This Russian Animation piece which melts history with (lots and lots) of fiction/fantasy is very graceful and quiet fascinating. It may look quiet Disney-like at first, but the storytelling got something quiet beautiful and refreshing for a children movie.The background design and the animation,two things you should take for granted I don't care very much or know very much about usually-took my breath from pleasure in few scenes, and were generally quite delightful .The characters design isn't in this league, but is quite solid .Also as characters, none of the characters were amazingly notable or very original ,but they were mostly likable and interesting enough. Especially likable is Aleksey,the poorest little boy in the history of cinema.Or,ah,will quite make it to the top 200.Some of the romance in the movie seems to be quite forced(to all of you don't like romance,the film got only little bit of this)and illogical,if you can accord to romance with this word.The music seems to be very fitting and pretty-but sadly in the copy of the movie I saw there was no translation of the songs,which seem to add a lot to the movie.
I don't remember seeing a children movie which is dealing so much , subtextly and textly and with certain complexion, with politics and religion and does is it a way(or so do I think-I'm not a child and didn't have the opportunity to talk to a kid about the movie)that won't bore them away or would be understandable for them.
In kids, see title etc, begin the problems.
A dangerous wind of Russian nationalism is blowing from this movie. a kid who would watch this movie would will learn from it that horror can be nothing but heroic and fun while done by Russians-or at least by blonds. While horror done by Asians and so stay,surprisingly,horror. I strongly recommend to all parents out there ,espcially Russian parents, who agree to expose their children to such conceptions, to sit with their children through the film and to state and carefully explain the wrongness that seem to be in the film's pov. Although for such a close -minded-seeming film ,the movie got some interesting moments of religious pluralism.Than again, the villain of this movie is a blood-thirsty pagan priest. So, watch this film if you are an adult who likes animation films for kids, either you like Disney or despise them. Watch it it you would like to see an interesting represation of Russian history mix fiction for the wide public, or just like to watch some pretty and somewhat different animation. And if your kids want to watch it-make sure to watch it with them, if to let them watch it at all.
