The Film (3/5)

Russian history and pop culture is a complete blind spot for me. Other than seeing a few of the classics such as Sergei Eisenstein's BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925) and Andrei Tarkovsky's SOLARIS (1972), it remains a hole in my cinematic knowledge. So, it's always a nice surprise to see a genre film from Russia. Especially one that also doubles as a historical epic.

FURIOUS tells the story of a knight named Evpaty Kolovrat and his fight against Khan Batu. Evpaty slowly builds up his army until it leads to a climax of bloody vengeance. Wikipedia also says that while this is mostly fantasy, it did reflect on the Mongol invasion of Russia around the mid 1200's.

FURIOUS (2017) is a stylized and well-paced action movie that suffers from some broad plotting and paper-thin characters. Evpaty is wonderfully played by Ilya Malakov (THE LORDS OF DREAMS), who delivers enough subtle actions to make him likable as our lead. But on the page, it seems like he was written purely as an archetype. Which is a shame because that could've raised this story into a proper epic instead of a big scope actioner.

Director Dzhanik Fayziev handles the material in a hyper active level. Too many of the action scenes vary from Hong Kong stylized action to Direct to Video trash. I blame the shaky camerawork and drape locations. But when it's working, the film jumps to new levels of intense action. I found myself caught up in some of the spectacle of the mountain top sword fights, and gory spear violence. But the movie does take time to step away from the blood thirsty action and sit back for a few quiet character moments.

And when you boil it down that is FURIOUS biggest weakness. Being too far removed from its characters and by doing so stripping away some of the heart of the movie.

Audio/Video (4/5)

Well Go USA offers up 4 audio tracks for the movie. Two in Russian and Two in English. The Russian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is the track I viewed for this review. It had bold and crisp audio with smooth transitions in music and sound effects. There was no hiss or pops. The second track is the softer Russian 2.0 Stereo mix. I spot checked the English 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. They sound fine, but I usually just go with the original language. English subtitles are included.

FURIOUS comes with a 1080p HD transfer. The black levels are smooth and full of depth. Which stand out in a nice light during the snow-covered battle scenes. The focus is sharp, but due to the nature of the film there is some motion blur that doesn't hold up well. The worst cases being the overcast sections near the end of the film. Overall not a bad transfer, just spotty in a few spots.

Extras (1/5)

Trailer gallery for FURIOUS (one Russian and two English versions), PARADOX, OPERATION RED SEA, and KICKBOXER RETALIATION.

Overall (3/5)

FURIOUS has some stunning action set pieces but lacks heart. While I wasn't completely checked out I did seem to lose some interest. Well Go USA gives the film a handsome release for those curious. Here is hoping for some more Russian action hits. Recommended.