the audience applauded

Great Film overall

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This movie is perhaps one of the highest regarded movies among Russians. Mere criticism of it brings out ultra-nationalistic hatred unlike anything you've ever seen. It does not surprise me that snippets of this movie posted on youtube elicit multitude of comments like: "F..k Americans" or "F..k Jews" or "F..k n....rs" etc., strewn around comments lamenting the untimely death of the actor.Imagine "American History X" shown to an audience of xenophobes, racists, and white supremacists WITH all of it's redeeming context taken out (e.g. punishment, lesson, redemption). What you're left with is a glamorization of this animal, criminal mindset. Brat 2, while being nowhere near "American History X" in any of it's aspects, manages to inspire and ignite ultra-nationalistic youth of Russia, even today.I found it impossible to care for these thugs, no matter how "nice" the anti-hero main character was portrayed. He's certainly no "Leon" from Luc Besson's "The Professional (or "Leon")".There are very few groups of people this movie managed to avoid insulting. While painting a stereotypical imagery of America/Americans, it also portrayed your stereotypical Russian punk that grows into a murderous thug. An image easy to embrace for many propaganda-fed simpletons that this movie was aimed at. Offered a "hero" for them that's easy to embrace and digest. A xenophobic, racist, criminal, alcoholic, thug with no regard for the law or basic human decency.I was watching the movie, expecting some secret revelation, some deep meaning, something other than action sequences tied with lame dialog, self-important soundtrack and body count to rival Arnie in "Commando". However, all I found was an insult of not just everyone that was obviously insulted... but Russian people as well. Don't waste your time on this movie.

I may be saying this with a bit of bias but this is my favorite movie of all time. Unlike a Hollywood movie it does not picture the world a perfect place but instead it pictures people and the world the way they are, racist, hateful, etc. Racism is present in any country you go to, and if you tell me different you are just to ignorate to realize it. This picture depicts the American and Russian sycie and how western and eastern thinking are different from one another. I have only watched this in the original Russian version and would recommend any Russian speaking person to see it, not sure how accurate the subtitles are and how much justice they give to the movie.

This film seems to me better than "Brat" and Balabanov'some recent films("Voyna" and "Mne ne bol'no").Danila, the hero played by Sergei Bodrov Jr.here reminds us of some well known character from action films(Travis from "Taxi Driver", or better to say,James Bond from "007" series).Hero with firearms,who never loses in love affairs and in gunfight, who revenges his friend's death, protects potential victims of villains, saves good people,and then goes back to motherland with new girlfriend. The villains here are an American cunning businessman and his mafia-like bodyguards, who are exploiting poor Russians in various ways. Too simple to be commented.But in fact "Brat 2" is not so simple. Danila doesn't kill that American businessman,after having managed to convince him that money doesn't make a man stronger than those who are with truth. But his elder brother,who had come to America with the same purpose as Danila(avenge) is already been infected with "money worship" to the end of the film.Danila remains as he was, to be Russian "muzhik(bumpkin),sympathetic and sometimes violent, tactful and full of wisdom of life, but not at all refined or intelligent.The last sequence with inserted song of Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius is really great, whole seeming reference to American and Western action films gets toppled upside-down,because when credit titles appear, suddenly the song declare:"Boodby, America, where I've never been.". In fact, the song was made in 1980s by provincial young musicians, who have never been to America. Russian "Muzhik" won fictional America and its soulless capitalism in the end.

Near the end of 90s Russian cinema market was full of cheap gangster-related action movies. And, of course, there were comedy films - laughing at different kinds of fraud. People were buying it, because of the similarity of situations depicted to the real life. Economy collapse of 1990s in Russia when criminals were ruling everything played it's role. Even the original "Brat" was influenced by these ideas - to depict how artificial this life of "raw power" was. Today you are great and in power but tomorrow you're dead and no one remembers about you.Brat 2 appeared in 2000, when everything in Russia started to change. And this film is a milestone declaring the change in Russian cinematography. Raw violence was utilized to show that it isn't an ultimate power.You may say that Danila uses violence to prevail as well. But the following monologue show the main idea of the whole film: - Say me, American, what the power is? Money? My brother says that as well. But TRUTH is the power. You may steal from someone or lie, but that other person will have the truth behind him. And that's why he is stronger.Raw power is nothing when it's used against the TRUTH. To get money or recognition. There always would be something taking the offender down.The secondary value of this work is to respond to immigration problem of 80s-90s when "Iron curtain" broke down. Life abroad is not that good. African American ghetto gangsta, Ukrainian mafia of Chicago - that was of course a hyperbole showing to Russians that it isn't good to run from their problems to other country either. That's why so many Russians value this film so much. It was the first film in decade with such big patriotic value.So, summing up, the film was fit for its time. In fact, that's why I'm watching it once again and again - to relive all my emotions of 90s. That is one of the few modern films that I'm willing to show to my future children along with classics of 60s/70s.