As a preface, the 3rd one is one of my favorite movies of all time. Yuri Boyka is such a nicely done character, and Adkins has done a great job making him memorable.
This installment, however has been BAMBOOZLED by the director, half the time I sat there thinking what the hell they were even doing. There's so much clutter, the villain is the most stereotypical geyser I have ever seen. And its hard to feel intense during the fight scenes because Boyka literally overcomes everything to the point of absurdity.
The point where I was probably most detached: After breaking his back in a 2 vs 1 and winning, he gets his back smashed in again by an undefeated fighter. He then gets up and easily wins, then RIGHT AWAY fights martyn ford (bane looking guy). Beats him, then THE TWIST HAPPENS!!!! The evil Russian rich guy doesn't follow up on his promise!! So two guys with baseball bats hit Yuri about 20 times, and he gets up and knocks them out. Then he takes a couple of bullets and kills the rich bad guy, and back to Ruskie jail for our boy.
So he breaks his arms and legs, gets beaten by baseball bats, gets shot a few times, and then keeps winning against all odds like nothing happened. At what point do you stop and wonder if Boyka is ever in actual danger? The 3rd movie did a really great job in this regard, by showing other fighters and actually being subtle in delivering emotion and conflict.
The ending was the worst part for me, all the other ones in the series were so satisfying. The whole point was to see Yuri go BIG and take on the best of the best, the movie teased you with his ambition since the start. Everything else was just a buildup to that, and right in the last few moments of the film, it ruins it. He goes back to jail, fighting and easily winning against random people. Wheres the satisfaction? where is the dream?
As for the main plot, its...not the best: Boyka unintentionally kills guy during qualifier fight for championship (his dream); feels bad and finds guy's wife to get her forgiveness; decides to repay her debt by fighting for a rich asshole; the rich asshole is a cheater but Boyka prevails and kills him; Boyka gets sent to jail; he gets the woman's forgiveness.
There was so much buildup to this movie, yet practically no resolution. I'm sure that my opinion isn't unique here, not even among fellow fans of the series. Maybe there will be a 5th one? I doubt it, but there is no closure here as it stands.
This installment, however has been BAMBOOZLED by the director, half the time I sat there thinking what the hell they were even doing. There's so much clutter, the villain is the most stereotypical geyser I have ever seen. And its hard to feel intense during the fight scenes because Boyka literally overcomes everything to the point of absurdity.
The point where I was probably most detached: After breaking his back in a 2 vs 1 and winning, he gets his back smashed in again by an undefeated fighter. He then gets up and easily wins, then RIGHT AWAY fights martyn ford (bane looking guy). Beats him, then THE TWIST HAPPENS!!!! The evil Russian rich guy doesn't follow up on his promise!! So two guys with baseball bats hit Yuri about 20 times, and he gets up and knocks them out. Then he takes a couple of bullets and kills the rich bad guy, and back to Ruskie jail for our boy.
So he breaks his arms and legs, gets beaten by baseball bats, gets shot a few times, and then keeps winning against all odds like nothing happened. At what point do you stop and wonder if Boyka is ever in actual danger? The 3rd movie did a really great job in this regard, by showing other fighters and actually being subtle in delivering emotion and conflict.
The ending was the worst part for me, all the other ones in the series were so satisfying. The whole point was to see Yuri go BIG and take on the best of the best, the movie teased you with his ambition since the start. Everything else was just a buildup to that, and right in the last few moments of the film, it ruins it. He goes back to jail, fighting and easily winning against random people. Wheres the satisfaction? where is the dream?
As for the main plot, its...not the best: Boyka unintentionally kills guy during qualifier fight for championship (his dream); feels bad and finds guy's wife to get her forgiveness; decides to repay her debt by fighting for a rich asshole; the rich asshole is a cheater but Boyka prevails and kills him; Boyka gets sent to jail; he gets the woman's forgiveness.
There was so much buildup to this movie, yet practically no resolution. I'm sure that my opinion isn't unique here, not even among fellow fans of the series. Maybe there will be a 5th one? I doubt it, but there is no closure here as it stands.