human trafficking – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: We are all working all the time, you know.

Vampire Bat: Everybody including Uncle Dracula knows that you do no work at all.

Vampire Owl: I work at my own office within my room.

Vampire Bat: You know that there is no business firms allowed in the Dracula Castle.

Vampire Owl: This is just me showing my skills making blood milk shake and blood cake.

Vampire Bat: Do you even know the sugar levels of vampires of the castle?

Vampire Owl: It is approved by Dr. Frankenstein and his medical company.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein has never been a real doctor who can do that.

Vampire Owl: Frankenstein has presented and published a research paper on vampire blood sugar and was appreciated for the same by different universities.

Vampire Bat: I have heard that they were promised infinite amount of money just to accept the abstract and let him present it.

[Gets a paneer samosa and three cups of Kodaikanal tea].

What is the movie about? :: Levon Cade (Jason Statham) is a retired Royal Marines Officer, now working as a construction foreman in Chicago, leaving the United Kingdom after his service and settling down in the United States as his American wife had committed suicide, and his father-in-law Jordan Roth (Richard Heap) who had settled down in the same city does not allow him to see his only daughter Merry Cade (Isla Gie) as he is known to suffer from PTSD and has been struggling to gain custody of his daughter. Levon maintains a close friendship with the family who employs him at the construction site – Joe Garcia (Michael Pena), his wife, Carla Garcia (Noemi Gonzalez) and their daughter, Jenny Garcia (Arianna Rivas), as they consider him as one of their own. One night, while Jenny is out at a bar, enjoying with her friends, she is kidnapped by two Russian traffickers who randomly choose their victims from the night club, the ruthless mercenaries known by the names Viper (Emmett J Scanlan) and Artemis (Eve Mauro).

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Joe and Carla report the case of their missing daughter to the police, but they are unable to find any leads, and do not seem to keep this anywhere close to priority. Desperate to find their daughter, the parents who know about Levon’s military past, offer him money to find Jenny, but he refuses to do anything about it, as he feels that his past was responsible for the death of his wife and hostility of his father-in-law who has always been a pacifist. But after consulting his former friend and comrade in arms in the military Gunny Lefferty (David Harbour), decides to what he does his best and follow his heart, as he had once promised Jenny to watch and protect her, making sure that no harm would come upon her. As he decides to use his best skills for the purpose, follows the bartender who was there at the time when Jenny went missing, and finds connection to Russian mafia which has been involved in human trafficking in the past. He finds out that the situation is more complicated than he thought. Can he find more clues and reach Jenny before time runs out?

The defence of A Working Man :: Watching this movie, one feels that this is a movie well set for Jason Statham to come up with all the action, and the same is asserted again and again as the movie progresses and gets close to the end. The action sequences are excellent and staying within the willing suspension of disbelief limits. It was best seen with that beginning fight scene and it just gets bigger in the final scenes as there is a lot to be done. We see something to root for the protagonist every moment as the film progresses – there is also an emotional touch to the main character, and we connect to the same with the feelings rightly felt. There is also that feeling of nostalgia that runs through in the movie reminding us those other earlier movies that we have seen before. The stylish and immensely evil Russian mobsters to a biker gang leader sitting on a literal throne in a basement with his black-wearing people, the variety of villains that make quite some impact. The visuals are quite nice, with different settings nicely used for the situation.

The claws of flaw :: The movie feels like a Taken-inspired weaker version with search for one woman who has taken by drug traffickers often forced into prostitution, as even the less appreciated Malayalam movie Karam doing better than this particular one. Yet, one feels that the danger is not that much felt here with the kidnapped woman, as she seems to be too comfortable with the same even when in so much of a terrifying situation as part of her captivity. For some reason, we do not see facing that much of a terror, and she seems to be more military-trained than even the main protagonist – this is where the other movies dealing with the same premise dealt with the situations much better. Even the search for the woman seems to be lagging, as the pace comes down. Then those fast cuts and shaky camera work during the quick action makes things feel rather strange, and leaves a lot to be desired. The title of the movie is also never really justified as the construction work never really gets the attention again.

The performers of the soul :: Jason Statham once again does what he does best as he has a strong physical presence, charm, as well as nice fight scenes including hand-to-hand combat and some shooting to go with it. Starting with a construction site fight and finishing after a full set of climax battle sequences keep us satisfied. It is once again asserted that he is the man for this kind of a job, after Liam Neeson did the same multiple times with his one series of movies starting with saving his daughter from human traffickers. Being a part of The Mechanic and one among of Hobbs and Shaw battling in Fast and Furious series had made us hope for him even in Hitman: Agent 47 which would have been perfect for him. After John Wick and friends in a chaotic murder spree universe, he remains seemingly best choice for this kind of worlds. Arianna Rivas as Jenny Garcia does not get much except for those last moments when there seems to be a fight forced on her – in a movie focused on her kidnapping, she is just not shown enough. Then the antagonists seem balanced, rightly there to be menacing enough.

How it finishes :: This remains an interesting movie, even though nothing much new in its content, and reminds us of many other movies in the past. The movie gains the advantage from Jason Statham as the main character, and even when there is not much to raise the level in the narrative, the man takes the movie straight up to another level. But we cannot help feeling that he could have done more if the search was better arranged and if the danger was really felt except for the kidnapped not shown much after being kidnapped except for the end, and due to the hero quickly going through the villains without that much of a difficulty as one should be having when facing a mafia, The emotional side with daughter works, but not with the kidnapped one as we rarely feel that she is in trouble, and yet we feel that the poor mafia members are really in bigger trouble – this is something which should not have happened in a movie like this which does not go over the line with its action. Well, the fight scenes work really well, and keeps us interested, and we are thrilled to see the happenings on the screen; often that much is enough for the genre, but not for a second watch on any day.

Release date: 28 March 2025
Running time: 116 minutes
Directed by: David Ayer
Starring: Jason Statham, David Harbour, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng, Arianna Rivas

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: This surely sounds like fury with the original spelling.

Vampire Bat: There is another movie with this title in English itself.

Vampire Owl: So, you are beginning to explore other language.

Vampire Bat: Yes, this one is Vietnamese, and other languages will follow.

Vampire Owl: Does this remind you of any of your previous journeys to East Asia.

Vampire Bat: No, the journeys were to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. None of them are the same.

Vampire Owl: So, this doesn’t bring much of those memories back?

Vampire Bat: Well, those memories are not going to return. The trips have all ended with the Corona Virus.

Vampire Owl: Well, a Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos trip should happen at some point.

Vampire Bat: It might come a long time later, and that would mean many years later.

[Gets a marble cake and three cups of iced tea].

What is the movie about? :: Hai Phuong (Veronica Ngo) is a former gangster who used to belong to a powerful family in the city, but is now living in the city with her daughter Mai (Cat Vy), working as a debt collector, while she used her skills in vovinam, a Vietnamese martial arts from. With the kid’s father having died a long time ago, she is having a hard time, as both the mother and the child are harassed due to the kid being born out of wedlock, and also because the mother is a debt collector who is seen as a continuous trouble maker. Mai wishes to stop going to school and start a fish farm with her mother, so that they won’t be bullied again, not at the school and not at the market or the streets. But one day, after having a verbal fight with her daughter, Hai finds Mai being kidnapped by some men, and she follows them through road, but can only see them taking her away on a boat, and then into a transport to Ho Chi Minh City also known as Saigon.

So, what happens with the events here? :: Hai is returning to the the most populous city in Vietnam, and the capital of the former state South Vietnam after a long time, this time, not as a gangster, but as a mother looking for her daughter who was kidnapped. With no clue about where to search, she asks her former gang members to help, but they refuse help because things did undergo some change around there, and the power balance has shifted – not helping them would be the best for the safety. As he approaches the police, she finds them not good enough, but she does manage to steal the reports of some criminals who could be related to the case of missing children. Detective Luong (Phan Thanh Nhien) is in charge of the cases related to the missing children, but she just misses him. There seems to be a big international gang working behind this, and it could also have a link to her notorious past. Now, can she survive and manage to find her daughter in time?

The defence of Furie :: There is a high dose of action here, provided from the beginning to the end, without any break. All the action sequences are too good, and at the same time believable, taking the best out of the Vietnamese martial arts. We only have the realistic moves here though, with no bodies flying around like in some third-rate superstar movie that we know. We are amazed by the leading lady’s skills in performing action as well as depicting the feelings so well. There is the final action scene on a train, which has been taken in the best possible way. The emotions are also running high, and there is the raw beauty of rural Vietnam as well as the charming style of Ho Chi Minh City. We have those shots from a distance and from the heights, as we get caught in those visuals. We do manage to have a fine chase or two in between here. Furie is a thrilling ride, and we are with a mother in this one, like we were with a father in Taken and its sequels – she is also John Wick of another kind. This is a fine movie to begin your love with Vietnam.

Positives and negatives :: Furie is more or less a full martial arts movie which depends on the same to keep things interesting, taking out John Wick‘s shootout side completely. It is also a tale of redemption, but you need to like the action elements to fall in love with the movie. This is also an amazingly stylish movie, not just with the action, but also with the visuals. You can see the difference between the city and village life, enjoying the beauty of both. With a movie like this, action had to click, and it does, amazingly well, as you are kept on the edge of the seat. If you have watched the Malayalam movie Thira, you will know that it had to be thrilling, but that one never had the need for action sequences, but Furie needed it, and with a desperate mother in the main role, nails it. The chase scenes and the brutal fights will keep this one going strong. The fights are not only on the ground, but also on trains, boats and motor-bikes, as the environment also contributes to making this feel better. The flashbacks give a better idea of the story, but at times, they are redundant.

Performers of the soul :: It is Veronica Ngo who steals the show throughout this movie, with her martial arts moves. There is something that you don’t usually see with the fight scenes as long as she is around. She was there in one of the Star Wars movies, but not noticed much because it was a smaller role. The other main characters are also female, except for a police officer and some others who seem to come into picture for shorter intervals of time. Most of them are there only to get beaten up by her, as the lesser troopers of the evil side. Tran Thanh Hoa plays the antagonist, and she also has her smart moves with some nice action sequences to go with it. Phan Thanh Nhien has a few of them, and is there in a supporting role, after he comes to the picture rather late. Pham Anh Khoa has a smaller, but noticable role to play, and so does the one who plays the nurse at the hospital. The main characters in the village markets are all female too. Cat Vy who plays the daughter is also a fine child actor as proven here.

How it finishes :: Furie is a high quality movie from Vietnam, and it is the first, as well as the only Vietnamese movie which I have watched. This is the kind of movie which has you a lot interested in the movie from the beginning to the end, never wishing to take your eyes off, as you will end up missing the action. The movie was the Vietnamese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Among the foreign movies that we watch from here, this movie should have a higher status, and something above the rest of the movies from East Asia. Vietnam surely scores with that, and there is the need to focus on some more of the movies from this nation which makes some very interesting movies along with being a tourism destination that everyone should be visiting. I also had a plan to visit the place, but that didn’t work out – with the Corona Virus problem going on and on, I will have to be satisfied with what can be seen in this wonderful movie.

Release date: 22nd February 2019
Running time: 98 minutes
Directed by: Le Van Kiet
Starring: Veronica Ngo, Cat Vy, Phan Thanh Nhien, Pham Anh Khoa, Tran Thanh Hoa