'Guardians The Superheroes': Russian replica of 'X-Men' series (IANS Review, Rating: **1/2)

Film: "Guardians The Superheroes"; Director: Sarik Andreasyan; Cast: Sebastien Sisak, Sanzhar Madiyev, Anton Pampushnyy, Alina Lanina, Valeria Shkirando, Stanislav Shirin, Vyacheslav Razbegaev; Rating: **1/2

This Russian film, directed by Sarik Andreasyan, crafted on the lines of the American "X-Men" superheroes series, is a sci-fi action thriller.

Set during the Cold War period, a secret organisation named Patriot realises that there are forces trying to destroy Moscow and is also preparing to take control of the whole world, by building their own army of clones.

The force is controlled by August Kuratov, a super-being who owns a machine named Modul-1 which allows him to control any technical equipment by generating electric-like energy.

So in order to curb August in his endeavour, the organisation delegates Major Elena Larina to assemble a team of superheroes who would defeat these forces.

Since the superheroes are in hiding, Larina goes across to different locations of the Soviet Union to do the needful.

From a monastery in Armenia she picks up Shepard aka Ler or the Stoneman, a superhero who manipulates and controls rocks and boulders. Together, they go over to Kazakhstan and pick up Khan, the Windman who armed with twin, crescent like blades, is skilled with all kinds of blades as well as martial arts.

The trio then travel to the forests of Siberia to cajole Urus who has the ability to transform himself from a man to bear and alter his size according to his needs. He is also known as the Wildman.

The four of them then travel to Moscow where, at a circus, they convince Kseniya to join them in their endeavour. Kseniya can manipulate her body temperature, become invisible and move seamlessly on land and water.

How the five pool their energies to defeat August forms the crux of the tale.

Being an action film, the performance of the cast is perfunctory yet all the actors excel in displaying their action-packed super-powers. And it is a treat to watch them in action so akin to the "X-Men" series.

The plot along with all the elements is uncomplicated, simple and straight forward. The action is staid, with shoot-outs between man and machines. The battle scenes, the destruction of the city and the gravity-defying fights all have been exploited.

Visually, the live action shots merge seamlessly with the computer-generated images and, being a poor replica of the "X-Men" series, it does not offer anything that we have not seen earlier.

The final act does promise a sequel soon.

--IANS

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