• Straight to Video
• Director: Jeff Celentano
• Written by: Robert Madrid, Alexander Nevsky
• Running Time: 90 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: Michael York, Alexander Nevsky, Richard Tyson, Robert Madrid, Andrew Divoff, Adrian Paul, Joanna Pacula, Sergei Gorobchenko, Mariya Golubkina, Alexander Izotov, Aleksandr Belyavsky, Gennadi Vengerov, Jeff Celentano, Stanislov Eventov, Yevgeni Berezovsky, Grigory Levakov, Ekaterina Ryndenkova, Yuri Sherstnyov, Viktoria Talyshinskaya, Michael Klimanov, Michael Korpuhin, Elena Bukova, Sergey Lyahov, Dmitry Dorohov

A fairly short but curious interview with the film’s central actor Alexander Nevsky – available as an extra on the “Moscow Heat” DVD –offers an interesting and ironic element to this transparently impoverished production.  In the casual sit-down, brawny Nevsky, a relatively green commodity in the Russian action-film landscape, opens up about his reasons for taking on this particular project, well, aside from the obvious but never discussed monetary incentive. He suggests that since the commencement of the Cold War all the way up to the present, North American audiences have been bowled over with prevalent cinematic characterizations of Russian people as dense, vicious, conniving or downright evil. Portraying his people and his country in a principally negative light hasn’t sat well with the young actor, who, along with American-born director Jeff Celentano, elected to craft a project that would serve as an alternative to all those stereotypical attitudes. The film would be shot entirely in Russia with a mostly Russian cast and crew. See, their intention was to offer a glimpse into the real Russia, as Nevsky lived it, not as some sloppy American screenwriter imagined it. Ironically, the vista they ultimately unveiled with “Moscow Heat” is tainted with the residue of the same cliché and creative infertility of those same past Reagan-era pro-America anti-Russian propaganda-pieces. Despite a few likeable, humanizing characters and moments, the writers behind “Moscow Heat”, one of which is Nevsky himself, are ultimately incapable of achieving their goal of providing something different –a parallax view of Russia, as it were. Instead, American (and Russian) audiences wind up with more of the same. "So much for that," Nevsky must have quietly told himself between vodka swills following the initial screening.

Taking cues from Walter Hill’s goofy Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle “Red Heat”, “Moscow Heat” attempts to drag the same “high” concept into their mix and flip it so that instead of a Moscow officer being deployed to America to lasso some home-grown drug dealer, it’s a couple of Americans who pony up to the Russian shores to take down a a naturalized Russian-American illegal arms trader. Of course, a straight-edged Russian-officer is introduced, moving us into that same buddy-buddy modus operandi we’ve become accustomed to with films like… wait for it, yeah, “Red Heat”. To the film’s credit, it breaks free of the constraints of such formula momentarily, allowing for the pair to mark their territory as Michael York’s panache and brains hands off to the resolute brutality of Nevsky’s character, allowing for an exciting and violent final bit to play out in place of a droll first half.

Broken-hearted at the senseless loss of his detective son during a sting operation gone awry, an ex-diplomat, Roger Chambers (distinguished British actor Michael York), makes it his mission to track down the man responsible, illegal arms trader, Nikolai Klimov (Richard Tyson). Recruiting his son’s best friend and colleague proves effortless as Rudy (Robert Madrid) is itching to take Nikolai out. Following the funeral, and some hurried preparation, the two men are hopping on a plane for Moscow. Utilizing some well-paid underground contacts, Roger and Rudy sniff-out Nikolai at a local bar. A quick glimpse and facial recognition, and it doesn’t take long before all hell breaks loose and bodies and bullets are being bounced off the club’s walls. In the aftermath, Rudy is shot and laid up in a hospital, while easy-going Moscow cop Vlad (Alexander Nevsky), happening upon the scene too late, is despondent after the execution style murder of his friend and colleague who was attempting to subdue Nikolai. Seeing Chambers as the only avenue to the truth, Vlad interrogates him relentlessly to no avail. After fumbling his way Peter Sellers-style through a series of attempted congregations with Nikolai, each of which ends with someone dead, Chambers elects to form an uneasy partnership with the Moscow officer who has been dogging him since that night in the club.

From this point, the film manages to find its sometimes playful, sometimes edgy footing as a handcuffed Chambers, over a vodka doused game of chess with Vlad’s old man (Alexander Belyavsky, having more fun than any actor should be allowed to have), an ex-KGB agent, no less, offers Vlad the clues he needs to hunt down Nikolai. A low-level crime boss with a penchant for houseboats and snarly goons with submachine guns is the first on Vlad’s takedown list and once he gets him talking, Chambers and Vlad are soon uncovering a conspiracy involving corrupt politicians and a plan by Nikolai to sell loose nuclear material to some terrorists. There’s a sense that the producer’s wanted to give Nevsky as much room to play as possible and loads up the film’s last half with a number of scenes where he runs around chest puffed out, getting into countless fist and gun fights. Also, whatever meagre budget the film was allotted, much of it was obviously spent setting up the astonishing final scene where Russian Special Forces agents descend en masse from helicopters into a castle to tangle with the terrorist baddies.

Hoping to present an authentic portrait of the Moscow underground, Alexander Nevsky paints his country pretty black or at least a nice shade of dark grey. I hate to say it, but it’s true. Heaping helpings of corrupt politicians, drug runners, low-level gangsters, readily available guns, psychotic call girls sold as mail-order brides and drug-fuelled strip clubs, it’s kind of hilarious that Nevsky might actually think that he’s changing people’s perceptions of the “Made In America” Russia we've become accustomed to. Not here. Not with this product. Sadly, I think Nevsky might have watched one too many American films, and it subconciously translated into his writing. The bizarre moment where he, for no good reason, buzzes to life talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger, smells of a star-struck teenager rather than a man striving to paint his country in a good light.

Russian body-builder, Alexander Nevsky (2007's "Treasure Raiders"), and distinguished British actor, Michael York (1997's "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery"), might seem an odd pairing, for sure, but somehow they make it work. There’s a language barrier, not to mention some atrocious dialogue, but, thankfully, York is so talented that he’s able to take even the most mundane dialogue and make it sound, strangely, refined. York not only lends an air of creditability to the film, he pretty much saves it. Nevsky, on the other hand, is like the Tin Man in need of an oil fix, stiff as a fucking board, and seemingly incapable of reciting his lines without grunting. To his credit, he has a reassuring smile and it’s hard not to root for him. However, it’s not that difficult to imagine him in the role of villain as his character, in the final half of the film, undergoes a transformation, turning into a hulking killing machine. The scene where he brutally kills Nikolai’s girlfriend (Mariya Golubkina), twisting her head all the way around - snap, crackle, pop - is shocking.

Richard Tyson (1998's "There's Something About Mary"), a guy who will be forever typecast as a villain, does a fine job of selling his violent-thug character -- especially in some excruciating torture sequences. Tyson, at this point in his career, could play these roles in his sleep, as he seems to be the first choice of casting agents to play the bad boy. Rounding out the cast is a handful of names from the b-movie landscape, namely Andrew Divoff (2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"), Joanna Pacula (2004's "Dinocroc"), Adrian Paul (2003's "Nemesis Game") and Robert Madrid (1986's "8 Million Ways To Die"). Sultry over-40 actress, Pacula, appearing in brief snippets throughout the film, is a joy. Her playful rapport with her co-stars, namely York, gives the film a lift. Also, Andrew Divoff has always been a personal favourite of mine and seeing him appear in an all too small part as a corrupt diplomat gave me the movie-geek jitters. He is perfect in this duplicitous role, even if he is used sparingly.

In comparison to "Subterfuge" and "Gunblast Vodka", two other on-the-cheap adventure flicks I've watched of late, the action in "Moscow Heat" is handled with a professional touch, with some nicely choreographed fight scenes to boot. Not a great film, for sure, but something that ultimately arrives with the much desired action that its over-the-top poster art promises.

Click this link to see more images from "Moscow Heat"