Black Lightning (Чёрная Молния) is a 2009 Russian Super Hero film by Timur Bekmambetov, Universal, and Focus Features. The ending theme is performed by Alexander Rybak.
An insane businessman Viktor Kuptsov tries to excavate raw diamonds underneath Moscow despite the earthquake warnings, but his giant drill doesn't have enough power to pierce the bedrock. He needs a special Nanocatalyst engine for it, that is currently missing since Soviet times.
An ordinary college student Dima Maykov is in love with Nastya, but doesn't have enough confidence to speak up. On his birthday, he receives a half-broken car from his dad and accidentally discovers that it can fly. After living a selfish life, his dad dies to a robber. Deciding to become a hero as an atonement, he finds out that the car is currently sought by Kuptsov, who isn't above getting his hands dirty to take the Nanocatalyst from it.
Unrelated to Black Lightning.
Black Lightning features the following tropes:
- An Ass-Kicking Christmas: The movie's climax is set during the winter holidays, and features battles across Moscow with high stakes.
- Applied Phlebotinum: Nanocatalyst uses lunar crystals that were picked up by a Soviet rover, which transforms regular fuel into nanofuel, providing power exceeding even nuclear reactors.
- Armor-Piercing Question: When the news show a scientist begging on a rooftop, Dima notices Nastya is waiting for Maxim to save him, being wrong about him being the Black Lightning. When Dima makes a bet that nobody will come, Nastya asks him if he wants to see a man die to prove himself right. Dima promptly leaves to rescue him himself.
- Artistic License – Engineering:
- Despite being a fuel converter, the Nanocatalyst can safely be inserted in an out of machines with a conveniently-shaped slot, that makes them stop immediately without breaking anything or shocking the person grabbing it with bare hands.
- While it is a super-car, it's very unlikely Kuptsov would be safe for that long after being thrown into orbit.
- Artistic License – Geography: Kuptsov's Evil Lair is the appropriately-named Diamond Tower of the Federation business complex. There is no such tower in Moscow, nor are there diamond caves below the city.
- Bad Liar: Dima introduces himself to retired scientists as a journalist looking into unclassified Soviet Superscience, and tries to dig into Volga's origins. They tell everything because they feel he'll need it, though don't pick up that he's clearly not a real journalist.
- Big Bad: Viktor Kuptsov wants to obtain the raw diamonds underneath of Moscow, even if mining those could cause the entire city to collapse.
- Bitch Slap: When Dima tells Maxim that he invited Nastya to a restaurant to "feel rich", Nastya overhears it and slaps him.
- Car Fu: Dima is a skilled enough pilot to pick people and other cars up into air by the Black Lightning's front.
- The Casanova: The first thing Maxim notes about Nastya is the "investment" into her "proportions". Leaving the university, he picks up a few girls right away.
- Central Theme: It's not always rewarding to help others, but you'd wish there'd be someone for you when you're in danger.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: When Dima's dad sees a robber, he jumps out of the car and runs to punch him, and tries to force him to apologize to the lady. Dima is annoyed by his lack of self-preservation.
- Contrived Coincidence: Dima's dad gifts him the Volga he bought from one of Kuptsov's construction workers, without even checking the car having unusual parts beneath it, and Kuptsov doesn't learn of such transaction. The Volga is sought by Kuptsov, who Dima meets at the lecture the same day both figure out where the Nanocatalyst is.
- Cool Car: The titular Black Lightning is a GAZ-21 Volga 1966 modified with a rocket engine. For unclear reasons, it also has a modified radio that lets Dima to listen in on police reports. Kuptsov later gets his Mercedes-Benz S-Class modified into an Evil Knockoff equipped with Macross Missile Massacre.
- The Cowl: When inside Black Lightning, Dima dons a black hoodie to hide his identity.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Viktor Kuptsov's company is a Fiction 500 that can make technology bordering on Sci-Fi, yet he spends all of his resources on assassinations to mine diamonds he may not even be able to use.
- Damsel in Distress: Kuptsov prevents Black Lightning from destroying the Nanocatalyst by noticing Dima in the security camera and rushing to the new-years party to take Nastya as Hostage for MacGuffin.
- The Dragon: Boris is the head of Kuptsov's assassins and is his to-go man when anything is required.
- Dramatic Thunder: The death of Dima's dad is followed by a lightning.
- Evil Knockoff: Kuptsov's resources are enough to quickly make another flying car that can run for only a few minutes, but enough to duel with the Black Lightning.
- Evil Mentor: On a few occasions, Kuptsov tells Dima to live only for himself. Dima realizes later that Kuptsov is not just a Self-Made Man, but is also The Sociopath.
- Flying Car: The titular Black Lightning is equipped with jet engines allowing it to fly.
- Foreshadowing:
- Dima notes Maxim's and Kuptsov's Mercedes-Benzes and is envious of them, especially after receiving a Soviet car that was unearthed from god knows where. Kuptsov later transforms his own Mercedes-Benz Class-S into a Weaponized Car, and Dima has to get rid of both of them.
- The retired scientists tell Dima that Black Lightning has a backup battery that works only for 30 minutes in case Nanocatalyst is removed. Which comes in handy during the climatic fight.
- Dima and Nastya notice a bus making three rings, which is a romantic signal meaning "seeing you outside". This is later used to tell Nastya to perform a Leap of Faith.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The newspapers about the Black Lightning have full articles, but are only shown for a few frames.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: According to Kuptsov, he once had no money under his name, starting from trading flowers, to trading modern technology.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Nastya is a blond love interest of Dima and is the only one to disagree with Kuptsov's "money over strangers" lecture.
- Heroic Second Wind: When Black Lightning gets beaten by Kuptsov the first time an sinks under ice, Dima gets a phone call from Nastya and recalls the car having an emergency power supply.
- Hero's Classic Car: Dima's Black Lightning is a Soviet Volga, contrasted by Kuptsov's privileged Mercedes-Benz.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Dima miraculously lands in an abandoned factory when he first activates the Black Lightning. When he locates its creators, they give him a handy manual.
- Heroic Sacrifice: When the university has 11 students for the free course out of 10 spots available, Dima deliberately fails his exam after noticing Nastya is struggling with questions.
- Ironic Echo: Kuptsov tells Dima that instead of playing a hero, he can always call the police. Dima later uses the same phrase, realizing too late the man needing help is his dad.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Dima is initially so ashamed of his Volga, he parks it right after getting it as a gift and tries to take a bus. He misses a bus by chance and is late to university. If he just accepted the gift by his parents, he wouldn't be mocked in class and would be less influenced by Kuptsov.
- When a woman begs Dima to call an ambulance, he tells her to call it herself. When he sees the ambulance stopping right behind the corner, he runs to see his dad being picked up and already dead.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Nastya tells Dima that the Black Lightning feels romantic, as she'd like to feel protected. She doesn't realize yet Dima is the hero.
- MacGuffin: Big Bad requires the Nanocatalyst to power his massive drill, which so happens to be the Black Lightning's power source.
- The Magic Goes Away: Black Lightning appears to be out of service after the atmospheric reentry. It wasn't shown what happened to the Nanocatalyst, but the heroes already planned to destroy it.
- Manipulative Bastard:
- When Kuptsov figures Black Lightning is playing hero, he leaves a fake emergency message in the fan club's page to bait Dima to where he'll be vulnerable. He escapes the first try, but not the second.
- When the scientists confess everything they did to a real newspaper, Kuptsov immediately hires them, trying to make it look like the Black Lightning was a government project he's in charge of and asks to make a second car "for assistance", so he can break apart the Black Lightning personally.
- Meaningful Name: Kuptsov (Merchant) is an ironic name for an amoral businessman.
- Mistaken Identity: Maxim so happens to order flowers from the shop Dima is working at. When Black Lightning loses flowers in front of Nastya with a signed postcard, she assumes Maxim is her savior. Maxim is confused, but takes advantage of the situation, and later "leaves" by hiding in the bathroom.
- Mock Millionaire: Once Dima gets enough money from the flower deliveries, he invites Nastya to a fancy restaurant and acts like he's a regular there, though confesses right away that he's joking.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Dima's dad stops a robber. The robber is later picked by Kuptsov's minions, who interrogate everyone with Volgas. The robber separates, and "as an apology", stabs Dima's dad.
- No More for Me: When Dima flies for the first time, one of street drunkards notices him and reconsiders drinking. He then sees him again and throws a new bottle in the trash. The ending shows him getting his friends into jogging.
- Only Sane Man: One of Kuptsov's scientists begs to stop the drilling, only to be taken away by the black suits. The rest don't pay attention to him.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Dima starts as a classical nobody of the Moscow's State University.
- Pictorial Letter Substitution: The opening credits mix up physics formulas with the names in production.
- Police Are Useless:
- It's a miracle Dima can fly across Moscow without getting immediate attention from the authorities and nobody finding him despite the car still being a rare model with unique painting and license plate.
- Kuptsov's drilling gets no investigation, despite the source of earthquakes generally being something easy to find.
- Helicopters are apparently reserved only for reporters. When someone needs saving from high altitudes, rescue services or police helicopters are nowhere in sight.
- Product Placement: The movie has some non-subtle displays of Yota and other local brands.
- Read the Freaking Manual: Dima skips the manual for Black Lightning to the take-off section. Then he realizes he doesn't know the rest of the controls, including the landing.
- Reverse Polarity: A scientist suggests destroying the Nanocatalyst by looping the wires.
- Rhetorical Request Blunder:
- After Kuptsov uses an argument how many people would never help anyone if paid to not do so, Dima raises a question if he's actually willing to follow this example. Kuptsov just handles him a pack of million rubles for making a good point. Kuptsov reluctantly takes the money back when Dima asks to.
- When Dima tells his florist boss that he's stuck in a traffic jam, he yells that Dima should fly as far as he cares. The radio also ironically talks about how it'd be nice to fly. Dima can fly, he just doesn't have experience yet.
- Kuptsov suggests Dima to start selling flowers. Dima does manage to get relatively rich this way, though with the help of a Flying Car, and makes a nod to it next time they meet.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons:
- A car following Dima signals him to stop. Dima thinks it's somehow related to his dad's heroics and cues Chase Scene. They are actually Kuptsov's assassins looking for the Volga.
- Dima tries to swindle his boss for more pay, saying there may be a competition who wants to hire him. The boss meets one of Kuptsov's assassins who are looking for a delivery boy in a Volga. The boss says he doesn't know one, then calls Dima that his pay is increased.
- The Rich Want to Be Richer: Aside the unanswered mystery of how Viktor Kuptsov is planning to get away with destroying the capital of Russia for personal profit, his organization already borders on Fiction 500, so it's unclear why he wants these raw diamonds specifically besides it just being his obsession.
- Rule of Symbolism: The Nanocatalyst that powers the Black Lightning is curiously shaped like a human heart, which both Kuptsov and Dima get to hold in hands near the end of the film.
- Science Hero: Dima himself has no powers, he does heroics by using a Flying Car fueled by Soviet Superscience.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Kuptsov gives a lecture at Dima's university about how you should always prioritize yourself instead of helping others. Dima following this philosophy gets his father killed. Kuptsov later doubles down that if you need help so much you'd die without it, it's your fault for being weak.
- Soviet Superscience: The Nanocatalyst was developed in Soviet times and can somehow transform any fuel into a nanofuel that is millions of times more potent, but the technology was allegedly scrapped as failure. As it turned out, one of the scientists was giving it a Deliberate Under-Performance so they wouldn't get the Nobel Prize and could retire to a civilian life.
- Stupid Evil: Kuptsov's assassins try to blow the Black Lightning up with a rocket launcher. Retrieving the MacGuffin inside or not getting attention appears to have slipped their mind.
- Super Hero Origin: Dima decides to use his Flying Car to save those in need, after he unwittingly got his dad hit with Murder by Inaction.
- Super-Speed: Aside the Flight, Black Lightning can rush from a standing position to a few building blocks away almost instantly.
- Unfazed Everyman: There being a Flying Car in Moscow should get immediate publicity, but only does so after Dima does some heroics with it.
- Victory by Endurance: At the end, Black Lightning and Kuptsov ram into each other while in the stratosphere. Kuptsov has a few seconds of backup fuel less and gets thrown into space.
- Villain Opening Scene: The movie starts 5 years ago before the present, introducing Kuptsov and his Evil Plan.
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Inspired by Kuptsov's lecture, Dima uses the Black Lightning to live only for himself. When he ignores a call to help a bleeding man, he realizes late that it was his father, which causes him to instead seek out those in need.
- Working-Class Hero: Compared to his jerk friend Maxim and an evil businessman Kuptsov, who both have everything, Dima is a relative nobody who lives in a small flat with his family.
