Black Lightning (2009)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A flying Volga? Right, that is what I initially thought too. But after sitting through this Russian action adventure, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the movie as a whole, because it turned out to be quite alright.Dima receives an old Volga for his birthday, a car that he is not too fond of. One day while delivering flowers, Dima finds out that the car actually possess an incredible ability unlike other cars; the ability to fly. But the source of power fueling the car is sought after by shadowy people who will stop at nothing to obtain this item."Black Lightning" has elements of "Back to the Future", "The Fifth Element" and even "Spiderman" to it, sure, but it is still original in its own right.While it is a Russian movie, that should not be a reason to skip out on watching the movie, because it is fun and entertaining.Visually then "Black Lightning" is quite a treat for the eyes. The effects are realistic and believable - well as far as a flying car would be, I suppose. The special effects team really made this movie come to life on the screen.I can't claim to be familiar with any to he actors or actresses in the movie, and as such it was nice to have something brand new to experience without being colored by previous roles, movies and performances by people in the movie."Black Lightning" is well-worth spending an hour and forty minutes on. Wholesome fun and entertainment all around.

There is not many Russian sci-fi movies. I have watched "Paragraph 78" the first part, it wasn't good. I can't recall more Russian sci-fi films, although I have watched a lot of Russian films. I was even a little bit surprised when I have seen this film, because I thought Russians don't make such sci-fi films, it's an unusual genre for a Russian film. This one is good enough, but comparing it with American movie "The Island"(of the same genre), which I liked much more, it looks mediocre. So, don't expect something outstanding.The subject of relationship of women and superheroes isn't really anything new, we saw this many times in other movies, such as "Spiderman"(when someone other is mistaken for a hero or something, or the elaboration of some other sides of being a superhero). And so on.

First of all, I didn't realize it was Russian. It was dubbed in English so there were no annoying sub-titles. There were a few times when they show a newspaper headline or something on a computer that was in Russian, but it didn't take away from the story. The young man who played Black Lightning looked amazingly like Hayden Christenson from Jumper and the second set of Star Wars movies. He was very good in the role and he could easily play in American movies if he spoke English. His girlfriend was adorable as well. The special effects were not top notch but good enough to make the movie enjoyable. And of course there was the character you loved to hate, the evil rich guy who wanted to use the Black Lightning secrets, well, I can't tell you why. All in all, it was a very enjoyable movie.

Let's pretend for a moment that it's 1999. There is no Spiderman. The last Batman movie with Mr Freeze is a recent but quickly fading memory and we have not even heard of Chris Nolan...well outside of Australia at least, and the only thing we know of the transformers is that it's a plastic robot toy from the 80s that used to...hang on, that's right, turn into a truck or something... I'd also be 11 years younger and perhaps a little less cynical and forgiving of schmaltzy, clichéd stuff. So, in this imaginary world where we have a time traveling De Lorean or equivalent, I would have walked out of Black Lightning and thought "Man, what a cool movie. Those Russians really are breakthrough...how awesome was that!". "Yes it's a bit back to the future, but who cares...that was FUN!!"...Except it's not 1999, and I am 11 years older. I've seen Spiderman where he discovers his gee whiz powers, where his gr amps gets killed, with great power comes great responsibility, etc. I've seen transformers where a beat up old car becomes something awesome. And i've heard the brooding music from Nolan's Batman. I've seen Iron Man take his enemy up in the sky until they both froze up and he ran out of fuel and dropped back to earth...should i go on?So why the heck did they make this movie? Did they just assume that no one in Russia watched all of the above and they could put together a greatest hits compilation of some of the better super hero American fare? Probably. But for those of us who have seen these movies, Black Lightning (the name makes me cringe!) is a Frankenstein cut and paste, in many cases scene by scene steal of far better movies. It's b grade schlock made for an uneducated audience. Yes, I'm being harsh. I enjoyed the movie for the first 30 or so Min's. It seemed fresh and interesting. Then at about the point where the car first takes off I felt this sense of dread. Oh oh...that bit looks like America's Greatest Hero...and that bit is Transformers...and that bit is Spiderman (why am I watching this again?...never mind...it'll get better)...and that bit is just like (well you get the idea)...And the flying Volga is actually more ridiculous than a flying De Lorean...I should say some kind things about the film...let's give this a go. The heavy metal Russian soundtrack is pretty cool. The girl in the movie is rather lovely, but her flipping between the boys got old real quick. The special effects are not too bad considering it's a low budget film (although they are cheesy) and the surround mix is typically over the top for a 5.1 modern Russian film.At the end of the movie I felt disappointed and embarrassed for all concerned with this production. And Bekmambetov really should have known better!So if all the above disclaimers don't concern you, go ahead and watch it. But, you have been warned...