Good story, Not enough for a whole film

As Good As It Gets

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This review contains no spoilers, don't worry.I have to say I was positively surprised by this movie. The dialogues fit the bullsh*ttery among members of a fleshed-in military team. Quite entertainingly so actually, if you have the sense of humor for it. I know it isn't everybodys taste. But then again, what do civilians know about that sort of life, let alone friendship or fellowship/camaraderie.Which explains why other reviewers are so harsh to this movie. They're all used to Michael Bay style nonstop-explosions and fast-paced action without any deeper thought processes. This movie does feature some bang but not exaggeratedly so. People are just spoiled nowadays.I for my part enjoyed this flick a lot. I understand the plot has some sort of Ukrainian or Russian special unit in the center of it and they do play their roles pretty good. I didn't feel it was over-the-top or cliché. It is how it is. Soldiers are just human and in order to cope with the things they see or have to do they joke around more than other people. I don't see how that can be seen as cliché, it truly is like that in real military/special forces.The characters had enough development which makes this flick a rare gem. You could almost compare this movie with Ridley Scotts 'Alien' (1979). Not really plot-wise but the overall structure and character development. The main characters are well developed and the side characters have enough development and background to be able to sympathize with and understand them. The acting is very good and the story is entertaining and has no yawn moments.The only reason why this movie doesn't deserve nine or ten stars is because it misses a better developed, deeper manifested threat. That statement is not entirely true, but I can't say any more without spoiling the movie. Nonetheless this is one of the better SpecOps movies I've seen (and I've seen many) and I'd recommend it to people who enjoy crunchy one-liners and cheeky humor.If you like the sarcasm and humor of the main character in Lockout (2012) you might enjoy this movie just as much. But it's nothing for the spoiled ones who want nothing but special effects all day, everyday, no matter if it makes sense or not. This movie keeps it real. And I am really glad it does because lately Hollywood has become so ridiculous that it's not even enjoyable.

I have spent intense 2 hours watching this stuff. I know how everyone hates it when there's too much humane in a blockbuster, but the whole character building is one of the trademarks of a good Russian movie. I grew up watching Russian military movies thanks to my father and to tell you honestly this whole movie just breaks my camaraderie meter. The plot could have been more original, but let's be honest the fighting scenes are god damn awesome, the characters are well written, the choice of casting (I knew each one of these actors from TV films or series or movies since I was a small girl) is simply tremendous. I felt like throwing things and crying over the whole Lyuba/Spam send scene, only Russian movies can make you feel completely attached to a character even if the character is a tremendous a-hole. The whole Resident Evil reference if anything is maybe over-exploited, but I wouldn't have it any other way. So, this movie is awesome, but I don't suggest it if you are not the kind of person who likes to know the background of characters and military thematic.

Very much like some of the other viewers I had higher expectations from this movie. The plot is not exactly what you would call original, whereas (sadly) it is a pretty common thing in contemporary cinema, I have to say that this film is absolutely packed with clichés.A secret lab in the middle of nowhere, a deadly virus on the loose, a special group of tough guys (plus one tough chick and a not so tough doctor) send in to investigate....I am not going to list all of the clichés in the movie, it would be a waste of time. I would like to point out a very big similarity in the film to a book called The Invincible by Stanisław Lem. The virus which got out of control in the lab has very similar symptoms to the one mentioned in the book (although I am not 100% if it was a virus at the moment). People loosing their humanity, becoming animals, being able to follow only their basic instincts - same thing happened in the book. Is it a copy? I am not sure, it is questionable, however, the tooth marks found on a bar of soap (exact same thing described in the book) depicted in the movie make me 99% sure that this motive has been copied. Talking about copies, one of the gunfight scenes has been copied from equilibrium. You've got your clichés and your copies, and you've also got you're sort of die hard, how many times can I kick you in the face with a solider boot before you start bleeding scenes. Not to forget cutting out a new door in a concrete wall of an underground lab with a mini gun and shooting at a bulletproof glass door and not getting killed by the ricochets. The movie is very foreseeable, the directing is a little pretentious, acting mediocre - at most. Despite of the facts mentioned above, it is fun to watch on a how not to make a movie basis. Just one more thing, be sure to have the two parts before watching, because the first one is a very long intro.

After seeing Night Watch & Day Watch, Volkodav and others masterpieces of modern Russian action oriented cinema I was quite disappointed with this flick. Movie was very well presented with a brilliant PR over the net and other news medias, but the movie was a total disaster. Part 1 didn't offer anything. But a promise of more and better action story was given for the film 2. After watching the second one the disappointment was complete. Acting wasn't good, storyline non-existent. Good filmed fighting scenes, but that's it.... The movie didn't have anything to offer and watching is a total waste of time...