Worth: $13.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Viktor Khorinyak, Mila Sivatskaya, Konstantin Lavronenko, Elena Yakovleva, Ekaterina Vilkova, Sergey Burunov, Yevgeny Dyatlov
Intro:
…completely bonkers…
With wild horse chases, Matrix-style arrow dodging, tree-chopping swords, wizards turning into horses and witches turning into owls, Dmitriy Dyachenko offers a lot to wrap your head around, and that’s all before the opening credits.
The Last Warrior (which also translates as The Last Knight) is loosely based on Russian medieval legends, specifically the Bogatyr warriors, who you could compare to the infamous Knights of the Round Table.
With literally centuries’ worth of retellings and stories behind them, the screenwriters are clearly trying to cram it all in, and unfortunately many characters feel underdeveloped and subplots are introduced half-baked.
The film’s hero is portrayed by little-known Viktor Khorinyak, who makes it very hard to determine whether we’re supposed to like or mistrust his character. He plays Ivan, a hustling magician in modern-age Moscow, who literally waterslides his way into the magical realm of Belogorye. The people there are convinced he’s the long-lost son of a great medieval warrior – who, among his kind, was turned to stone.
From there it’s a very Lord Of The Rings-inspired epic, with a mismatched gang in search of a magical sword, which will supposedly bring the great warriors back to life to defeat the evil witch. Along the way they encounter various battles and strange creatures, most notably a womanising merman.
If that all sounds completely bonkers, well it is, and that’s what makes it so amiable.
Produced by Walt Disney Company CIS, their Russian-based studio, it still has a lot of heart – even if it’s mostly cheesy and predictable.
Marketed as “Braveheart meets Game of Thrones” this should have been a lot grittier, when in fact it’s closer to something like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The tone of the film is rockier than a boat in a storm, whether it’s taking time from the main plot for a 10-minute selfie montage or a soundtrack that’s part orchestrated scores and part new-age pop.
It’s worth noting that when this was released in Russia last year it became their most profitable local-language film of all time, so it’s worth seeing if only to understand why. Whether anyone wants it or not, expect a sequel heading our way soon.
