The Calculator

So so movie, but you will be constantly irritated by dumb woman that follows the main character. She constantly creates problems, but calculator can't calculate that the problem is her.

I stumbled across this by accident and it ended up being better than expected.

The plot is decent and has enough twists to keep your attention throughout. The black & white setting of the planet gives it a stark feel, which works well. CGI effects are good and the swamp creatures are relatively original.

The acting overall is not great but is definitely passable. Evgeniy Mironov stands out in this respect and his performance was excellent throughout.

The inclusion of Vinnie Jones was slightly bizarre although it did get my attention at the start. I watched it in the original Russian so hearing him dubbed was a little odd but you quickly get used to it.

The ending leaves room for a sequel although as far as I can tell, there has not been one?

In conclusion, it won't go down as classic sci-fi, but it is a solid, decent sci-film film that is well worth watching.

(spoiler free) This movie has the most idiotic Sci-fi setting and scenario i've ever seen. It's so bad you'll be face-palming at each and every scene after (if not in the middle of) the main protagonist's introduction.

In this movie, the female lead explains in the first 10 minutes that women are incredible because as soon as a man starts saying dumb nonsense, they believe in it without question and become a brainless slave to that man. Also, whenever she tries to ask smart questions, the movie moves on to the next scene. And I though SHE was the main protagonist because she is the narrator but instead it's the guy that keeps secrets and acts in the most manipulative and selfish way possible by putting everyone in danger and playing mind games to achieve his goals. And when he thinks it's the end (by the end), he decides that he'd rather be killed (not a spoiler)...

Aaaanyway, the characters are bad, the sci-fi setting is lame, the scenario is full of plot holes and I wish I didn't watch this but hey, now I can actually prevent others from making the same mistake...

A thousand years after mankind began to colonize the stars, this movie takes a look at the planet XT 59. There is only one big city on this planet, surrounded by a wasteland which is full of hostile creatures (most of them rather plants than animals). Ten prisoners are sent into the wasteland and that equals almost a death penalty. They can either make it to an island beyond the wasteland, or they will perish. Ervin (Evgeniy Mironov) and Kristi (Anna Chipovskaya) attempt to cross the wasteland on their own, while the others stay together under the leadership of the brutal criminal Yust (Vinnie Jones), believing he is the only one who can take them across the 'swamp' (actually a stony desert in Iceland) alive...

The Russian original title 'Vychislitel' ('calculator') refers to the special skills of Ervin. He is a rather emotionless guy who calculates his chances to survive very carefully. Thus we get a duel between the thinking man and the violent one, quite the opposite of 'Riddick' where simply only the strong survive. In a good tradition of Russian SF this movie is character driven, and the dialogs between Ervin and Kristi during their voyage are well written. I was less convinced with the off monologues, too wordy, explaining more than necessary, while more important questions remain open, for example the motivation of the government and the reasons for the system. All in all, 'Titanium' aka 'Vychislitel' is an interesting movie, worth watching, but not top of the crop in independent SF.

This is not really a review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions of the film.

This movie has crazy potential but it's done so badly that it's almost completely wasted. The film wants to be a great film of social criticism with a dystopian future rendered very well and then transformed into a journey of growth of both positive and negative characters. Talking about the characters they are also very well characterized so where does this film lose its potential? Well a lot is lost with terrible special effects and the rest is terribly wasted with the abominable acting performance.