The Irony of Fate. The Sequel (2007)

The sequel to The Irony of Fate was clearly made with the knowledge that it had very big shoes to fill, as the declared continuation (with a returning original cast) of what by the time the sequel was made was a well-established and beloved cultural icon. It's full of reverent references to its antecedent, but these reminders don't serve it well, because overall it doesn't compare favorably. The story of The Irony of Fate was elegant in its simple confusion. The sequel has to bend over backwards to recreate an echo of that situation, while at the same time including one one but two generations of versions of the central characters. It just about comes together, but it doesn't have the appealing spontaneity and tidiness of the original. Whereas Zhenya was likable because he was hapless and placed in his baffling situation, the scenario here necessitates that his son go into things scheming, and participating in a scheme. The man he cuckolds has a decent point when he complains about his trickery -- and that makes him a much less appealing hero to watch. The original film was in two parts and much of the action remained in one apartment. It was a neat trick, but it never became boring for that, and felt like a kind of thrilling, entertaining marathon. The new movie is hampered by the standard running time which makes this impossible. There are some nicely-realized directorial touches in the camera-work and the special effects, but the context just makes them stand out, and seem out of place. There are some legitimately funny situations, and a few moments that hearken back to The Irony of Fate very nicely and touchingly, but overall it doesn't capture the intangible appeal of the film it's constructed around. And that makes it, in context, easy to see why many disappointed, even though objectively it's a decent enough sweet New Year's piece. It just doesn't add anything original or superior to the piece that is its reason for being.

This is the worst movie I have seen. Yes, I hate "Road Trip", but THIS "sequel" make me angry at all! Who let Ernst and Bekmambetov spoil great Soviet Movie? They make it only for money. What it means? Oh, I'll say: it means, Russian cinema is dead completely.Nasty special effects freaked me at all. Why? Why you is so silly, Timur? Your "Night watch" was very funny comedy - but you don't wanted to do it. You done it not specially. But what was in your head when you got idea to make this sh*t? There isn't any philosophic idea in your movie. Miagkov, Brylska, Yakovlev and Talyzina played awful! And this is when they are GOOD actors! Why there is drunken border guy? It is for "harmony" of "good" film? Or it is excellent humor, do you think? And I was killed when I seen Anna Semenovich thee. SHE ISN'T ACTRESS! You're not director! You can't create good films, but you like to create bad FX.People! Don't watch this. Better watch another movie of Ryazanov or Gaidai.It's bad.

I just watched this film and I must say I enjoyed it. I am a big fan of the original and I thought Bekhambetov did a good job overall. The plot is similar to the original and very well executed. I felt the film was funny during many scenes and actors did a good job. I only wish they elaborated more on the lives of Kostya and young Nadya before their meeting. We don't even know what Kostya does or where Nadya works or lives; it felt a bit incomplete. It felt like the movie started somewhere in the middle. The thought that Zhenia and Nadya from original film didn't live happily ever after still doesn't sit well with me. I also didn't believe that Zhenia didn't keep in touch with Nadya and never knew about her daughter, or vice versa. Just not very believable. If 2 people love each other, they would find a way to be together, or at least, keep in touch. I also agree that the role of young Nadya wasn't well developed, she seemed a bit distant; still think she did a very good job. In the original film, Zhenia and Nadya were the center of the entire movie, it was all about them. Here, we have more characters which included police, Santa clause, neighbors, and of course, close ups on Camry and cell phones. A lot of time was devoted to many different characters and not enough time given to the main actors Kostya and Nadya. The movie needed probably another hour to get more into their story. On the other hand, I enjoyed the fast pace of the film. Not for a minute did I think it got boring or uninteresting. I thought it was more about Zhenia and his Nadya than their kids. I so wanted to have seem more of Zhenia, Ippolit, Nadya. Still, a very fun film to watch. Can't say that it is better than the original but considering that most sequels do not work, I have to give credit to all who worked on this film. Really enjoyed it....

This production (I cannot bring myself to call it a movie, because it isn't) pretends to be a sequel to the beloved New Year romantic comedy the Irony of Fate (Ирония Судьбы). In fact, it is nothing more than a shameless attempt to cash in on the huge and well-deserved popularity of the original, which remains one of the favorites of the Russian-language audiences even after more than 30 years. This "sequel" brings together most of the original actors who appeared in the Eldar Ryazanov's masterpiece. As you might well imagine, the original actors are by now in their seventies - which is by no means a bar to being a good actor (just take a pick at any of Jack Lemmon's late movies!), provided that you do not try to play the same role you had 30 years ago. Unfortunately, the movie director Timur Bekmambetov (Тимур Бекмамбетов) completely lacks the ability to capitalize on the strengths of his actors; he is also clueless in the basic principles of scene composition, and is incapable of pulling off the most basic of physical jokes. In addition to that, the script lacks a coherent plot or basic believability. The production quality is also terrible - I've seen some home movies with more professional scene lighting, for example. Altogether, this is an extremely bad movie - avoid it at all costs, even if you have to pay to be let off watching it.