Laverne Cox – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: Are they calling vampires by new names now?

Vampire Bat: They are not even sure that we exist.

Vampire Owl: They are calling us these names without even knowing about our existence.

Vampire Bat: People can even hate non-existing entities.

Vampire Owl: Will that make sure that they exist?

Vampire Bat: Well, that depends on the final conclusion.

Vampire Owl: I am not letting them conclude about us.

Vampire Bat: Why do their conclusions matter to us? Are they hunting us?

Vampire Owl: Because they think and we exist?

Vampire Bat: Thoughts and existence are not co-existing around here.

[Gets a parippu vada and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: Tally (Joey King) and Peris (Chase Stokes) are best friends in a post-apocalyptic world where future seems to offer not much divergence. It is shown that the world has fallen into the ultimate chaos after a group known as “Rusties” exhausted all natural resources and polluted its environment, leading to fight among themselves. To keep the remaining humanity alive, Earth’s best scientists created a set of genetically modified orchids which acted as the energy source without polluting the air or water. Humans who went through the worst and their descendants had to undergo a surgical procedure to enhance human beings in both appearance and fitness so that they could all look the same, with everyone beautiful, lovely and charming. The surgery is performed on humans who are called “Uglies” until then, and would turn them into the “Pretties”, letting them into the colourful area of the city where there are celebrations and only happiness, with no sad or grieving face ever seen.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Tally and Peris are Uglies, but Peris would leave for his surgery first as he is older. He is excited about it as the batch is welcomed to a new world by the representatives of the new world. The two have scars on their hands, which they promise to keep despite the procedure means to make them perfect without even such a scar. They also promise to meet again and rekindle their friendship. But as she finds him again, she realizes that he is not really bothered about her, and had even broken the promise by getting the scar on the hand removed. This leaves Tally sad and depressed, but is forced to flee the area as she is chased by machines, but is helped by Shay (Brianne Tju) who has been planning to rebel against the government. Shay is hoping to travel to “The Smoke”, a land of freedom within nature based on a book written Henry David Thoreau, one of the last copies of those older books available during the time when not much has remained against chaos.

And what more is to follow as things get stranger and weird? :: Shay who becomes best friends with Tally, asks her to reject the surgery and remain what she really is. She believes that hope is in the outskirts of the city and only a man named David (Keith Powers) who leads the resistance against the government can lead them to hope and truth, and they will remain who they really are, not perfect, but as the right people. As Shay leaves Tally to find David in the outskirts of the city, Dr. Cable (Laverne Cox) hold the surgical procedure of Tally. She tells Tally that that David is a dangerous man who will hurt Shay, and is building a weapon to destroy the city and what remains of this perfect civilization. Cable feels that only Tally can find Shay as their friendship is very deep. She asks Tally to do something right now and save her new friend, and find herself becomes the perfect person among Pretties and rejoin with her former best friend. She wonders if this is the right thing to do, but as she cares for Shay and her own surgery, she would have to agree. But how far will she go to achieve her newly found objective?

The defence of Uglies :: The movie is led nicely by Joey King and Brianne Tju follows the same path really well. The themes remain very much clearly seen, from beauty standards to conforming to the laws and freedom as well as self-worth. The impact of technology on people is clearly seen and also its adverse effects on the environment. It reminds us that the future will never be bright, and that there will always be someone to control humanity. The movie seems to have built a world that we will remember for long, as there is a bright one, a devastated one and one in between, all of them looking like a lot of work has been done around here. The stylish world of the Pretties world will surely catch the attention of lovers of futuristic designs and the other world is of interest to the lovers of post-apocalyptic and dystopian situations. The looks of different sections of people also get our attention. There is also some fine futuristic action as the movie gets to an end, a certain amount of mystery is also felt around here. There is surely hope for a future sequel too considering where the movie ended.

The claws of flaw :: The movie’s supporting cast do not come up with that much as we look at it, and the characters are also not that much developed except for the two main ladies. The story does seem to be just a repetition of what we have been seeing all the time, and it does not bring that much of a change when on the screen. There is not that much time taken in making the world better, as there are more things under-explored than what is shown in style. The archetypes seem to be given more focus not just with the situations and the world, but also with the characters who give the feeling that we have surely seen them before. There could have been more commitment around here, and even with themes, going deeper does not seem to be something of relevance here. The ending is also not that strong, even if it was meant to stay faithful to the novel. It is a case of wonder why so much power is not felt around here, even though such strong themes are dealt with, and from the title itself, the exploration of the themes seems to begin and only feel like getting stronger as the world moves forward.

How it finishes :: The movie goes through the pattern set by The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Divergent, with the setup closest to the last one mentioned – then there are these movies‘ sequels. If you like these movies and its sequels coming right out the Young Adult movies, you are sure to like this one too, for the world and action remains interesting with themes and messages that catch our attention, despite not using the strengths to the best or finishing that well as one would expect from a movie like this. The lack of originality and the presence of predictability do not affect this one like in some other cases, as it remains visually that good and the leading lady handles the situation well, and as messages are rather direct, there is no holding back. As it released directly to Netflix, the visual style might not be that powerfully felt, but this is the kind of entertainment that we can have on a fine weekend, and there is no shortage of enjoyment in this movie of the post-apocalyptic and dystopic future that would come to us in one way or the other.

Release date: 13th September 2024 (Netflix)
Running time: 102 minutes
Directed by: Joseph McGinty Nichol
Starring: Joey King, Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, Brianne Tju, Jan Luis Castellanos, Charmin Lee, Laverne Cox

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: Usually, the jolt happens during one of the experiments of Doctor Frankenstein and his minions.

Vampire Bat: So, Mr Frankenstein is having his own minions now.

Vampire Owl: Yes, they are a few braindead zombies who were given special passport.

Vampire Bat: You just cannot allow zombies into the world of vampires.

Vampire Owl: They are completely braindead. They won’t remember that they are zombies.

Vampire Bat: Then how can Mr Frankenstein make them useful?

Vampire Owl: Well, he just needs someone to do exactly as he says.

Vampire Bat: Someone to pass through those experimental portals?

Vampire Owl: Yes, and also through those experimental time machines.

Vampire Bat: Well, even zombies would hesitate to do that.

[Gets a chocolate cake and three cups of cardamom tea].

What is the movie about? :: Lindy Lewis (Kate Beckinsale) has always had intermittent explosive disorder, which was often triggered by interactions with people around her. As a child, she was so angry that her parents had some really tough time handling her. The parents didn’t have much of a good relationship among themselves to boast about, which made the parenting procedure even worse. This situation had also made her stronger and sharper, and she could beat up even a person or two who were twice her size. The parents no longer wanted anything to do with her. The mental health institution is not able to handle her, and even the military training works against her as she doesn’t take orders from anyone, the process ending with her beating up the commander. A psychiatrist, Dr Ivan Munchin (Stanley Tucci) seems to find a solution, and tries to treat her disorder with a vest which gives electric shocks whenever she gets really angry and a threat to others around her. But it seems to be less effective as days and months pass.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: She feels that as a new option, a social change might help, and with the advice of her psychiatrist, decides to go on a date with an accountant named Justin (Jai Courtney). They become very close to each other, but just before their next date, she finds out that he has been murdered, which means that from requiring no more of the shocks, she will be in need for a lot of them to keep her not angry. The police seems to be not too confident about finding the ones who murdered him, as there are not many clues left there. She feels that she should find out the people behind the murder, and wouldn’t trust the indifferent police officers to do it. As the first step towards the same, she manages to steal his belongings from the police station, much to the dismay of the officers who are in charge of the case, Detective Vicars (Bobby Cannavale) and Detective Nevin (Laverne Cox). Can she be of use in solving this mystery?

The defence of Jolt :: The movie does manage to be funny at times, and the action is pretty much effective. Having Kate Beckinsale at the centre is the big advantage that this movie has, and she is the one reason why things are going on so well. You can always trust her with the action sequences – the fighting on the screen seems to need her every time. The final twist is an effective one, and even though there were were some doubts, we don’t really guess it that well. There are some fine visuals, and the fights also take place at some interesting areas. A touch of humour being added with the fights also works really well. When there is a furious heroine added at the centre of all these, you are into more fun. As a simple fun movie with action, it scores well enough, even though not that much like those older movies starring Jackie Chan and friends – we all miss them for sure. This one is an entertaining ride, and one cannot question the same at any moment, as this one is only as long as it should be, not adding anything extra to increase the length – you enjoy this with the short length really well, without complaints.

The claws of flaw :: There are so many things which seem too usual for this kind of a genre combining action and comedy. We do have so many elements which some dumb people think are funny, even after so many years of repeating the same thing. Some of the jokes make you feel that they have just run out of ideas. A movie like this should always have a better idea about being innovative, as it is not supposed to be full of just dumb humour. It should have known where to stop with the available humour. There were so many opportunities in there. The progress of the movie also has some moments when it doesn’t seem to think enough. With a premise having enough to be so funny, there is always something around here to make the whole thing more innovative, funny and action-filled – much better than what it happens to be. It could have also followed the Kate, John Wick and Hitman mode with more interesting fights. As of now, the hope to have more of the same is only there for future with a possible sequel.

The performers of the soul :: Kate Beckinsale can always do an action thriller like this and provide cent percent without having to think too much about it. As the lady of the Underworld vampire movies and the one in charge within Total Recall, she has done more than enough fighting on the screen than we would think about it. There is the funny and emotional side to her too, which she has also managed very well. We will continue to remember her more as that vampire-figure, but this one is a welcome addition. Nearing her fifties, she is still the one actress who will want to have in an action movie, as much as Resident Evil‘s Milla Jovovich. Jai Courtney has only a few minutes of presence here, but is effective for sure – had the memorable moments with the Divergent and Terminator series in this part of the world too. Bobby Cannavale adds to the humour and does a solid job in doing the role of the good cop. Stanley Tucci also does a really good job in being the man of experimentation.

How it finishes :: Jolt is surely much better than what the critics seemed to talk about, and with Kate Beckinsale in an action thriller, it has managed to maintain a certain amount of quality – it is something one is assured of. If there director had a better vision, this might have transformed into something big, but she has settled with the common and simple path to quick dose entertainment, an action comedy with not many new jokes to be added there. The fact that it remains an entertaining journey is a testimony to Kate Beckinsale once again, as over the years, she seems to have become more experienced in action rather than becoming aged like the Ulysses who said that they were not of the strengths that they were used to be. The movie did release without much hype around here, which might be the reason why most people of this part of the world haven’t watched it yet. But it is a pretty good choice for the entertaining side.

Release date: 23rd July 2021 (Amazon Prime Video)
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Tanya Wexler
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Bobby Cannavale, Laverne Cox, Stanley Tucci, Jai Courtney, Susan Sarandon, David Bradely, Ori Pfeffer