...Personally, I'm one of Akunin fans... I read almost all his books... And I find the "Adventures of Erast Fandorin" series really worth reading... The story is always interesting, the suspense is on the highest level and the action is truly unique... <br /><br />So "Turetskiy Gambit" is out... And I saw it some time ago... And I must say, that it IS really an instant classic... The film has its pros, but also unfortunately (IMHO) several cons... My explanations will follow...<br /><br />*Spoiler Alert*<br /><br />...The beginning seemed a bit strange for me... Why is Fandorin running and shooting Turks? Hey, this bit wasn't even in the book! Besides, I have never seen this Beroyev guy, so I didn't even recognize him, as Fandorin... I even thought, that I had a wrong film handed to me... Fortunately, things arranged quite fast and I started watched... My interest grew fast... However, I didn't understand, why wasn't Fandorin able to pick up the dynamite and throw it back to the Turks? Was it fear? Strange, he was never a coward in the book... He was colder there... Oh, well...<br /><br />Anyway, let's continue... Eh, what's this? Fandorin is spying on Anvar-effendi - another bit not to be featured in the book... Hmmm... I liked the part, where colonel Ismail-Bei appears on the stage... Personally, I like Kutsenko very much (his performance in "Antikiller" and its sequel was remarkable) and I enjoyed his performance in the movie... He was pretty cool, as a brave and smart Turkish Forces Commander... It was a shame, he was killed later... Of course, the question of existence of this character in the movie remains a puzzle to me, for the book never featured such a person... But I think, that this addition didn't really spoil the film...<br /><br />The rest of the film follows the book closely, but some changes to the story do occur sometimes... I liked the big air balloon scene - it was a brilliant novelty, as for me... The gay duo scene was hilarious in the beginning - watch Fandorin yell at those poor guys... "It's an army, not a bordello for Christ's sake!" Kinda reminds me of the operator (Tolik) character from "Nochnoy Dozor" and his menacing yell: "THAT'S NOT HER MOTHER!!!" lol But the rest of the scene turns out to be rather bloody... Well, it's a good twist however...<br /><br />*Global Spoiler Alert*<br /><br />But the ending... Oh no, how could it be? Why did Akunin simplify the story to this point in the script? Yes, it was pretty predictable, who the spy really was from the beginning given the strange circumstances of his introduction... But in the book it was no more than a distraction... The real spy thing was much better developed in the book... So, I don't understand, why was Perepelkin ("Kazanova" from "Menty") made the main villain (Anvar), rather than d'Hevrais (and yes, it's d'Hevrais, not D'Evre, as it's written in the "Cast" section here), who was the villain in the book... As for me, I think, that this simplification was totally unnecessary... For an Akunin fan, like me, it's a disappointment...<br /><br />Also, the ending action sequence with Fandorin fighting Anvar was a bit lame... Varya killed Anvar, not the great Fandorin... And _he_ was so weak - he didn't even manage to wound the spy seriously... That's a major disappointment for me...<br /><br />*Global Spoiler Alert ends here*<br /><br />*Spoiler Alert ends here*<br /><br />Now, I will explain the major pros and cons: Pros: The casting is fairly good... The only disappointment I found was the main role... I don't know - somehow Beroyev gives a bit wooden performance (IMHO)... Viktor Verzhibitskiy is great as Lucan, the Romanian colonel... Great and charismatic... Olga Krasko (Varya) was just as I imagined her while reading the book - a beautiful, but extremely naive young woman... Baluyev (general Sobolev) is in his usual war-hero-and-great-master-and-commander role... It suits him well... Kazanzaki (he is credited as Kazinaki on IMDb - LOL) was also, as I imagined him... Mizinov (Savelich from "Russkiy bunt" and Gryaznov from "Marsh Turetskogo" - sorry for the pun here) is great too... Zurov is a bit strange here - somehow I think it's not a role for Pevtsov (IMHO again)... McLaughlin was too, as I imagined him... Petya reminded me, of course, of Tolik from "Nochnoy Dozor"... Now I don't even know, who is funnier... But the actor I liked the most, was Didier Bienaime (d'Hevrais)... Boy, was he cool! His smile, his calm way of speaking - it was just perfect... What a shame this actor died... *sigh* Memory eternal...<br /><br />The general atmosphere of a spy thriller...<br /><br />The costumes and the decors...<br /><br />The special effects (although, I didn't understand, what were these falls from the suddenly appeared mountains in the beginning)...<br /><br />The changes to the story (except the ending)...<br /><br />The action (although sometimes the camera moves way too fast, like in "Antikiller 2")...<br /><br />The suspense...<br /><br />Cons: The battles... Way too short... *sigh*<br /><br />The war atmosphere... That's what I find the most disappointing (it's #2, the ending was #1)... In my opinion it wasn't well recreated...<br /><br />Beroyev's acting...<br /><br />The ending and the identity of the real spy...<br /><br />...Anyway, that's it... "Gambit" is a good movie, even an excellent one, but it could have been much much better...<br /><br />I hope to see "Statskiy Sovetnik" soon... People say, it's even better...<br /><br />Mister Nameless.<br /><br />P.S. The last strange thing - why do they make a film on "Statskiy Sovetnik" (the 6th book) after "Turetskiy Gambit" instead of "Leviafan", which is supposed to be the 3rd book in the series? This question still bugs me...