Billy Magnussen – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: This reminds me about that need for a lift in the castle.

Vampire Bat: The castle is not that tall and there are not enough floors.

Vampire Owl: We are not really going to need permission from any organization. We are vampires.

Vampire Bat: I am telling this to you because there is no need with a smaller number of floors.

Vampire Owl: I do get tired just with these many floors.

Vampire Bat: You know that you are an owl and can fly if there is an emergency.

Vampire Owl: Vampire Owls are made different. We are vampires first and owls last.

Vampire Bat: That does not mean that you cannot fly.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein would still prefer the lift.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein might want to keep having a tour of the castle.

[Gets some tapioca chips and three cups of Vagamon tea].

What is the movie about? :: A heist crew has been creating trouble for Interpol all around the world as they have been focusing on art heist at the unexpected locations, mostly in Europe. The team includes Cyrus Whitaker (Kevin Hart) the master thief and leader, Denton (Vincent D’Onofrio) a master of disguise and expert in trickery, Camila (Úrsula Corberó) expert pilot and beauty with the brains, Magnus (Billy Magnussen) safe cracker and seeker of adventures, Mi-Sun (Yun Jee Kim) hacker and computer expert and Luke (Viveik Kalra) an engineer and master of electronics. The team undertake two simultaneous heist works, one of stealing a Van Gogh painting in London and then kidnapping of renowned NFT artist N8 (Jacob Batalon) in Venice. Despite the best efforts of Interpol Agent Abby Gladwell (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the team manage to be successful at both places, and the presence of Abby in Venice does not help at all. The team’s escape plan creates a joke out of Interpol team that comes chasing in boats.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is revealed that the team had a fake kidnapping plan for N8 to have the paintings rapidly increase in value after being stolen, making the value rise from $20 million to $89 million. They had pre-sold the Van Gogh painting for $20 million which gets them $89 million much to the dismay of Interpol and the local police that had come chasing after them. Abby Gladwell uncovers evidence implicating Denton and arrests him, hoping to get to the rest of the team using him. But Abby’s superior Huxley (Sam Worthington) decides to have Cyrus and team take on a mission which would provide them with full immunity from international law if they manage to pull it off. The plan is to capture a billionaire named Lars Jorgensen (Jean Reno), who intends to make more money with the help of a hacking group called Leviathan which is able to create massive flooding in Europe by hacking into security facilities of dams – he would do stock manipulation at the same time. But are they capable of such a big thing?

The defence of Lift :: Lift looks good throughout its run, starting from the stunning watery world and old architecture of the city which has enchanted us through years. The global settings ad London, Brussels, Tuscany etc to the list, making it feel international and extremely good-looking. A heist in such a height featuring two airplanes, one of them being an Airbus A380 and the other one a futuristic concept model would not cease to amaze you. There is that feeling of quality written all around the movie, with everything looking so good, and having a cast that seems to come from all around the world. The movie also does well to make us believe in the impossible, and never do we feel that it is doing a little too much. The polished feeling never really leaves us as we look at the world in front of us. It dies remind us to watch films like Red Notice, Army of Thieves, Now You see Me and even that local flavoured ones from this part of the world, Varnyathil Aashanka, Sapthamashree Thaskaraha and Kohinoor.

The claws of flaw :: The movie just seems to do the usual for most of the time, and not much more gets to elevate the whole thing. The predictability factor stays with us, and the ending seems to be too quickly done, with no big action or dialogues to go with it – everything just gets solved so easily, and there seems to be no danger around here, except when one is reminded of the same; yet, things go smooth enough even with those mistakes and weaknesses. The characters could have also had better introductions and backstories instead of focusing on those two main leads. The romantic side surely feels force, and one cannot stop thinking that it could have been with some other characters instead. The villain is not given the option to be that menacing, as he is on the screen only for some time, and he just do the usual talking. There could have also been more heists around here, and the difficulties faced by them could have been given more focus. The movie also lacks the moments which would make one go for it again, and never goes for divergence, as it chooses to be safe and just the usual.

The performers of the soul :: Kevin Hart leads the way here, and the humour works very well with him, especially with a combination to Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who remains solid as the Interpol agent around here. Their moments work for the humour, but not that much in favour of the romance, as comedy surely gets to be much more. There are moments with them that quickly elevate its humour, sometimes all of a sudden when the situation is serious. Among the crew, the most convincing is Úrsula Corberó, who shines as the pilot and scores like no other, even getting an unexpected part in flight fights. Sam Worthington remains solid, and I had hoped that the Avatar–Titans star would have had a bigger role to play in this – he is a bigger star than any other at least in this part of the world. Billy Magnussen adds some cool moments here and there. Yun Jee Kim is a joy to watch throughout the movie as she gets closer to those computers and do the job in style. Vincent D’Onofrio’s moments are also to be remembered, and Viveik Kalra is not that far behind. Jean Reno could have surely had more villainy to add.

How it finishes :: Lift go on with an old model in a new world, and it feels effective even without that much of an innovation around here. With the effectiveness of humour as much as the nice action that comes in as a bonus. In a world that is so well captured, we are glad to see it as much as enjoy that action – the movie also gets to add its own big action. This might not be among the biggest heist movies that you will ever see as far as story is concerned, but this one surely has its heart at the right place with a team that works together and sticks together in style. As it is available on Netflix, it provides some pure fun on the OTT, and it might be the right entertainer for the weekends and festivals without thinking too much about it. There might be those movies which depend too much on an overdose of heroism and nonsense, but this is not one of them. I was actually surprised that nobody really told me about this movie, but this one is surely worth your time, and this is surely something you can keep as a distant sibling of Fast and Furious movies, but with no cars at all to go for that speed on road.

Release date: 12th January 2024 (Netflix)
Running time: 107 minutes
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Kevin Hart, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D’Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó, Billy Magnussen, Jacob Batalon, Jean Reno, Sam Worthington

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

What is the movie about? :: Aladdin (Mena Massoud) is a young man living in the streets of Agrabah with his pet monkey, with no parents and no idea about family. He is considered as a petty thief living in the streets, stealing one thing or the other to keep going, and his monkey is not far behind in the same skill. In the streets, he meet Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) who has dressed up as a commoner and is wandering in the streets. After giving some bread to a few starving children without paying for the same, they are chased by the soldiers, and she leaves him with the idea that he is just a thief, as he fails to return her bracelet which his monkey had taken. But Aladdin decides to get it back to the lady whom he misunderstands as the princess’ handmaiden Dalia (Nasim Pedrad). At a time when she is bothered by suitors from different nations like Prince Anders (Billy Magnussen), Aladdin sneaks into the palace.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: His skills are noticed by the Grand Vizier Jafar (Marwan Kenzari), the chief advisor to The Sultan (Navid Negahban). Even though he is the second most powerful person in the kingdom, he wants more, and for the same, he needs a magic lamp hidden within the Cave of Wonders. It is a near impossible task, and as Aladdin enters the palace unnoticed, he decides to use the skills of the young man to get the lamp from the cave which has been unkind to those who tried to take the lamp earlier. In return for the same, he offers the youth from the street infinite riches and even the attention of the princess. But as Aladdin gets into the cave, he realizes that it is no ordinary cave, and the lamp is not the usual one – it has the Genie (Will Smith) who is ready with three wishes. But will that be enough to marry the beautiful princess?

And what more is to happen? :: Genie hopes that the last wish of Aladdin would be about setting him free. Jafar hopes that he could get his hands on the magic lamp at some point. Jasmine hopes that it is not just her curves that is loved by her suitors, but also her ideas, with a desire to become the ruler of her kingdom one day. Aladdin would go back to the palace by the name Prince Ali, and hope to gain the attention of the princess and win her hand. But it turns out that Jasmine is not at all interested in the newly arrived prince despite him displaying all the wealth that Genie had brought. Despite Jasmine’s lack of interest, there would be Jaffar’s interest, as his evil plans continue. With his desire to become the most powerful man in the kingdom as well as the known world, what could stop him? Will there be a better fate in store for the kingdom?

The defence of Aladdin :: The memories of childhood comes back with Aladdin, as we remember those days of watching a lot of cartoon and that music which goes by the lines, Arabian Nights. Nostalgia surely becomes a grand factor here, and not just Princess Jasmine, but also her handmaiden remains adorable. Even though there is nothing spectacular about the fight scenes, the visual beauty can be seen there as well as with the city itself. The whole place is nicely built, and the magical elements add to the visuals well. There are some nice fun sequences around here, and Will Smith plays the big part in the same. These keep the fun element going. Coming from the man who brought Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, along with The Man from UNCLE, one could surely guess a few things about this one, and raise the level of expectations.

The claws of flaw :: The problem here is that there is the feeling of not being able to make this one better than what we had seen in the past, even though the ideas as well as technology did improve a lot. A visual extravaganza in the desert could have meant more. The Arabian Nights song version here is not that interesting as the original one, and often the Genie fails to rise as the character and becomes more of the actor that plays the same – Will Smith. At the expense of making the main female character stronger, the viewers are presented with a weaker villain who never really seems like he could come up with something terrifying. The changes from the original version are not really improvements, but strange diversions that take the essence away from what we know about Aladdin – Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time could actually do this better, whichever way we look at the same.

The performers of the soul :: The top performer of this movie is Naomi Scott, and she goes through the whole movie with charm, scoring heavily in the final moments. One can see that she plays her character to such perfection at some moments that we feel that she could do well with a sequel, further away from the original Aladdin story. She is lovely to watch on the screen from the beginning, to the end. Mena Massoud’s titular character is memorable, and has his own moments. Will Smith brings the funny side very well, even though deviated from our idea of a genie – some are surely overdone, but he holds on really well. Marwan Kenzari as Jafar brings a weaker villain, and one has to wonder if that was intentional. Nasim Pedrad as Dalia is a fine addition of a character. The animal characters are nicely worked on too.

How it finishes :: Aladdin makes an interesting watch with family, especially with kids. It keeps going the light-hearted way, and there is no real menace to be seen, as we go through this safe trip. The movie could have actually began with its action rather than using the story within the story setting – it ruins the chance to bring a certain twist. Well, Aladdin could have been lesser like Robin Hood last year, and there were so many chances of it to miss out, but it does hold on and brings Aladdin well enough to touch our nostalgia. With Avengers: Endgame and John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum continuing to stay, this one can also accompany them, as Hollywood movies have been scoring bigger these days. Also, lets wonder what more could have been added to this particular movie.

Release date: 24th May 2019
Running time: 128 minutes
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Will Smith, Naomi Scott, Mena Massoud, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen