Katana, checkers and rock and roll — Last Vegas. Film one. Dmitry Kornienko Post-apocalypse, a picture of the world, to the bottom destroyed by cataclysms or nuclear war - a very popular theme in cinema, but what's the movie - in the Wastelands of the Fallout game series I spent weeks, went in search of quests all possible corners and I am not afraid to admit that this genre is no less than strong horror or space fiction.
The romance of the “new world”, living by its own, sometimes quite harsh rules, and in its own value system, where the pyramid of needs is headed by water, gasoline or ammunition is perfectly shown in Mad Max and I especially liked the free interpretation of this setting in Lance Manjia’s film “Six-string samurai”, which parodied all the films about the apocalyptic kick and at the same time turned rock and roll into a real new religion.
The reckless attitude and ironic, frivolous manner of presentation made the film a cult, and to my great surprise, it turned out that its sequel was Last Vegas. The first film is released this year, and shoots it in the suburbs (!!!) young Director Dmitry Kornienko.
An alternate universe, instead of the Cold War, there was a nuclear Armageddian. The world superpowers collapsed and one of the strongholds of civilization was Las Vegas and its king - Elvis.
Years passed, Elvis passed away. His entourage staged a real war for power. Gangs operating in the vicinity of the new Capital of the World - as they are supposed to breed atrocities and during one of the skirmishes in the middle of the desert met silent rock-n-roller Brother Cash and a vagrant named Wanderer.
Brother Cash is looking for the heir to Elvis, the true ruler of Last Vegas and the Wanderer agrees to help him in this difficult case.
Enthusiasm is a great thing and I was delighted with the posts on Dmitry’s blog, where he talked about his work on the film and was very impressed that he managed not only to attract the attention of Lance Manji, but also to drag the iconic RED ELVISES to the soundtrack.
Naturally, it was almost clear that it was not worth expecting a Hollywood scale from a film with a budget of 60,000 rubles collected by the crew members, but believe me, the film with a two hundred percent return works out every penny invested in it.
Following the laws of the genre, a simple plot, about two completely different travelers walking along the same road, to the same goal, makes a strong emphasis on the characters, and whether they are the main characters, or secondary, I believe that they succeeded. Yes, acting is not at the highest professional level, but whether it is a crazy comedian from a bar, a ridiculous assistant of the main villain in glasses-banks, or God knows, where the Russian soldier in a coat and with checkers came from - the characters can not be called inconspicuous. This is especially true of our humorous compatriot, who, I hope, will be woven into the plot of the sequel.
Yes, with a sense of humor, the film is in perfect order, and it is quite easy to draw parallels with the “Six-string samurai”, quite directly mocked everything in a row. And how the classic fight in the saloon is presented - so in general you can call a very inventive directorial technique, and at the same time a reference to classical cinema with brave harsh cowboys and no less severe Indians. But the main thing is that it is funny and corresponds to the chosen format of entertainment cinema. The abstruse multi-layered art house, overloaded with meanings and references, is quite tired and the fact that Last Vegas adheres to an entertaining tone, definitely pleases.
Another, impressive component for me was the soundtrack – not for nothing in the graph of genre affiliation is indicated “musical film”. There is a lot of music, sometimes even too much, but on the other hand it is always in place, and even if the plot, and the acting will cause bewilderment, fervent rock and roll without problems compensates for this. Yes, I prefer the radical Psychobilly, but the tracks from the film went well and if they come out as an official disc I will be happy to buy a copy and put on my shelf:
Of course, the film has its drawbacks, like leaky, but clean clothes or well-groomed teeth of actors, slightly spoiling the atmosphere of the “broken world”, but back to the beginning – this is an author’s project, shot on bare enthusiasm and a meager budget, so my subjective score is 9 out of 10.