What usually happens to failed projects? They are thrown into the dustiest corner and fingers are crossed that no one will look there again. With Eterna, however, the opposite was done.
Yes, the first attempt was a flop, with the 2022 film raising many questions among critics and even more among viewers. It looked like a lecture by an inexperienced professor: nothing was clear, but it was very interesting.
They decided not to limit themselves to this failed attempt, as domestic cinema had never attempted to create fantasy on such a scale before.
The project was given a second life. It was reshot, the actors were changed, real locations were preferred to studio green screens, and it was released, naturally, with the label “domestic Game of Thrones.”
Where would we be without it? So, let’s take a look at what the new version of Vera Kamshi’s book adaptation has to offer, whether the creators have corrected the mistakes of the previous version, and whether the series can be called a phoenix that only gets better after burning down.
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Plot
The main character, Richard Oakdell, a boy who survived, that is, excuse me, a boy whose father raised a rebellion, lives not in a closet under the stairs, but in a damp castle on bird rights under the supervision of royal overseers, which does not improve the situation as a whole.
At least Harry Potter had privacy.
The heir to a disgraced family, with the help of people from the capital, he still manages to get into Laik, a school for squires, where, after passing all the tests, he can legally go to the capital and take revenge on the aristocrat who killed his father in a duel.
The plan is as reliable as a Swiss watch, but when did everything ever go according to plan for the main characters?
At this time, the true heir to the throne lives across the sea, dreaming of overthrowing the usurper… Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? He is the local male version of Daenerys, though much more unfortunate, because unlike the dragon clan, his ancestors have not seen the throne for four hundred years.
But that doesn’t stop young Aldo Rakan from making plans to regain power and gathering allies who want only a couple of small favors and a formal ritual sealed with blood in return for their help, which, of course, doesn’t look suspicious.
And against the backdrop of all the behind-the-scenes intrigues and battles with evil, a much larger problem will grow. The whole world is on the verge of complete collapse.
An ancient prophecy says that only four chosen ones, the heirs of great families, led by the true king, can save it.
But the current heirs are not particularly eager to save the world — they have other concerns. After all, in the upcoming wars and political battles, even the safety of their own heads cannot be guaranteed, let alone the salvation of the whole world.
Major changes in the cast
The main indisputable advantage of the series over the previous film is the cast. No matter how good the previous actors were, many of them were simply too old for the roles. And when healthy thirty-year-olds came to study at Laik, it looked like an amateur production rather than a full-fledged film. It was impossible to perceive the boyish pranks of adult men.
And even though the current cast is also a little older, it is not noticeable. For once, the boys look like boys, not experienced family men.
Overall, the only member of the old cast who remains is Yuri Chursin in the role of Roke Alva, whom it would be a crime to replace, because the actor fits the age, the physical type, and, most importantly, the haughty character of this magnificent scoundrel.
Except that he sometimes overacts in duels, I am more impressed by the bookish cheerfulness of the hero’s main enemy than by his predatory malice, but even that looks quite natural.