2000s SF film
The Interceptor, 2009, Russia DIRECTED BY KONSTANTIN MAXIMOV
An ambitious yet conceptually difficult post-Matrix film, in which alternate realities occupied by malevolent forces somehow intersect with Moscow, and a shadowy organisation has to battle cases of alien interference with some mysterious and powerful psychotropic weapons. There's a resurgence under way in Russian genre film, one that is at last doing big budget science fiction in partial imitation of Hollywood and it therefore possesses an interesting vibe all of its own. But even though it's from the makers of both Nightwatch and Daywatch, The Interceptor is far from being an overwhelming success in terms of getting its message across. It's a slick if rather nonsensical story and one that's constantly hard to follow, which is probably why I also found it so engaging. However, the chances are it won't appeal to everyone: the characterisation is very thin, almost as if the director felt he could outline the human story by merely telling instead of showing, and overall there's a remote sense of detachment that pervades the film as if we're supposed to have figured out the likely sequence of events from the beginning with minimal clues. This may make it look at the same time both serious and cool but it always runs the risk of losing its audience. They've also made an effort to render the special effects less computerised than you might expect, and some of the more ethereal sequences are genuinely strange and beautifully shot. A curious yet confident film, and if it grabs you the first time it's probably one to watch more than once - you shouldn't have to be a mad Russian geek to figure out everything that's going on here, but it would probably help.