This fairly slow and predictable fantasy movie opens with a lot of vista and impressive set and costume design, showcasing a medieval Russian settlement just as cool as any of the Middle Earth we saw in Lord of the Rings. The film sets up some interesting lore with women being sacrificed to dragons in order to protect the town. Sounds like an interesting concept.
Unfortunately, all the interesting stuff in this film is relegated to the first and last 10 minutes. In between, it's just a pretty dry tale of two attractive people washed up on an island together with a cute furry critter to keep them company, and no shortage of washed ashore treasure chests containing everything they'd ever need. It's ultimately a love story, but it starts losing luster once you realize it's basically the same as Beauty and the Beast.
The film takes so much time to build an intriguing world but doesn't really do much with it. There's one antagonistic character, but he gets into only two lousy scenes. One of his lieutenants has his own love story with another princess, but this subplot goes so sadly undeveloped that it may as well not even exist. The climax is surprising only in how unsurprising it is, though I expected it to go for some sort of last minute cheap shock which never happened. In the end, it's a film that'll appeal to undiscriminating women and girls and may wake a few of the boys up during the nudity and dragon scenes.
That said, the film is a visual delight with excellent cinematography and well-integrated computer graphics. The Russians certainly excel in the technical departments. Now if only they were able to put all these resources into more compelling films.
Unfortunately, all the interesting stuff in this film is relegated to the first and last 10 minutes. In between, it's just a pretty dry tale of two attractive people washed up on an island together with a cute furry critter to keep them company, and no shortage of washed ashore treasure chests containing everything they'd ever need. It's ultimately a love story, but it starts losing luster once you realize it's basically the same as Beauty and the Beast.
The film takes so much time to build an intriguing world but doesn't really do much with it. There's one antagonistic character, but he gets into only two lousy scenes. One of his lieutenants has his own love story with another princess, but this subplot goes so sadly undeveloped that it may as well not even exist. The climax is surprising only in how unsurprising it is, though I expected it to go for some sort of last minute cheap shock which never happened. In the end, it's a film that'll appeal to undiscriminating women and girls and may wake a few of the boys up during the nudity and dragon scenes.
That said, the film is a visual delight with excellent cinematography and well-integrated computer graphics. The Russians certainly excel in the technical departments. Now if only they were able to put all these resources into more compelling films.