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BLACK LIGHTNING

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Action
Starring: Grigory Dobrygin, Ekaterina Vilkova, Viktor Verzhbitsky, Valery Zolotuhin
Director: Alexander Voitinsky, Dmitry Kiselev
Rating: PG
Year Made: 2009

 


 SPECIAL FEATURES

- Making Of
- Deleted Scenes

 


 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English/Thai/Russian
Subtitles: English/Mandarin/Bahasa Indonesia/Thai/Korea/Cantonese
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 1 hr 46 mins
Region Code: NTSC 3
Distributor: Berjaya HVN



 

 

SYNOPSIS:

Prepare for the thrill ride of your life!
A student’s life turns upside down when he discovers the battered old car his father gave him can fly…

After his entire world falls apart he makes a choice and shoots from zero to hero as a crime fighter known as “ Black Lightning”. Little does he know that evil forces are watching, they want the incredible car, and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means killing him and destroying the city.

Produced by Timur Bekmambetov (Director of Wanted), this fast-paced action-adventure features the Special Effects Team behind Wanted and stuntmen from The Bourne Identity & Quantum of Solace.

MOVIE REVIEW:
  

You got to hop on to the DeLorean DMC if you intend to travel to the past and future. And if you are considering a job as a modern-day knight fighting crime, you need KITT, a talking car equipped with artificial intelligence. Not adventurous enough for your liking? Then you need something bolder, perhaps the Batmobile. The eighties saw a series of cool automobiles coming out of Hollywood, the land of make-believe but with the decline of creativity and the influx of remakes, reboots, the trend seems to reach a standstill.

Fortunately, help is on the way and it comes in the form of Timur Bekmambetov (Director of Wanted and Daywatch).

Produced by Bekmambetov and released during the December 2009 holidays in Russia, "Black Lightning" is conceived almost like a typical summer blockbuster. It has huge sets, convincing visual effects, humour and plenty of heart just that instead of Hollywood, all the cast and crew here helmed from Russia with finances from Universal Pictures.

The story is about Dima, a university student majoring in economics, with a pair of doting parents and younger sister. Like any ordinary insecure young man, Dima envy his fellow rich friend, Maxim who can easily afford the latest gadgets including an iPhone and a Mercedes. And it doesn’t help matters as both fell for the same girl, Nastya. On his birthday, Dima’s blue-collar dad gave him an old, black Volga, one that is also owned by Putin declared his proud father. But what Dima didn’t know was, the Volga is powered by a powerful substance dubbed the nano-catalyst and it’s wanted by an evil scheming businessman, Kuptsov to use it to drill diamonds out of the ground and the Volga to the uninitiated, actually flies.

To be fair, "Black Lightning" is not exactly a 'never-before-seen' superhero movie and its main protagonist Dima reminds one of a certain Peter Parker. Rather than a radioactive bite from an insect, Dima has a powerful gadget on hand to assist him in fighting crimes and saving the needy. Somewhat similar to Michael Knight (KITT) or Bruce Wayne (The Batmobile) but without the capabilities of their owners, Dima is just a student. Directors Alexander Voitinsky and Dmitry Kiselev spend considerable amount of time developing the character of Dima and the brief relationship between him and his father that results in his determination to use the Volga to good use. There isn’t an over-reliance on visual effects and technology and every character is there to tell a story. Hence it succeeds on this account.

Grigory Dobrygin who plays Dima makes his first feature debut in "Black Lightning". The promising young actor comes across as a young Hayden Christensen look-alike yet he stands on his own opposite a veteran such as Viktor Verzhbitskiy (Kuptsov). Ekaterina Vilkova who plays the love interest is remarkably easy on the eyes and she definitely deserved to be seen in more international releases.

The visual effects which make up for the numerous CG shots and the finale battle between the flying Volga and the villain are all accomplished by a local effects house and the end results are surprisingly on par with their Hollywood counterparts. The various scenic shots of the Moscow skyline and streets particularly the bitterly cold winter season are beautifully captured on screen.

"Black Lightning" is the perfect example of a superhero done right. While it contains the same old formulas, the efforts put in by the Russians deserved a much salute. It’s the summer blockbuster that is missing from the lackluster 2010 slate. This comes highly recommended on your DVD watch list.

SPECIAL FEATURES :

Other than the usual interviews and behind-the-scenes, there’s nothing special for The Making of. The Deleted Scenes contains footages mostly from Dima’s interactions with his florist boss and also a very humourous running gag involving a boozer.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and makes good use of the surround speakers whenever the Volga is up in the air with its supersonic boosters. Image is clear and sharp. Overall it’s a fine-looking DVD transfer.

MOVIE RATING :



DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee

Posted on 11 August 2010

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. Stay Alive

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. United 93

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. Aeon Flux

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. Four Brothers


. War Of The Worlds

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This review is made possible with the kind support from HVN Berjaya

 

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