Poutine

The clever non-linear timeline of fresh, original political biopic "Putin" flashes back in bite-sized chunks over key chapters in the life of the titular Russian President (professional lookalike Slawomir Sabala) - including his childhood, the Soviet Union's collapse when he was a KGB operative in Germany, his ruthless (and murderous) political rise to the office of President Yeltsin (Tomasz Dedek) that he then took, and his tightening grip on Russia via false-flag terrorist attacks on his own people, etc... culminating in the war on Ukraine. Polish writer / director Patryk Vega uses plenty of artistic license to highlight Putin's evil - but it works. An engaging & enlightening film.

The script is hopeless, filled with shallow dialogue and devoid of any coherent plot or meaningful character development. It feels like a patchwork of lazy tropes, thrown together without any thought or effort to create something engaging or impactful. The acting is equally lackluster, with performances that range from wooden and uninspired to outright cringeworthy. It's clear that even the actors weren't convinced by the material they were working with.

However, the most glaring flaw-and the one that truly sinks this movie-is the disastrous use of AI. The AI-rendered face of Putin is embarrassingly bad. It's poorly integrated into the film, with lighting and textures that don't match the surrounding environment. The result is something that looks less like advanced technology and more like an amateur's botched Photoshop attempt. Every time the AI face appears on screen, it pulls you out of the story (what little there is of it) and makes you painfully aware of the film's technical shortcomings.

The overall experience is a complete waste of time. Every minute felt like a chore, as though the movie was actively trying to frustrate and disappoint. It's particularly disheartening because the premise had potential. With better writing, acting, and production values, it could have been something akin to The Death of Stalin-a sharp, satirical, and darkly humorous exploration of politics and power. Instead, we're left with a pale, clumsy imitation that fails on every front.

A shame, really. What could have been an incisive political comedy is instead an example of everything wrong with rushed, low-effort filmmaking.

I just watched the new movie Putin, and I have to say, I'm very disappointed. With a production of this scale, you'd expect them to use AI or visual effects properly, especially when portraying such a well-known figure. Instead, the actor barely resembles Putin - the facial animations are stiff, the mouth movements don't sync well, and his gaze feels lifeless. Honestly, modern video game characters look more believable. The film feels more like an experimental art piece than a proper movie. It seems the director's only goal was to portray Putin negatively, but even that was done with a weak, poorly constructed storyline and low-quality visuals.

Most Westerners don't know much about Russia or Putin, and if you watch this hit piece, you'll know even less.

It's a complete work of fiction, with a few unimportant "facts" that are then dressed up with crazy fantasies to paint a portrait that is almost humorously evil.

Unfortunately, many people see these kind of movies and believe they are a biography, a historical record, and not just a vanity project from a person with an ax to grind. I noticed one reviewer actually referred to this as a "documentary".

If you are interested in history and geopolitics on a serious level, you will not be able to sit through this movie. It's that stupid. If you are satisfied to just read headlines of articles or whatever news you get through osmosis from the propaganda floating around, you may enjoy it.

I'd give it no stars, but I have to give it one.

First off, after watching this flick and wanting the time back to do something productive with it, I decided to check out reviews knowing how polarized they and the up/down votes would be. I wasn't disappointed. Some single-review users are even begging the FBI (the American Stasi) to investigate and charge anyone who leaves the movie a bad review, as if all of us are in the US and subject to its laws (I guess Julian Assange would have something to say there).

The film is just a terrible biopic with all the usual western narrative infused background information on V V Putin's life, his career in the Soviet version of the FBI (no, not quite their CIA as it was also concerned with domestic spying) and his rise to power after the demise of the Soviet Union.

There is zero nuance, as it's a full-scale and unprovoked invasion of the viewer's psyche designed to further propagandize the masses and paint foreign "dictators" as the real threat to our so-called freedom and democracy in the collective west. The way the character (and all of them, really) is portrayed is just completely one-sided and worse still, unbelievable. The production is also amateur all around. I normally find something to compliment a moviemaker about, but here we have shoddy camera work, terrible framing and lighting, the sound is awful, the soundtrack could come straight from a Red Scare era propaganda film, and the acting is out of this world bad.

Think about that for a second - this movie has ZERO redeeming qualities. If they had made a well shot, professionally produced and - most importantly competently written and acted - movie, I could have appreciated it on its technical and artistic merits. But alas there is absolutely nothing positive to say about this, and what's worse is it will obviously fail to gain interest or engage viewers for the producers' intended effect - villainizing an already comically hyper-villainized Russian autocrat in whose real-life orbit even more villainous people exist. Honestly, I could have probably achieved at least a 4 star film with just the script, but these guys failed miserably and they have clearly employed the services of a troll army to downvote every honest negative review.

Avoid this. Read Putin's Wikipedia page instead.