The Last Warrior (2017)

The Last Warrior (2017) Full Recap

In Belogorie, an alternate version of ancient Russia, a renowned warrior named Popovich is being chased by a bunch of soldiers, minions of Varvara, a wicked witch. They almost get him with one of their arrows, but Popovich is lucky enough to escape it. He rides ahead of them and cuts down a nearby tree with one swing of his blade, slowing down his pursuers. Or so he thought.

Varvara, having taken the form of an owl, continues the chase until she knocks Popovich off his horse. The other warriors grab him and pin him down, but it's not enough. Popovich slams his helmet against the head of an incoming enemy, steps on the toes of the warriors holding him down, and kicks the heck out of them. He delivers a suplex to the last soldier, only for an archer to try to shoot him down.

Popovich catches the arrow just in time and throws it back to the soldier, hitting him in the butt. Just then, Varvara transforms back into her human form, and Popovich grabs the nearest sword he can find. This doesn't help, though. Using her magic, Varvara emanates a whip and slaps Popovich's blade with it, turning it into jelly.

Right before Popovich's eyes, a horse scatters into particles, only to reconverge as a wizard. Having inhaled too many particles, Popovich can't stop sneezing, so he interrupts Varvara whenever she tries to speak. Angry, she turns him into stone and tells her soldiers to dump him in the sea. Apparently, Popovich is the last of the renowned warriors.

The wizard notices the glint in Varvara's eyes and realizes that he's in danger. To save his life, he jumps off the cliff and into the ocean, transforming into a fish as he swims away. Unfortunately, Popovich's stone body joins a myriad of other warriors at the bottom of the sea. It's modern day Moscow and Svyatozar, a con artist whose actual name is Ivan Naydenov, arrives on the set of a game show named “Magic Challenge”.

One of the workers tells him to look for a wheel behind the car – a tip necessary to help him look authentic. Ivan goes on stage next, wearing a sun medallion as the source of his power. He's introduced as the wizard of light and pretends not to know what he's looking for. Ivan drops hints about it being a circular object, making everyone present stare at him in awe.

Ultimately, he points to the wheel behind the car, just like his snitch told him, and everyone is beyond impressed. After the show, Ivan links up with his snitch and pays him what he's due. Just then, an old lady walks out of the shadows, claiming that she sees Ivan traveling to another world where he'll meet his doom. Ivan just mocks her and drives home to his housekeeper, Galina.

She doesn't support him scamming people, but isn't above getting extra money. The next day, Ivan makes a housecall to a rich female client and lies that her husband, Leonid, is not only an unbeliever, but is also cheating on her with more than one woman. The client begs him to do something about it, so Ivan does a bunch of gibberish and gets paid handsomely. His next appointment is with Kate, and he follows her to a hospital, not knowing the client is her comatose son.

When Ivan sees the boy, he can't go through with deceiving Kate. He just walks away, rethinking his life choices. Being an orphan, Ivan had to share the orphanage with some unsavory children. They taunted him for playing wizard and wishing for parents. Worse, they locked him in the closet one night and lied to the caretaker that he was in bed.

Looking around, little Ivan noticed a needle and thread, and carefully used the needle to unscrew a bolt at the bottom of the door. Slowly, he walked back to the dormitory and sewed shut the sheets of the boys who taunted him. Come daybreak, they were unable to leave their sheets, and all the other orphans laughed at them. Present day, Ivan is at the mall.

He stares at the needle now preserved in resin and attached to a string, reminiscing about its importance. Then, a couple of suited men show up, escorting Leonid – the same man Ivan lied about. The con man makes a run for it. They almost catch him on multiple occasions, but Ivan manages to give them the slip.

He arrives at the water park, pushes a huge man aside, and jumps into the slide. By the time he reaches the bottom, he finds himself falling out of a hollow in a tree and into a parallel universe. Ivan sees a wizard in the same hollow and wastes no time punching him, but the wizard appears in front of him, claiming that Ivan looks just like his father. He explains that Ivan is in Belogorie and the con man refuses to believe it.

He tries to hit the wizard with a branch but it turns into a tree; he jokes about having a tail to wag, and the wizard gives him one. Ivan has to hold tight to the narrative that he's in a coma somewhere in Moscow, but the wizard claims that Ivan is the son of Ilya Muromets, a renowned warrior. He goes on to explain how he hid Ivan in a different world per his father's request, and hands him Ilya's ring. Mere seconds after Ivan puts it on, an arrow comes flying into the wizard's back.

He then scatters into a million pieces as his pursuers show up on horseback. Thinking on his feet, Ivan yells that he's Ilya's son. He pretends like he's about to beat them senseless, only for him to run in the opposite direction. Sadly, he slams into a tree branch and gets captured.

Meanwhile, Dobryna, a renowned warrior just like Popovich and Ilya, is now the King of Belogorie. He's playing darts with his enormous blade and destroys the target just before Ivan is presented before him. His men tell him about his claim to be Ilya's son, but Dobryna doesn't believe it until he sees Ilya's ring on Ivan's finger. In turn, Dobryna officially introduces Ivan to the other warriors, and later on, to his wife, Varvara.

She's certain that Ivan must be tired, so Dobryna instructs her to show him to his room. Sadly, that's not Varvara's plan at all. Without her husband's knowledge, she has Ivan shackled in a dungeon. He hears a strange voice behind him, and a closer look reveals a warrior cut up, with each piece frozen separately.

He introduces himself as Koschei, and Ivan laughs, remembering Koschei to be immortal in folklore. Outside, Varvara's soldiers have Baba yaga, a cannibalistic witch, in captivity, and search her for weapons before transporting her to the dungeon. At the same time, Ivan disturbs Koschei, and finds out that he has only a few hours to live. Baba yaga joins them at this point, hurling snide remarks at Koschei.

Moving on, Ivan wonders if he can return to his world, and Koschei claims it's possible through two ways. One, through powerful magic, and two, with the help of a magic sword. Koschei breaks into a story about a powerful wizard and his ambitious orphaned apprentice. The wizard craved immortality, and knew that the moon and sun united above the Tsar mountain every thousand years.

He also knew to put a magic crystal into the sword when the union occurred, but the orphan apprentice killed him out of jealousy and took the sword for himself. When the sun and moon united, the apprentice installed the magic crystal into the sword, and his immortality was sealed. He became Koschei the immortal and ruled Belogorie for a thousand years until Popovich, Dobryna, and Ilya defeated him. To avoid temptation, the trio split the sword from the crystal and placed a curse on it.

Dobryna then took the crystal and locked Koschei up. Curious, Ivan asks where the sword is, but Koschei doesn't see the need to tell him because Ivan will either be killed or turned into stone by morning. That night, while the guard goes through Ivan's things, Baba yaga summons a frog and sends it to handle the guard. It turns out to be a girl named Vasilisa, and she transforms back into her human form, drugs the guard, and steals the key to Baba yaga's cell.

After releasing the witch, they both break into Koschei's prison and crack open his frozen parts with axes. They then recoup his body parts, and the immortal warrior becomes whole again. Koschei has pity on Ivan and instructs Vasilisa to free him. Ivan stops to grab his things from the guard on their way out, not knowing that he's tied to an alarm bell.

Sadly, the guard falls over and the bell rings, drawing all the other soldiers to the dungeon. Immediately, Vasilisa uses an axe to take out two soldiers, burying the spikes from a club in the head of a third. She then throws Ivan a weapon, but he can't catch it to save his life. Koschei, on the other hand, gets stabbed by two soldiers and doesn't flinch.

He fights them off easily, but gets his arm severed in the process. In turn, he uses the severed arm to suffocate an incoming soldier and then smashes a clay bowl over the soldier's head. The team goes on to defeat the others, and Ivan deceives the guard by taking a picture and claiming he stole his soul. The guard grabs Ivan's tail on his way out, so the con man summons courage and forges forward until it rips off.

Together, the makeshift team escapes the dungeons and heads into Baba yaga’s magic hut. There, she pulls a lever, and the hut's legs pop out. They run like hell until they're blocked off by soldiers, and Baba yaga makes a U-turn. Everyone but Ivan stays put as the hut runs; he swings from side to side, almost falling out the window at one point.

Luckily, Koschei saves him. As they continue their escape, Varvara hears the ruckus outside and leaves to check things out. The soldiers form a blockade by the gates, wielding torches in wait, and as the running hut arrives, Baba yaga hands the reins over to Vasilisa. In turn, the witch drops some burning coal down a latch and the legs of the hut get hurt by it.

To prevent getting burned again, the hut begins to hop and continues to do so until it hops over their enemies and then over the gates. Meanwhile, a fuming Varvara turns into an owl and joins her men in chasing after Koschei. Once again, Baba yaga comes to the rescue, sending off a pot through the chimney like some fireworks at a festival. The pot takes off with such force that it hits Varvara point-blank, trapping her inside itself and bringing her down.

The next day, Varvara lies to her husband, claiming that Ivan is responsible for Koschei and Baba yaga escaping. Dobryna then instructs her to find them. The hut comes to a halt somewhere in the forest, and everyone exits it, Baba yaga in a flying mortar. She sends Ivan back inside to fetch some salt and a cauldron, and somehow, he sets the hut on fire.

They save as much property as they can, but the hut just runs amok when the flames become too hot. As mad as Baba Yaga is, she obeys Koschei's order to let Ivan leave. Together, the four of them head out to the White Mountains in search of the magic sword. They stop on the way for a mini photoshoot, and Ivan uses Koschei's hand as a selfie stick.

At the same time, Varvara and her men come upon the spot in the forest where Baba yaga's hut was burned, and one of them has the misfortune of stepping on a potion. He's turned into a tree for his troubles. Koschei and the others have to cross the death river, but they can't do it without Vodyanoy the Merman's help. For this reason, they station Vasilisa by the edge of the swamp, using her beauty as bait.

It works. Vodyanoy swims to shore to introduce himself, only for a crab to reveal Vasilisa's truth about being a frog. Angry, the merman tries to grab her, but Ivan interferes. They'd both lose but Koschei shows himself in time, pulling Vodyanoy aside for a chat. Meanwhile, Baba yaga pours some life water on a rejuvenating apple, waits for it to become whole, and consumes it.

This transforms her into a much younger and beautiful woman. She easily catches the eyes of both Ivan and Vodyanoy. Koschei promises to hand Baba yaga over to Vodyanoy if he escorts them through the death river. Transfixed, the merman disappears into the river just long enough for Baba yaga to ask for the flying mortar to be brought over.

Soon, Vodyanoy returns with some flowers for her, and Koschei lies, claiming Baba yaga's name is Marfa, and that she's been mute since birth. Slowly but surely, the merman fills the mortar with water from the swamp and gets in as they continue their quest. Still on their tail, Varvara arrives at Vodyanoy’s swamp and disturbs the waters until a crab jumps out. It then reveals everything that happened to her.

Varvara immediately summons an arrow using her magic and shoots it high into the sky. Back at the palace, Dobryna is getting fitted for his latest armor. He'd rather see it on one of his men, and as the soldier is trying it out, Varvara's arrow buried itself into him. It possesses him for a moment, replacing his face with the witch's just long enough for her to warn Dobryna about Koschei and Vodyanoy's alliance.

On their journey, the crew have to cross the cave of a giant. Everyone tiptoes, trying their best not to alert the giant, who's busy stirring her lunch. Of course, Ivan's phone chooses this time to ring. Turning around, the giant notices she has intruders and gets up to her full height.

Koschei tries to pull rank but he gets smacked outside with a giant spoon. Ivan dodges all the attacks from the giant, but that leaves Vasilisa cornered. Having no choice, she turns back into a frog and hops to safety. Vodyanoy is all that's left, but he sinks into the water so perfectly that the giant simply kicks the mortar, letting all the water spill out.

The giant then returns to cooking, and Vodyanoy laments about not lasting without water. Vasilisa turns into a human once again, and she and Baba yaga pressure Ivan to do something heroic. He steals another glance at the giant, only to discover that she's female. This gives him an idea.

Ivan plays a love song with his phone, grabbing a thigh bone and using it as a microphone to announce his love. The giant is amused, to say the least, and she begins to dance with him. Soon, Koschei returns for the others and they all leave in one piece as the giant smiles ear to ear. Arriving at death river, Vodyanoy bugs the others to hurry up and put him in the water.

Apparently, the river is plagued with carnivorous fish, so they need the merman to assert dominance over them. Unfortunately, the fish rebel against Vodyanoy, sinking their teeth into him like he's any other prey. Discouraged, the others just watch as the merman crawls to shore and dives into a nearby well. Vasilisa is especially angry, so much so that she almost clashes swords with Koschei.

Ivan breaks up the fight but Vasilisa refuses to travel with the group any longer. As she storms off, Koschei explains how Varvara turned Vasilisa and her entire family into frogs just because Dobryna took a liking to her. She was lucky enough to find Baba Yaga, who helped her attain her human form, but if Koschei and Baba yaga don't regain their full strength, Vasilisa's family is doomed to remain frogs for the rest of their lives. Ivan goes after her and finds her crying a few yards down.

He comes clean about Koschei telling him her story, and then tells his, revealing how he used to dream about parents he didn't have. Basically, Ivan encourages Vasilisa not to give up on family. He notices a small bunny in the bushes and picks it up. He hands it over to Vasilisa, and while she's petting it, she notices a blue glint in its eyes.

She throws the animal away out of shock, but Ivan queries her. This stops the moment the bunny transforms into Varvara. They run back to the river bank to warn the others, but it's too late. Varvara and her men surround the team within seconds, leaving them no choice but to jump into the same well Vodyanoy jumped into.

To buy some time, Baba yaga sets the forest ablaze before jumping, and blocks the entrance with her flying mortar. While Varvara's men hack away at the mortar, Vodyanoy surfaces, revealing that the well is at least forty feet deep. He looks around for Marfa, but finds Baba yaga in her stead. He throws a tantrum about being deceived, only for Koschei to make it clear that their enemies will skin him alive if they don't escape.

With this, Vodyanoy admits that there's a tunnel at the bottom of the well blocked by a boulder. In turn, Ivan challenges the merman to do something; to drink the water, even. Vodyanoy takes his suggestion, swims deeper into the well, and swallows all of the water. Subsequently, Koschei and the others descend until they find the tunnel.

Ivan pushes the boulder aside, and Vodyanoy sends them on their way, promising to block the path after them. They all thank him and cross just before Varvara arrives. Vodyanoy refuses her passage through the tunnel, and she turns him into stone. Fortunately, this doesn't stop all the water he swallowed from escaping and they push Varvara to the surface like a fish caught in a whale’s blowhole.

Later on, Ivan and the others burst out on the other side of the death river, and with one day left, they continue their journey across the mountains. A curious Ivan then bothers Koschei for details about the magic sword. In response, the immortal warrior tells him that all he has to do is grab and swing the blade for it to take him home. Just then, a boulder breaks off the mountain top and falls from above, and Ivan saves Koschei from it.

Koschei just laughs and reminds Ivan he’s immortal. Another boulder falls on him for good measure. That night, Koschei and the others make camp. Mosquitoes disturb Ivan so much that he jokes about Vasilisa eating them. She doesn't find it funny, so she storms off. Ivan realizes his foolishness at this point and goes after a random frog, apologizing to it sincerely.

The real Vasilisa then shows up, only for Ivan to tell another insensitive joke. To atone, he apologizes again, and gives her his needle necklace, claiming it's a good luck charm. They go on to bask in this beautiful moment until a croaking frog snaps them out of it. Ivan then admits that he's neither a warrior nor Ilya's son, and that he was brought to Belogorie by mistake – or at least, he thinks that's what happened.

This makes Vasilisa mad anyway, seeing as the legend clearly states that only Ilya's descendant can find the magic sword. Any other person will perish the moment they wield it. Ivan pretends like he's always known this, and Koschei shows up to drive them to bed. Early the next morning, Ivan gets up before everyone else and takes a walk.

He's unfortunate enough to run into Varvara and her men, and when he tries to call for help, he's knocked out. Vasilisa wakes up next, and then Koschei, both wielding weapons and ready to fight. In turn, Varvara releases her magic in the form of a whip, ties Koschei up with it, and slams him into the nearest boulder before leaving him be. She turns her attention to Vasilisa next, swinging her whip in an attempt to bring her down.

Somehow, Vasilisa dodges it everytime, but finds herself at the edge of a cliff. Losing her footing, she falls over, and a guard comes to confirm that she's done for. Ivan tries to run after her, but gets stopped by the soldiers. Baba yaga wakes up at this moment, only to get captured seconds later.

Fortunately, Vasilisa turned into a frog the moment she tipped, and held onto Ivan's needle necklace to stop herself from falling. Ivan sees her just before he's taken away and can't help but crack a smile. After journeying for a few hours, Varvara pulls her prisoners into a valley filled with over a hundred swords dug into the ground. She cuts Ivan loose and sends him forth to find the magical sword.

Unsure, Ivan plays along, stalling until he comes upon a sword he likes. He touches it sparingly for fear of perishing, and when nothing happens, he tries to pull it. He succeeds, lifts the sword into the air, and yells that he has found the one. Varvara almost believes him, but the blade he picked out breaks in two.

The witch feels like she's been mocked, so she sends her magic into the ground, blocking off Ivan's path at every turn. He grabs a shield, but she sets it on fire. To defend himself, Ivan then grabs a branch from the rubble, only for it to transform into quite the regal blade. Laughing, he swings the sword and the blowback easily knocks Varvara off her horse.

He threatens her soldiers not to move an inch, and then cuts Koschei and Baba yaga loose. Moving on, he hands the blade to Koschei, reminding him about their deal to send him home. As though summoned, Dobryna rides out of the shadows at this moment, calling Ivan a traitor and accusing him of plotting with his enemies against him. Ivan tries to defend himself, revealing everything that Varvara has been up to.

To everyone's surprise, Dobryna pulls his wife in for a hug, commending her for doing a good job. As it turns out, Koschei was the traitor. He and Dobryna had an agreement: the sword in exchange for the crystal housing Koschei's immortality. Varvara chasing them was never part of the agreement.

Dobryna brushes it all under the rug and retrieves the crystal from his wife. He then stretches it towards Koschei, who stretches the sword in return. Unfortunately, the crystal crumbles to dust and Koschei realizes that Varvara is still in possession of the real one. Just then, Vasilisa jumps Dobryna, transforming into her human form mid-air.

This distraction is enough for Ivan to break free and grab the magic sword for himself. Vasilisa is expecting him to fight, but Ivan betrays her and opens a portal back to his world. As he dives into the portal, Vasilisa throws his needle necklace after him. Ivan appears on the floor of a coffee shop in modern Moscow and quickly sits like he’s always been there.

His needle necklace drops seconds later, reminding him of how terribly he treated Vasilisa. Shortly, he heads home to Galina, who finds what's left of the life water. A dejected Ivan swipes it and his dirty clothes, and heads over to do his own laundry. As the clothes wash, he scrolls through the pictures he and the others took in Belogorie, depressing himself even more.

Ivan is still scrolling when he gets a call from the folks at magic challenge, and he drops everything and runs off. Instead of going to the game show, he arrives at the mall minutes later and rushes to the water park. Like he did before, Ivan jumps into the water slide, but ends up in the pool instead of Belogorie. Some folks show up and ask Ivan to leave the pool, and when he proves stubborn, he gets locked up in a cell.

He's sulking when he realizes that the man he's sharing a cell with is the same wizard that summoned him to Belogorie. Apparently, he didn't die, but had to escape to modern day Moscow. The wizard got arrested and his staff got taken away. With this, the duo form a plan. Using his scamming skills, Ivan gets the cop to believe he's cursed, adding that he can only be cured if he gives Ivan a staff.

The plan is to head to Belogorie, release Gorynych the dragon, and help him regain his power using a small satchel the wizard gives Ivan. Last minute, Ivan wonders what the wizard's name is, only to discover that he’s Svyatozar, the wizard of light. The cop hands him the staff and he passes it to Svyatozar, who instantly opens a portal. The cop calls for backup and opens the gate, giving the wizard a chance to knock him out.

In a hurry, Ivan grabs the cop's gun and dives into the portal, leaving Svyatozar to get caught. Back in Belogorie, Koschei, Baba yaga, and Vasilisa have been taken back to Dobryna's palace, and are being prepared for execution. Meanwhile, Ivan finds himself in an underground chamber at the same palace. A few steps in, Gorynych the dragon shows up – no bigger than a dove – with three heads.

Ivan is quite disappointed, but quickly retrieves the satchel Svyatozar gave him, pouring its contents on the dragon. Sadly, nothing happens, and soldiers show up to retrieve Ivan. Upstairs, Dobryna prepares to become immortal. The sun and the moon are close to uniting, and Dobryna puts forth the magic sword.

His wife hands him the crystal and he lifts it alongside the sword, only for his men to bring Ivan in. With seconds left for the moon and sun to unite, Ivan pulls out the gun he swiped off of the cop and fires three shots into the ceiling. The others are scared but Dobryna just goes about his immortality. Only then does Ivan shoot Dobryna in the heart, forving Varvara to tackle him.

Everyone is in awe of how quickly Dobryna dies, but in a few seconds, the warrior gets back up. Ivan empties the gun into Dobryna's chest but nothing happens. It's at this point that a soldier comes in, reporting the escape of Gorynych. The pint-sized dragon flies into Dobryna's armor and everyone laughs.

The Last Warrior (2017) Ending Explained

The moment the warrior turns his back, Gorynych engulfs him in flames. It still doesn't leave a scratch. The dragon goes on to terrorize the others and Varvara tries in vain to shoot it down. During this time, Ivan frees Vasilisa, and the first thing she does is slap him. She then asks him to distract Dobryna so they can destroy the magic crystal.

Ivan listens, and challenges Dobryna to a duel, making it so the warrior puts the magic sword aside. Using regular blades, the two men duel it out on one end, while Vasilisa and Varvara duel it out on the other. The witch easily gets the upper hand, grabbing the magic sword, but it gets to a point where Vasilisa knocks the crystal out of it. Dobryna knocks Ivan's sword out of his grasp, but the con man keeps taunting him to keep his attention.

Gorynych frees Koschei of his restraints amidst all the ruckus. Apparently, Dobryna blames Ivan's father, Ilya, for ruining his life. Back then, they fought over who would rule Belogorie and Ilya defeated Dobryna fair and square. He was about to deliver the finishing blow when Varvara showed up and turned him to stone.

Back to the present, Dobryna knocks Ivan down again, while his wife continues to fight with Vasilla over the crystal. The warrior breaks Ivan's needle necklace with a swipe of his blade, and Koschei interrupts him. He reveals the crystal already in his grasp, threatening to destroy it. Dobryna doesn't seem so scared because Koschei will die too.

While they're talking, Varvara throws a blade, which cuts off Koschei's arm with the crystal still in it. The arm slides to Dobryna and he steps on it to keep it in place. Shortly after, Ivan takes what's left of his needle necklace and stabs Dobryna in the foot. The little leeway Koschei's arm gets is enough for him to throw the crystal towards the rest of his body, and the moment it comes within reach, he shatters it with his blade.

Within seconds, Dobryna crumbles into dust, with Koschei not far behind. Seeing as her husband is gone, Varvara turns tail and jumps off the palace balcony. Everyone she turned to stone then returns to normal, starting with Ivan's father, Ilya. He locks eyes with his son and instantly recognizes him.

Taking his rightful place as king of Belogorie, Ilya throws a mighty feast and everyone from Baba yaga down to Vodyanoy is in attendance. Later on, Ivan makes his way back to modern Moscow just to pay Kate's comatose son a visit. He feeds the boy what's left of the life water and slips out after he wakes up. Ivan then returns to Belogorie to be with Vasilisa, and they ride Baba yaga's hut all the way to Vasilisa's hometown.

The two plan to marry and live quite the happy life together. All the warriors Varvara had turned to stone then make their way out of the sea, one after the other. Varvara fled from Belogorie to modern Moscow, and her mother, Galina, welcomes her with a scowl, pointing out her failure. For an orphan, life turned out really good for Ivan.

He started off scamming people with magic and ended up realizing that it exists. He got to meet his father, got to find love, and even made friends in the weirdest places.