Santa Claus. Battle of the Magi

Santa Claus. Battle of the Magi () is a 2016 Russian Christmas fantasy action film directed by Aleksandr Voytinskiy and produced by Georgiy Malkov, Vladimir Polyakov and Lev Karasev. The film's protagonist is Masha, a girl who witnesses an epic battle of monsters with young magicians in the center of Moscow; one of the sorcerers saves the girl and leads her to a secret organization where she learns not only that Father Frost (Santa Claus) truly does exist, but also that the New Year is a real magical ritual.
It stars Taisiya Vilkova, with Nikita Volkov, Fyodor Bondarchuk, Aleksei Kravchenko, Egor Beroev, Kseniya Alfyorova, Sergey Badyuk, Irina Antonenko, Igor Chekhov and Filipp Gorenshteyn in supporting roles. 
The premiere of the film in Russia took place on December 24, 2016, and it later appeared in Russian screens on the eve of the New Year 2017.
Plot.
Young Masha is tormented by visions of flying fiery monsters. Mother worries about her daughter being bullied by classmates. But one day in the very center of Moscow Masha sees a battle of winged fire monsters with young people who call themselves magicians. One of them at the last moment, rescues Masha from the attack of a chimera. So Masha gets into a secret corporation, where she learns that Father Frost (Santa Claus) really exists and, leading an army of magicians able to control snow and ice, protects the Earth from the invasion of dark forces.
Production.
Development.
For two years of working on the script, the creators came up with and developed a mythology based on the rituals of celebrating the New Year in different periods of Russian history.
More than 50 different costumes were made for the shooting of the film. For the main hero of Father Frost (Santa Claus) created 8 images, and for his antagonist Karachun - 3 images.
Grimery spent several hours a day to create the most natural beards, mustaches and wigs for all the characters in the film.
Above creating a magical atmosphere in the film, a large creative team worked. Costume designers sewed more than 50 complex costumes: only Father Frost (Santa Claus) had 8 images. Artists, make-up artists every day spent 2-3 hours to create the image of the villain Karachun and about 4 hours for all the brothers of Father Frost (Santa Claus). Artists and graphic designers have come up with and built real new worlds: the Santa Claus Corporation with secret rooms, the archive where all letters to Santa Claus are stored, training halls where young magicians perfect their skills; the headquarters of the brothers Morozov at the North Pole; The den of the villain Karachun. And they also created a lot of "magic" items and creatures: the sleigh and the staff of Santa Claus, the spheres - the weapon with which the magicians control the snow element, the Lunar sword Karachun wants to possess, fire chimeras, snow owls and much more. On the set every day there was a supervisor of computer graphics, and in almost 70% of the scenes stuntmen participated.
Filming.
The Location filming took place from December last year on the streets of New Year's Moscow, all the main and large-scale events of the tape unfolded in places not only iconic for the New Year, but also truly supporting the magic atmosphere with their festive decoration and illumination - the Central Children's Store on Lubyanka, Red Square, Tsaritsyno Palace, Patriarch Ponds and Tverskaya Street.
Release.
"Santa Claus. Battle of the Magi" was released in the Russian Federation on December 24, 2016 by 20th Century Fox CIS.
Critical response.
The film received mostly negative reviews in Russian media. He received only one positive review from the newspaper "Izvestia", which he called "quality family fantasy". All other reviews were neutral or negative. They wrote about the film: «The scenario, suffering from all existing mental disorders, was wiped out by a sick fantasy», "Rossiyskaya Gazeta", «It is possible to analyze the absurdities of the film indefinitely» (Film.ru), «The film leaves a sense of confusion» (Metro).
BadComedian has critically scrutinized its 2019 New Year's review called Frozen Fantasy.