Have you ever stopped what you were doing, and taken the time to wonder what a Russian comic-book movie might look like? Well, thankfully, you won’t have to wonder much longer, because next year finally sees the release of the first Soviet Superhero film, ‘Guardians’.
It’s entirely possible you might have already seen the movie’s teaser footage, which has been bouncing around the internet since last Summer, (we posted about it before most sites) and with production recently having wrapped following some re-shoots in both Moscow and the Crimea, a full international trailer has now been released.
Looking very much like a hybrid between ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Fantastic Four’, the film sees Russia’s only superhero team ( appropriately codenamed PATRIOT) plucked out of the hiding places they’ve been living in since the end of the Cold War, in order to battle a genocidal opponent named August Kuratov. Kuratov looks suspiciously like the MCU version of Whiplash, possessing the ability to manipulate and evolve all forms of technology and standing at the head of an army of homicidal clones that our heroes will have to smash their way through in order to prevent the fall of Moscow.
Each of the four heroes has been selected to represent a different region of the former Soviet Union, with their powers are as follows:
Arsus – The strongman of the team, this big boy has the ability to morph either part, or the whole of his body into a giant bear (you can’t get much more patriotic than that…). Possessing unnatural strength, he needs this to wield his gigantic minigun, which you can see being used in the trailer.
Khan – Harking back to the days of his Mongolian ancestors, Khan is the blades expert of the quartet, and goes into battle armed with a pair of giant scimitars that can be used independently, or linked together. He has the ability to enter a totally meditative state, granting him Nightcrawler-esque teleportation powers and limb-slicing reflexes.
Xenia – No, not the thigh-crushing bad girl from ‘Goldeneye’, this female mutant is the Sue Storm of the team, having complete control over any form of liquid. She can move effortlessly through or on top of water, and alter her genetics to either a gaseous or fluidic form, making her immune to any changes in temperature or pressure. (You know, like explosions, that kind of thing…)
Ler – Now, this fella has complete control over all forms of earth and rock, granting him the ability to move mountains and smash generate gigantic craters. He can also cover himself in a protective rock exoskeleton, and arm himself with rocky flails to lash out at his opponents.
With the team also having a bit of an X-Men vibe, in that the protagonists are all mutants who have been augmented or adapted to serve Mother Russia, there’s a whole host of superhero themes at work here, in what is largely being seen as a unashamed challenge to the existing American dominance of the genre. Funded largely by Chinese distributors, the movie is due for release in Russia in February 2017, with a sequel already green lit by the makers.
