The premise alone raises a skeptical eyebrow. To actually sit and watch 'Russian terminator' (also known as 'The Russian ninja') invites significantly greater curiosity. I can't entirely figure out what the deal is with this movie - whether it's a superbly executed bone-dry parody of spy thrillers, or an earnest low-budget attempt at the genre (practically on the level of amateur high school students) that misses the mark. Both notions would seem to be supported by the incredibly mundane costume design and filming locations, rough dialogue, and the utmost inauthenticity of scenes generally, especially when action is involved.
I can abide the indelicacy of the dialogue as delivered by the assembled cast, for whom English seems to be a second language - that's just an idiosyncrasy of the picture. The inelegance of the screenplay is another matter. Script, characterizations, and scene writing alike are deeply unconvincing. The overall narrative is that, and also more than a little perplexing, with a distinct lack of clarity about the progression of events and the story broadly. An action scene that rolls along just after the 1-hour mark is done pretty well, but - wait, why did everyone show up to that one location in the first place? Who, exactly, is the "Russian ninja?" Why does no one know who he is until it's convenient for the plot? What is his true involvement, in any regard? The best I can ascertain is that he's an embodiment of the "chaotic neutral" moral alignment, doing as he will for indecipherable reasons.
And so it goes, from start to finish. Having watched the whole film, I can no more effectively communicate the plot now than I could have before I began. This is without a doubt one of the most flummoxing pictures I've ever watched. I don't suppose the filmmakers intended for it to be as muddled as it is, but somewhere in the quagmire of deficient writing and direction, explicitness and lucidity were lost. Still, amazingly, that's not to say that 'Russian terminator' isn't wholly without entertainment value. There's a bizarre level of bemused engagement that follows from the movie's mystifying craft, and in its own peculiar way, this becomes a tiny bit of bewildering fun. Although, that doesn't especially help the feature's case, either.
I have a hard time imagining who I might recommend this to, or under what circumstances, except as the extraordinary oddity that it is. Even being as generous as one could in their assessment, the feature's poor construction marks it as a failure whether it was intended as a thriller or a parody (a dichotomy of which I remain uncertain); even among similar low-grade cinematic fare, this is a bumpy ride. The fact remains, though, that 'Russian terminator' isn't the absolute worst movie you could find yourself watching. If you're feeling brave and magnanimous, go ahead and give it a try. Just prepare yourself.
