Dance to Death

I did not expect Dance of Death to be just that. I had hoped it was a metaphor for combat but no, its well, dancing and if "your moves don't groove" a big guy who looks like the boss character in a Dungeons and Dragons style game, fries you

Its silly stuff and its shame too, because there is much to like here. The set up is a reasonable one. A post apocalyptic world, filled with plausible characters, decent sets, action and interesting, engaging characters.

If only they had dropped the Saturday Night Fever meets Hunger Games thing this one would have been a winner.

As it stands, maybe one for teens but not sure who else would find this engaging? 5/10.

Right up until the last two minutes of this flick I was going to give it 6 or 7 stars for being unique. The acting was good, the sets well-done, the story line original and interesting. There was plenty of "goofy" in this-- the whole dance arena thing topping the list. But one can forgive such via the settings and story line. It allows us to be a bit forgiving that the central plot agent is just a bit silly. The movie was still proving to be quite entertaining and the character interaction kept it going.

Then they dropped the bomb with a totally stupid and senseless ending that ruined the entire thing. It's like being served a decent 5-course dinner, then sugared rat-droppings for dessert. The best way I can describe the end of this film is, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Let's just run out of ideas and pull the most cliche, brainless ending we can out of our empty bag of tricks.

I can't really discuss the actual flaws in the ending without spoilers. (I am really tempted to because of the potential satirical humor, but I will resist.) What we wind up with is a movie that drops viewers like a rock, makes the previous silly parts stand out like a dead chicken in the middle of the floor, and yes indeed, drops this to into the pit of a 3-star "bad movie". (Maybe 4 stars for the overall plot up to that point, but I'm not feeling generous at this juncture.)

If it's a rainy Saturday afternoon and you have popcorn and chocolate and have absolutely nothing else to do... pick up a book or something. Otherwise, waste your time on this writers-hit-a-blank-wall drivel.

That being said, the CGI is quite decent. Not sure what the budget was, but it looks good. Story on the other hand is mediocre at best. It's mix of things we've seen lately. With some "dancing" thrown into the mix, to make this more relevant I guess. But also kind of cheesy - or even more cheesy than it already is. It really is predictable too.

If you are not into the Youth Adult "mysteries", you won't find anything here. But even if you are, there isn't much to find here. If you love dancing, watch something that has some real dancing included. The one depicted here is not that special anyway.

Russia has so many fantastic writers it is all the more supprising that, for this film, they seem to have avoided all of them. The begining seems vaguely entertaining but as the plot unfolds we are confronted with too many loose ends, cul-de-sac and dopey ideas. It must be said that the décor is really good and the special effects believable. This shows that this was not intended to be a B movie and quite a lot of money and care has been spent in making this film. So we are introduced to the main caracter who deals filters that many of the adults are seen using abundantly while the kids run around unconcerned by all this. He seems to be a quite proficient and attachable actor but as the story unfolds his caracter swings from bad boy to good boy (good fighter to bad, caring to I don't seem to give a damn about anything) in a way that you end up wondering if he's not a bit schizophrenic. The second role goes to Agniya Ditkovskite who tries her best but is let down by a scenario that never gives her the opportunity to develop her caracter to it's full potential. The whole film seems to be a string of anticlimax and bad timing right up until an end where.... someone forgot to write one!

The final scene seems to have been served up as an unintelligible loop to a sequel which I pray will never ever see the day.

The trouble with a movie becoming a blockbuster is that it gets copied and copied and copied ad nauseam. This happened with The Hunger Games and Dance to Death is one such copy. Yes, it's set in Moscow and the deadly tournament takes the form of a dancing competition, but the connection is clear: yet again we see a group of young people forced to fight each other to death, yet again two of them fall in love, yet again there is a corrupt government... Nothing we see here is new. Except for the dancing, which can hardly be called a bright new idea, as it makes the premise of the movie even more absurd.

The plot is of course totally predictable for anyone who has seen even a couple dystopian movies. The big plot twist didn't surprise me at all. Political fights between the people in power are presented in quite an interesting way, but it's the only part of the plot that isn't boring, absurd, and full of highly unlikely events. Everything else is shallow and uninteresting.

The acting is also pretty poor, especially when it comes to the main characters. Ivan Zhvakin as Kostya is flat and seemingly incapable of showing any emotion and Lukerya Ilyashenko as Anya is overacting pretty much all the time. The only performance I really liked is Denis Shvedov as a champion plotting to overthrow the current ruler and take the power for himself. Sadly, one good performance can't save the movie.

CGI is quite good and nice to look at and the music fits the story. However, neither of these things makes Dance to Death a good movie. It's derivative, shallow, predictable, and full of plot holes.