On one hand, this is a technically good piece of filming. Costumes, vehicles, decorations, sounds, small details of the everyday life look very true. The overall picture is simple, but beautiful. A pleasure for an eye.
On the other hand, the story is very shallow, flat and non-engaging: just 5 years of Mikhail Kalashnikov's life condensed into an hour and a half. And also, quite... let's call it 'pleasant'. Saying that, I mean there's no conflict in the story, no struggle, no tension, no unexpected turn. The road to AK-47 just unwinds before us, smooth and wide, and dotted with signposts. Just like Mikhail Kalashnikov himself! Who as a character looks just an-all-round-good guy. Quite pleasant to glance at, but there's nothing much to examine and explore.
You can't really call this a biopic, because there's no real biography in it, no personality - only large milestones. Instead of diving deep into the tangled thicket of man's life the story just flies by at speed, barely touching treetops. And it is not the story of Kalashnikov's invention, too, because you can't really trace the path of the thought on its way from the idea to the final triumph. Not a drama, certainly, because there's no drama. And not a struggle, again; rather a chain of fortunate events. If Bilbo's journey of "There and Back" was of this kind, I think the book would start right at the Lonely Mountain. And the dragon would give up.
The most fitting words would probably be "a formality". A well-built panegyric formality. A layer of gilding upon the relic, that makes it glittery, but smoothes out its real features.
Watching this you will lose nothing, I think, except 90 minutes of your life. On the other hand, you will probably gain nothing, too (except maybe picking up some names).
On the other hand, the story is very shallow, flat and non-engaging: just 5 years of Mikhail Kalashnikov's life condensed into an hour and a half. And also, quite... let's call it 'pleasant'. Saying that, I mean there's no conflict in the story, no struggle, no tension, no unexpected turn. The road to AK-47 just unwinds before us, smooth and wide, and dotted with signposts. Just like Mikhail Kalashnikov himself! Who as a character looks just an-all-round-good guy. Quite pleasant to glance at, but there's nothing much to examine and explore.
You can't really call this a biopic, because there's no real biography in it, no personality - only large milestones. Instead of diving deep into the tangled thicket of man's life the story just flies by at speed, barely touching treetops. And it is not the story of Kalashnikov's invention, too, because you can't really trace the path of the thought on its way from the idea to the final triumph. Not a drama, certainly, because there's no drama. And not a struggle, again; rather a chain of fortunate events. If Bilbo's journey of "There and Back" was of this kind, I think the book would start right at the Lonely Mountain. And the dragon would give up.
The most fitting words would probably be "a formality". A well-built panegyric formality. A layer of gilding upon the relic, that makes it glittery, but smoothes out its real features.
Watching this you will lose nothing, I think, except 90 minutes of your life. On the other hand, you will probably gain nothing, too (except maybe picking up some names).