The Legend of Tomiris Review: An Epic Historical Action Film

Release date: September 29, 2020 (U.S. Release)
Running time: 156 minutes
Starring: Almira Tursyn, Adil Akhmetov, Erkebulan Dairov

This is the story of the life of the great queen of of the steppe Tomiris. Her life was one of triumph and tragedy, destined to become a skillful warrior, survive the loss of close people, and unite the Scythian/Saka tribes under her authority.  Based on a real life queen from 600 BCE, this film is an action dramatization of her life and exploits.  

Think of this movie as similar to 300, where a real story was stylized for the big screen.  And it is a very good stylization of it.  The action is all very well done, with some pretty large and intricate battles playing out on the big screen.  You have battles on horseback, fights between warriors on foot and on horseback, and an interesting amount of strategy that is also depicted.  And although you can think of this as similar to 300, it doesn't have as many over the top effects.  The fights are exciting and play out in action-packed bursts, but it doesn't feel too ridiculous  And these sequences are all accompanied by some truly epic music.  It gets the blood flowing and makes the fight sequences that much more exciting.  This is helped by some very good acting and fight choreography.  The main characters are all well acted, with their actors fully transforming for this depiction screen.  Tomiris (Tursyn) is a strong main character, wise beyond her years, and a strong leader that rules with compassion and character.  Her companion is likewise well acted and a strong friend.  And her love interest was very personable and their interactions were quite fun to watch on screen.  And they are all the more believable due to the fantastic costumes and equipment on screen.  There are some really interesting and intricate weapons and armor, and the film even shows the process of making these items.  

And the story itself is an exciting one, with plenty of ups and downs as Tomiris grows stronger and fulfills her destiny.  The warrior queen is a larger than life character and her life is full of heartbreak, battle, and intrigue.  It is a great story for a movie and the film itself takes plenty of time to explore various aspects of her life.  There are even some very cute scenes with the young Tomiris that made me smile before the big action began.  However, it also feels like the film took some liberties with her actual life.  Although I couldn't find much about the historical accuracy of this film, it does feel like a few historical liberties were taken and events made more exciting.  To be fair, she had a pretty amazing, epic life, but it also feels like some events were exaggerated for this film specifically.  And it also feels like this film suffers from something that a lot of historical retellings suffer from: a push to make characters be either good or evil.  In Tomiris, the main character is almost too perfect and the enemy is evil incarnate.  As with everything in history, very few things are black and white and I wish that some of the more nuanced explanations were included in this epic film.  And although the film generally seemed to lack using CG, there is one sequence that uses it where it is quite noticeable.  But overall the film seemed to use well thought out and choreographed action sequences over relying on CG.  

The Legend of Tomiris tells the epic tale of the warrior queen with exciting, well choreographed action sequences, good acting, and epic music.

Watch it.

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Legend of Tomiris is available on disc, on demand, and digitally.  For additional information about the film and to rent / buy it, check it out at the links below.

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