Brilliant and touching

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Generally positive impression, quite surprising for someone who believed Russian cinema was in decline. Actually, it made me think about the reanimation of the Russian movie industry. The movie is about Russian 'superhero' from the past and is based on a real story. Features classy сценография and photography, beautiful historical interiors and outdoor scenes. Flashbacks and flash forwards depict interesting correlations between epochs and places. Though a bit naive (i.e. the American and other nations' representatives are stereotypical), Poddubny still is an instance of movies from Russia that are internationally oriented and could be interesting for the viewers worldwide. Hope to see other decent titles from Russia, shot in Russian studios. Also hope the further understanding between nations is being achieved through ways of cultural interchange. Poddubny movie is an example of a recent title that can give everyone a look at one side of the contemporary Russian movie industry and its capabilities. Hope you enjoy it, I did.Pavel Foshin

portrait of a man. like picture of a world. wise mixture of humor and drama, good story about success, sacrifice and passion of an ordinary man who becomes hero. far to be a great movie, it is touching, seductive and useful mirror to a mirror who has lost. using clichés, poem in images about a legend of sport, who, like many as him, today is only a name from obscure time, it is one of films who presents the same ambition of Russian cinema to rediscover the past as the source of present pride. the Soviet cinema recipes is the same. the influences are not new. but few scenes, the photography, the right note to create the lead role by Mikhail Porochenko are ingredients who defines a film who reminds the dream of many children.