Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

sergepesic It is always fascinating to this frustrated viewer how complexities of the world we live in get dumbed down for the potential audience. Somehow, the powers to be in the movie world, seem to be petrified of intelligence. So, lets make it all simple and if possible idiotic. The legacy of Joseph Stalin and the incredible power he wielded over the former Soviet Union is a mixed bag. On one hand it is hard to dispute the horrors he committed upon his own people, but you can't argue with the fact that during his rule the country became a super power in the world. To this ardent anti-communist, Stalin's sadistic nature and crimes overpower any good that he did. But, this inane movie manages to completely miss any logic or keep an open mind. It is like a bad outdated video game.

sol ***SPOILERS*** Interesting movie about an Amercan collage professor Fluke-named because he was a late born child-Kelso-named after 1960's 5 time horse of the year-played by Daniel Craig who uncovers a secret plan to return Russia into the hell that it was when Sovet dictator Josef Stalin, Avtandia Makhardze, ruled it with an iron hand.It's when Kelso runs into Papu Rapave, Valery Chernyak, at a Moscow restaurant that he finds out that Stalin though dead for over 50 years is now about to make his big move and take over the just freed from communism Mother Russia! How Stalin is going to pull this off is in a secret plan hatched by him and his top henchman NKVD chief Lavrenty Beria, Yervant Arzumanvan, dreamed up back in the early 1950's just before Stalin passed away under very suspicious circumstances! It was a then Red Army solider Pvt. Rapava who was part of Stalin's security detail who got wind of it that it him being sent to the Soviet Gulag for over 15 years!Knowing that he hasn't got long in this world Rapava want's Prof. Kelso to let the world know the truth about Stalin's long planned second coming before he actually makes it and ends up, with WMD, not only destroying Russia but the entire world! It's when Kelso hooks up with Rapava's hooker 27 years old estranged daughter Zinaida, Ekaterina Rednikova, that things start to crystallize in her father's, who was later murdered by pro-Stalin fanatics, hidden secret papers and diary in how this sinister and yes evil plan is supposed to be carried out! In the out of the way Russian town of Archangle where it's namesake Lucifer was spawned some 50 years ago and is now ready to reveal himself to the world! With Prof. Kelso being the person designated by him to do the revealing!***SPOILERS*** A bit too long, 133 minutes, and over-plotted "Archangle" stills holds one's interest in the films very unique and somewhat over the top storyline. The films surprise ending, which last for the entire last 30 minutes of the movie, does in fact shake you up but gets a bit overdone by being stretched out for so long. There's also pretty Zinaida Rapava who after wanting to have nothing to do with prof. Kelso and his mission to expose Stalin's plans for the future ends up in fact being the person who puts an end to them by realizing ,if she didn't already, what a murderous psycho he was and what he's, if his gang of maniacal man-men take over Russia, capable of doing when he takes power!

kluseba As a big fan of history and Russian culture, I was excited to watch this movie but didn't expect very much from a TV production. Useless to say that this movie is a must seen for anyone who likes Russian history, society and lifestyle. But it is also easy to watch and understand for someone who doesn't know much about the topic because most of the sings are told in the interesting past sequences of the movie. I've travelled to Russia and seen and lived a lot of particular things there and must admit that the behaviours of the police, the military and the government in this movie are not a stupid cliché but quite close to reality. Even the locations chosen for the shootings remind me of the modern Russian post-soviet lifestyle even though most of the scenes have been filmed in Latvia.Well, I got largely surprised as this movie is really intense and has a realistic scenario that makes you think a lot about nowadays's societies and ideologies. The movie is really entertaining and I have watched it several times without getting bored at all. The characters and the story are well and profoundly developed. The surprising element in the movie is not such a big twist but that isn't negative because the main idea is quite original and the maintain of the tension is always guaranteed in this movie. The movie's finale is dramatically and interesting.The most positive surprise in this movie is the acting of Daniel Craig. I've always known him as the cool, emotionless and somehow mediocre James Bond actor but he is really convincing in this movie. He plays with emotions, with conviction and with an unknown diversity. The only time he played as well was in "Defiance" which you would also like if you like this movie.I really can recommend this entertaining and surprisingly well done and produced movie even though most of the critics are actually too negative.

livinginitaly7 While this film had an interesting plot and I always enjoy other locations it was missing something. The out door scenes, and there were lots of them, were great. However while the premise of the story was interesting, it was also too clichéd. And while Daniel Craig, looking gaunt, thin & very much the bookish professor was alright as the professor, it seemed just like an acting gig he took to go to Russia. I could be completely wrong, but it lacked...his very direct focus that he does so well. He is such a superb actor that he seemed to just be doing minimal work in this picture. As for the female lead, she was tough, depressed & there was absolutely no romance or chemistry. Yes, it was Russia and it was a hard story & the Russian characters had hard lives from the domino affect of Stalin, but there was absolutely no levity to transition from one scene to the next. Mel Gibson was supposedly going to do this film. Ithink if there had been a better budget and Mr. Craig had consumed some food that maybe the picture would have been better. The movie was alright, but not great & could have been much more I am sorry to say.