surround speakers whenever the Volga is up in the air with
its supersonic boosters. Image is clear and sharp. Overall
it’s a fine-looking DVD transfer.
MOVIE RATING :
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
Posted
on 11 August 2010 |
