Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good idea lost in the noise

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

What happens when the average joe finds out he has supernatural powers? The premise may sound familiar. The Watchmen? Unbreakable? However, the Russian sci-fi action flick, The Sword Bearer, is far from the standard stock.The story revolves around a man named Sasha who as a boy was shunned from society, his peers and family due to a supernatural power that he possess. When he wishes or his anger allows, a sword extends from his arm piercing his own skin. Very wolverinish? Maybe... but that's not the interesting part of this film. Shunned all his life and driven by anger (and a temper he does have) our "hero" returns to his home town to turn his life around or find a reason to. The only thing he encounters here is trouble when an encounter with an old flame's new boyfriend leaves him bloodied on the ground. This is where the vengeance and anger comes into play. This is a man you do not want to cross and from this point the mafia and the police are on his tail. He meets a girl and falls in love instantly as does she and this is really what the movie is about.The film is highly impressionistic with bold colors and noir overtones spliced with short yet extreme action sequences. This is art house at it's core, beautifully filmed with such attention to details in every scene over gruesome sci-fi action. It's this odd mash that interests me so much in this film. The directors approach for this genre is refreshing focusing on the emotional journey of Sasha and not a straight action film. Don't worry though, the action is there and plenty of it. However, much of these sequences show only implied violence with pictures of the horrific aftermath. This is not to say that action is not shown. These scenes are here and are fantastic (especially the ending where we see Sasha's full powers unleashed in desperation). The director chooses to imply the violence of many scenes to keep the focus on the character's emotional struggle at hand. This is a tragic love story and a refreshing entry into the genre.

It was a very interesting movie for me, and I am definitely one of those who likes it, but i can easily see why some people don't like it, there isn't a whole lot of dialog in the movie and the main character rarely speaks and when he does it's usually very short spoken, however the movie speaks volumes visually as with allot of the new Russian films coming out cinematography and how the shots were set up where quite impressive...the storyline is not your typical one: Action / Romance / Sci-Fi / Thriller. and it very well can be all of that but essentially it is a story about a man who kills those who stand in his way, he is cursed with a kind of wolverine-esquire problem a retractable sword under his skin, I know it sounds silly but once you get with it becomes a irrelevant in the process of the story, it essentially is a story about the bloke who has the power and has used it to hurt allot of people, you understand why he doesn't say much and why he is much of a loner, and how hard it is for him to make intimate connections and he becomes a mysterious and an interesting person...the movie was far from perfect, but at the same time by some odd reason kind of wicked and cool...for those of you that like to experience different types of movies and don't mind them being different this one might be worth a check out...

There is a lot of crap coming out of Hollywood lately.A friend, sends me movies now and again, as a surprise, it's awesome.I turned it on and couldn't stop watching, it is a drama, but with a odd twist. Imagine if Romeo, as in Shakepeare, had a super power. It is sad and poetic at the same time. Hollywood should take notice of the new Russian cinema, they are telling stories that are not about big explosions and cgi. It takes a simple basic premise and tells a story, without a spectacle. This is a lot like an Asian film with a dark Russian twist. Granted it's not perfect, but nothing ever is. You know what the power is but it is never explained, nor totally realized until the end. It becomes secondary to the emotion of the story. I don't want to see a remake, it is too cool as is, the Hollywood system would, as usual, mess it up. Acting is top notch all around. Directing and Camera work are far above most of the crap that is out there. Kudos to all involved,and I will turn a lot of people on to this independent epic. A+++++If you can find i, watch it.

I went into this movie after having read it was a drama about a man with a supernatural gift, who was made into a monster by society. Suffice to say I was expecting something entirely different from what I got. But it was a happy surprise. My friend and I both thought the movie was very romantic (the fact that the male lead isn't bad to look at surely helped), and there was enough plot development, action and even humor (the fact that it takes them until the 3rd part of the movie to now each other's name had the whole movietheatre laughing) to keep you entertained and invested in the story. So in short: Not what I expected, but a very good surprise indeed. I'll definitely buy this movie when it comes out on DVD.