Eli Roth – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: When was the last time you went near the border?

Vampire Bat: You mean near the werewolf territory.

Vampire Owl: No, the zombie lands on the other side.

Vampire Bat: When did we begin to check the wastelands?

Vampire Owl: I believe that there is something more than the walking dead there.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that the movie is not referring to such borders.

Vampire Owl: Are we going for interplanetary borders then?

Vampire Bat: That has always been a better choice, for they are more open.

Vampire Owl: I have heard about those space vampires.

Vampire Bat: The space does have its own variety of blood-drinking species.

[Gets a blackcurrant shake and three cups of black tea].

What is the movie about? :: It is said that a long time ago, the whole of galaxy was ruled by an alien race known as Eridians, whose power and technology were far beyond the understanding of human race. But human beings were able to find some part of this science and use it to their advantage, thus becoming the reason for bettering their world and making themselves scientifically advanced enough to make an impact in their world above other species. But the best of such scientific knowledge was hidden in a vault in a planet known as Pandora. Corporations, criminals and treasure hunters who made peace impossible in the planet and nearby have been killing each other in an attempt to find the secret vault for no success in the end. Then there was the prophecy about a daughter of Eiridia who would restore peace. More people have died searching for this than all the wars which had occurred in the past. There is almost nothing good happening in the one prosperous planet with enough natural beauty to inspire enough tourists from Earth. But the only tourism event happening there might be a treasure hunt for vault.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) who is the daughter of Deukalian Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), the richest man around, and one of the most powerful corporate magnates in the galaxy, gets kidnapped by a rogue soldier Roland Greaves (Kevin Hart) and a psychopath Krieg (Florian Munteanu) who is released at the same time by accident. Despite the soldiers trying their best, the group of three manages to get out of the area and travel to the wastelands of Pandora where they do not come in the areas under scan. The job is given to a legendary bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett) who is almost ready to retire, but the offer is a little too much for her to reject. She is considered the best with a great history of bounty hunting by too many people to avoid her as an option, even though troops of Atlas are also after the kid. As she lands on Pandora to search for the missing girl, she comes across Claptrap (Jack Black), a robot that says that it was programmed a long time ago to assist her. With the help of the robot, she finally traces the location of Tina and embarks on the journey.

And what does this world bring in between all the chaos and destruction? :: There, she finds out that Tina was not really kidnapped, but had decided to escape with the rogue soldier and the psycho intentionally to avoid her father. She attacks Lilith with her two friends, and it is then that the troops sent by Atlas Corporation reaches the same area and attacks all of them. This leads to the strange new team of the teenage runaway girl, rogue soldier, bounty hunter, psychopath and the old robot escaping from there, with the soldier team known as Crimson Lance on their trail. It is discovered that Tina was not human or the corporate daughter as everyone had thought – she was a genetically engineered alien created with the biological parts taken from the Eridians, the ancient race that once lived and bettered Pandora. She was created through experiments by Atlas so that she can open the vault where lost civilization’s advanced science and technology are kept. Atlas Corporation intends to rule the world with the new advanced weapons they intend to gain. Can the one strange team stop him in time? Or will the gates to unlimited technology be opened to a greedy villain who would become invincible?

The defence of Borderlands :: There is some nice world detail that we see here, even though not perfect, there is something to watch out for at every corner here. Ariana Greenblatt adds more to the fun than the others here. The funny side mostly works in this movie, unlike those movies with ridiculous jokes like Deadpool and its strange relations. The battle scenes are truly exciting, and the detailing on small things will catch our attention. A good science fiction movie comes first out of the world where it is set, and this one wins there, and takes it to the side of action, where it secures another win for most of the time. There is also the reminder that this is from a game, with some fine weapons being shown, and explosions as well as stylish chases all around. The post-apocalyptic feeling is also present, like in Mad Max: Fury Road, but this one is surely the much lighter version, without that eternal depression of world going out of hand with no chance for a return. This feels mostly because of the knowledge about the existence of an alien life which would mean more than just giving up for humanity.

The claws of flaw :: The movie should have taken itself more seriously, and we feel the silliness a little too much in between. The main character should have been younger and got someone other than Cate Blanchett to play it, as we get the feeling of having the suitable one for the tale of such a past. The twist used in the movie seems to be rather too comfortable and safe for anyone’s liking too, and it is something about which one feels the need to bother less. The colours of the movie could have been reduced a little bit outside and used more inside the alien world within the portal, as we have too much of an opposite. Jamie Lee Curtis surely feels to have been more wasted than anyone in this particular role. The villain could have also had more to do in the earlier and middle stages of the movie. There could have been more of a journey of a mystery adventure which the movie leaves behind. As the movie came when my gaming times had mostly reached the beginning of the end stages, I could not really comment on a game – movie comparison, but positive reviews in that case were not found.

How it finishes :: As this movie is based on a computer game, the negative reviews were always expected. But like Until Dawn, Need for Speed, Hitman, Doom, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Warcraft, Mortal Kombat and others, this keeps the gaming side moving well to the cinematic world. I would love to see Mass Effect game made into movie, and it would have similar settings, but considering its capabilities as a game itself, there would be a big movie, with the looks of Jupiter Ascending, but that one would satisfy more critics. For now, for some simple entertainment during the weekends, this is the kind of movie that we would want to watch. Let us not go through too many of those negative reviews, as there are so many positives about this movie, which comes back every time we feel that there would be a problem. Maybe, a sequel could do this one a lot of good, with a lot of worlds to explore in a Star Trek or Star Wars model. Then we go back to the game and come back again to enjoy this.

Release date: 9th August 2024
Running time: 101 minutes
Directed by: Eli Roth
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl :: It has been a long time since we saw a movie starring Keanu Reeves.

Vampire Bat :: Well, John Wick and 47 Ronin proved okay, but nothing huge for us.

Vampire Owl :: Nothing since The Matrix Revolutions for me.

Vampire Bat :: Actually, I consider it since Constantine.

Vampire Owl :: Yes, those were the best times.

Vampire Bat :: And John Wick: Chapter Two is also coming. I believe that it will be better than the first.

Vampire Owl :: The female leads look very much new though.

Vampire Bat :: I have noticed that too. But I am more looking forward to how this story will progress.

Vampire Owl :: I read that it is a remake of Peter Traynor’s 1977 movie called Death Game. Any knowledge of it?

Vampire Bat :: Not at all.

[Gets three cups of tea with tapioca chips].

What is it about? :: Evan Webber (Keanu Reeves) is a happily married man, and an architect living with his wife and children. Due to a shoulder injury and a lot of work, he is unable to go to a trip to beach which was planned earlier; so his wife Karen (Ignacia Allamand) leaves with the children and he is left alone in the big house. He decides to spend his time working and waiting for Louis (Aaron Burns), the assistant of Karen who works as an artist who will move a particular sculpture to an art gallery. When he is busy with the job, he hears someone at the door and sees two girls, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas) outside. They claim that they were here for a party, but lost the address to the place and their mobile phones are also dead which left them stranded with nowhere to go.

So, how and where does things take a big turn? :: Evan invites them in, and offers them internet and computer for them to locate the place. They get fresh at his home and he also arranges the closest available driver for them, but that would also take forty five minutes to arrive at his place. The girls make themselves at home, and more is revealed about them. But soon, Evan will come to know another side of them, and it is not really that beautiful as what they seem to be. Almost everything which they had told him would prove to be just lies and nothing else. He almost gets away, but these two won’t stay away until they have their sadistic games imposed on him. There is no hope for him except for Louis who won’t be expecting this kind of trouble.

The defence of Knock Knock :: There is a certain message here in the movie, and there is the next level of morality tale stored inside – the need to resist temptations despite the situation is shown here. Powered by performances and moments of thrill, the movie is an interesting mixture of things; a home invasion movie with a certain amount of dark humour which is present throughout, and a little bit of the erotic side also being there – it also doesn’t go the way of the director’s two most known movies, Hostel and Hostel: Part II. It is a welcome change that we have here, as the environment has been changed, and the blood and gore gets a lot down by a long way. The torture porn does go away this time, and this movie surely has its moments. There is no way that one will end up finding this one not entertaining; that is for sure.

Claws of flaw :: This is another thriller which surely had a lot of scope, and that is not used as one would have wanted. It could have explored the psychological side better, but it decides just to go weird without much of explanations. It also has too much of the ups and downs throughout its run. If you are looking for the erotica elements, that is going to be a disappointment, because it is also rare. A number of scenes also feel repetitive, and without the idea to bring the needed change and variety through the material which has already been used many times in a good number of ways. There was better chance to use the moments in the first half to reach a big climax and finish in the end which is unfortunately not that much there. The Naomi Watts starrer Funny Games from 2007 could do a home invasion thriller with a psychological side better, and You’re Next as well as The Strangers had their own ways of handling the horror with the home invasion!

Performers of the soul :: If you wanted to see Keanu Reeves as the chosen one or in the form of the chaser of demons, you are not going to have that here; this gets not even close, as his character remains hopeless for most of the time. The thoughts of the hero from The Matrix trilogy and Constantine takes the back-seat, as he once again brings a fine performance here as the protagonist completely in distress throughout the movie, starting from a few minutes into it. Never will you see the tendency to go John Wick around here, and there will be no samurai effect. The girls are good, and I would like to mention Ana de Armas more, as she manages to take a certain amount of cuteness to the wicked side; Lorenza Izzo has the evil side working strong in the movie too. I surely had my doubts, but they worked really well here!

How it finishes :: You have to admit that unlike most of the people, both the critics and the general audience had said, this is surely a good one – most of them surely had problems with how things went around with this movie only because they wanted something else, and it is from this strange and somewhat detestable want that the hate for this movie could rise. You have to watch this one to know that the same won’t affect your ability to like this flick. Unlike some mentions here and there, you can’t consider this one horror; for the same, you can look into the recent horror movie reviews including It Follows, The Vatican Tapes, Jessabelle, The Remaining, The Pyramid, The Lazarus Effect and The Woman in Black: Angel of Death; plus there is my personal favourite Gothic horror romance, Crimson Peak.

Release date: 9th October 2015
Running time: 99 minutes
Directed by: Eli Roth
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana de Armas, Ignacia Allamand, Aaron Burns, Colleen Camp