guardians

Last month, we discovered the trailer for a Russian superhero movie ‘Zaschitniki’ (which translates to either ‘The Guardians’ or ‘The Defenders’) which is due in theaters in Russia and China next year, but there may also be plans to release it in some manner in other countries as well.

The first trailer was somewhat crude and the dubbing was pretty awful, but visual effects were actually pretty impressive, especially on what amounts to a $5 million (US) budget, it’s pretty impressive.

The story centers on four superheroes from the former Soviet Union, who went into hiding after the end of the Cold War.  But now “evil rises” and they must reassemble to use their gifts to stop it.

Sebastien Sisak plays Ler or Landman.  He can manipulate stone and earth, levitating rocks, creating craters and earthquakes and even covering himself if stone armor.

Anton Pampushnyy plays Ursus or Wildman, who can alter his physical form between human and bear and any combination in between!

Sanzhar Mardiev plays Khan or Windman, who possesses super speed powers.  He can run so fast, it looks as though he is teleporting.  He is also a master acrobat and master of all blades, most notably two curved scythe-like swords.

Alina Lanina plays Xenia or Waterwoman, who can turn into and manipulate water.  Like Khan, she is also an expert gymnast and martial artist.

The cast also includes Valeria Shkirando, Vyacheslav Razbegaev and Stanislav Shirin.  ‘Guardians’ was directed by American filmmaker Sarik Andreasyan.

The new trailer offers new footage not shown in the first and has a decidedly more dramatic tone, i.e. lots of posing and staring intensely.  Also, Ursus doesn’t even turn into a bear in this one, so rip-off.

Check it out anyway:

While the film has a tiny budget, the cinematography is actually really nice.  The FX may not be on par with American superhero films, but it looks like a valiant effort.

Even though ‘Zaschitniki’ hasn’t opened, a sequel has already been approved.

What do you think?  Would you watch this?

‘Guardians’ opens in Russia on February 23, 2017 with plans to open shortly thereafter in China and in some capacity in the US.

Source: Comic Book Movie