365 Movies Day #118 "Black Lightning"

Produced by Timur Bekmambatov, who directed "DAY WATCH" and "NIGHT WATCH", this film is a Russian amalgamation of "Iron Man", "Spiderman" and "Transformers" and done better than all three.

Basically, it's a touching, yet thrilling tail of a young college kid whose dad buys him an old car that turns out to be a miracle of modern science that can fly thanks to a one-of-a-kind super energy device known as the nanocatalyst. Of course there is a girl he has his eyes on and his father fills the Uncle Ben role from "Spiderman". Also, what hero movie would be complete without a villain? A corporate mogul will stop at nothing to get at the diamonds buried beneath Moscow, even if it means the destruction of the cities very foundations. The problem with his plan? He needs a limitless energy source to power his massive drill! There you have it. It's a basic comic book story line, but told in such a fun way that you'll enjoy the ride. It's sweet, funny, action-packed and visually stunning. I'm beginning to become quite the fan of Russian films.

If you watched Bekmambatov's previous films, you'll recognize a couple of familiar faces. The evil corporate tyrant is played by Viktor Verzhbitskiy, who played leader of the dark others, Zavulon, in "DAY WATCH" and "NIGHT WATCH" and Valeriy Zolotukhin played the vampire sire of Kostya in the same films. Igor Savochkin was also in all three films. Heck, even director, Dmitriy Kiselev, was Bekmambatov's editor on both the Watch films AND "Wanted". Grigory Dobrygin was also fabulous in the lead.

Looking for a fresh, well-done take on superheroes, check this one out.

BLACK LIGHTNING ON IMDB