This is the first time I'm ever seeing a completely Russian movie and I must say, it was really refreshing to see something other than the lopsided view that Hollywood always portrays. I mean, normally there's a Russian bad guy in American action movies but this time, it was all Russian and there was both good and bad guy.
This movie depicted the life of an over-enthusiastic police officer living in a chaotic St. Petersburg that's neck-deep in corruption.
The main character of the movie is a renegade police officer called Igor Grom who has a knack for finding and fixing problems that gets him into trouble with the law that he represents.
Grom's idealistic view of the law got him on the trail of a psychotic individual who has been rampaging through the city and murdering prominent individuals.
I honestly didn't know if enjoy this movie as much as I did but damn, it was really fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and the plot twist along the way.
The personality of Grom was exactly what the city needed at the time; a hard ass officer with balls of steel and willing to get his hands dirty.
I also enjoyed the dynamic he had between him, his environment, and the people around him. You could tell that Grom was a good guy who just wanted the right things to be done but he was also aware of the evils in the society and respected the sanctity if life, despite his British demeanor.
Another interesting character in the movie was Sergei Razumov who created a Decentralised social network that was pretty much Hive. In his design, everyone had encrypted access to their accounts and no central body could touch your data, exactly like Hive.
Other than Sergei, I also enjoyed Grom's dynamic with his sidekicks, even though it was a bit cringe sometimes. I couldn't bear the whole "we're your friends no matter how much of a jerk you are" crap because in real.life, if you act like a dick head, you'll always be a lonely rundown asshole.
Also, officer bald smiley face of the Feds was an annoying addition to the plot but credit to the actor for playing that role well. I feel like his depiction of a sociopathic police officer was spot on and very hilarious.
I also enjoyed the fact that Grom played out different scenarios in his head before making big decisions. It sort of seemed like a super power at times.
Finally, I think the runtime was a bit longer than required, especially for an action movie.
Overall, it was a really fun movie that I encourage you to watch, especially if you like crime action movies. It had violence, a well-formed storyline and excellent cast and acting.
