Wasn't sure what'll happen, but I actually like
Viy.
Special effects are awsome, the story is interesting, the setting is Tim Burton with steampunk vibe, drunkards and crazy priest cannot be more ridiculous and funny, halucinations are easy to be aware of and the movie gives a hommage to
Big Trouble in Little China. Wait you've never heard… Shame on you! Get it, now!
So… Anything in there not to like? Sadly, there is.
Firstly, voiceover.
See, the movie has scenes with russian and has scenes with english spoken language. If you take english dub, russian voiceover is toned down and you'll hear english on top of it. If you pick russian (with eng. subs), then english voiceover is silent and russian dub slammed on top of it.
Who the fukk thought that's a good idea? It sux! I say off with their head. Remove silly dubs completely and insert subs where needed and that's it. Everyone does it like that, but some stupid CEO for this movie decided everyone else is stupid.
Second, it's the storytelling.
Some scenes get cut abruptly, some scenes get inserted in a way you think wtf (as if someone inserted black metal riff inside a country tune), and some scenes are pretty much unnecessary filler that leads absolutely nowhere.
Don't worry, while movie editing was sadly done by an amateur thuis it's not as fluid as it could have been, but it's still not near storytelling abominations like Donnie Darko was.
Viy is not Viy on english, it's available under some silly name that says anything about the movie: Forbidden Empire.
Trust me, there is no forbidden empire in the movie.
Lower your expectations, fire it up and I promise you'll have fun.
Viy 2 will appear in a few months and won't be happening in Russia but in China. Jason Flemyng will remain in his role, while newcomers in the sequel are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan and Rutger Hauer. Hollywoodcentric youtube channel Looper predicts Viy 2 will be rubbish, because, yeah, it's Russia|China|USA joint production so it has to suck. Maybe it will, but I just can't wait to watch it.
Here's a middlefinger to Looper.