Tag Archives: machines

The Matrix: Resurrections

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Vampire Owl: Do you remember the first time that we watched The Matrix?

Vampire Bat: Yes, you understood twenty five percent of the movie then.

Vampire Owl: I am sure that I understood more than fifty percentage of it.

Vampire Bat: You still had to read details about the story a hundred times.

Vampire Owl: I don’t remember having read the plot even once.

Vampire Bat: I remember that you did the same for the makers’ other film, Jupiter Ascending.

Vampire Owl: I don’t even remember watching that movie.

Vampire Bat: It was on the same day that you attended Mr Frankenstein‘s Grand Exhibition.

Vampire Owl: Dr Frankenstein has thousands of exhibitions every year.

Vampire Bat: You are talking about that many fake science exhibitions.

[Gets a paneer fried rice and three cups of white tea].

What is the movie about? :: Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is a game designer and the creator of a very popular video game series called The Matrix, which already had three games in the franchise. The game is based on his memories as Neo, which is not clear, but he does feel that there is a lot in his head which feels real. He is mostly happy with his life, as living as a famous game designer seems like a pretty good option. He keeps coming across a woman named Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss) who is a married woman with two kids, and she seems to be based on a main character whom he had designed for the video game, Trinity. He becomes friendly with her, and he likes him, but doesn’t seem to remember him at all, just like he is not sure how she became a part of his game. He struggles to separate his life and these strange memories, and his therapist gives him some strange pills in support. A young lady named Bugs (Jessica Henwick) finds this game simulation which is running an old code in a loop based on the time when Trinity had found Neo. With the help of a programme which has embodied Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) in a new form, she starts searching for answers, as Neo was supposed to be dead. Two of them combine the forces looking for Neo and finds him in the end.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The machines sent by Bugs save him, and he is taken to her ship known as the Mnemosyne. He is taken to the new city of the human resistance, where a lot older Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) awaits them. She is not happy that Bugs brought Neo to the area which is now a safe house, and tells her that she and her crew of Lexy (Erendira Ibarra, Sequoia (Toby Onwumere), Berg (Brian J Smith) and others are now grounded with the ship. It turns out that sixty years have passed in the real world after the war between humans and machines had ended. Except for Niobe who now takes the decisions around there, mostly adamant and foolish, while everyone else from the original human resistance are now dead, including Morpheus as he was known, and had led the resistance earlier. She tells them that there was some peace achieved through his sacrifice, which lasted for some years, but eventually, things got worse. Now, can Trinity be freed? Can there be peace again?

The defence of The Matrix: Resurrections :: You know the thing about The Matrix, which means that you mostly know what can happen with this version too – the trailer had set the expectations going well. There is a lot of action for sure, and you do enjoy it, even though these are not things which you haven’t seen before – the fights go on in a stylish manner within the movie, and there are also some nice worlds built around here. The advanced special effects and computer generated imagery means that this particular world looks even better than how it used to be earlier. Here we have Keanu Reeves doing what he has been doing the best again, which is always a thing of quality – outside the world of John Wick, Neo is indeed an iconic character and we are never tired of watching him around there. The new additions of the cast are very much suited to this situation of post-apocalyptic science fiction action. After all, we know that this is the kind of situation which could happen at any point of time, with machines taking over being the best option for any apocalyptic event – the extinction of human kind is not something that we can resist. Then, this is a world which has no shortage of style.

The claws of flaw :: The Matrix: Resurrections which comes as the very late addition to the list of movies in a franchise which was far above the others of that time, doesn’t manage to live up to that hype or the grand expectations which were always present. When Neo is coming again after a long time, you expect that this is going to be something above all, but with the lack of innovation, they try to share the qualities that makes Neo with a female characters, which is pretty much the dumbest decision that they can do with some dumb romance added to a film which could have stopped that with the third movie and a few deaths. Actually, the third movie of the franchise served as such a fine ending, and this often keeps feeling a lot unnecessary. One has to wonder if any action sequences in this movie will be remembered much in comparison to the earlier movies, among which all of them had some special moments of fight scenes. The beginning is also too slow, leaving the film too long with so much of initial moments good enough to be cut. One would guess that this one is more intended to make some quick money on the fame which those classic movies had, but that attempt seems to have failed in rising up to the expectations too.

The performers of the soul :: We know that this has been the movie which made Keanu Reeves the huge star all around the world, even though I have always remembered him facing the devil in Constantine and Devil’s Advocate more than any others as well the vampire as Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula of 1992, and maybe a few older people might go for Speed as the initial big thing from him. The new generation surely had John Wick with its sequels, and I do like his science fiction works like Replicas too. Yet, this is the one role in which almost everyone of my age would have wanted to see him again, and he is here, with the same strength that he had at that earlier point. Carrie-Anne Moss is someone whom we remembers for this franchise itself, and it is always good to see her back – she has become part of this world again really well. Yet, the actress who makes the most impact is Jessica Henwick, who played second fiddle in Underwater nicely, and she is indeed lovely – the baton should be passed on to her soon enough. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II doesn’t stand up to Laurence Fishburne, but remains okay. Erendira Ibarra also has a notable role. Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris are villains for the sake of being, as machines rule over them. Priyanka Chopra Jonas is there for the sake of being there.

How it finishes :: The big question about this particular movie is whether it was actually needed at all, for these are not the times when the first three movies came into existence, and the adaptation to the new audience who have witnessed all of these already, and then again through other movies would have had some strange feeling about watching this one. You are coming up with a sequel so many years later, and it would require something more than what was already seen, and this one falls flat on innovation. But, there is a lot of entertainment with the action happening all around, and nostalgia is something that sells, which means that we can always watch this version of The Matrix too, and hope that a great worthy sequel will be made at some other point of time. Until then, let us be happy enough with this one, and hope that the Corona virus would stop coming again and again, as watching movies like this at the theatre can mean more, even though I would always prefer the OTT versions. After all, becoming poor by paying so much for the movie tickets, parking and food after being in a traffic jam for such a long time, followed by dumb fans in a theatre is terror, no matter which one is the flick.

Release date: 22nd December 2021 (Theatre); 12th May 2022 (Amazon Prime Video)
Running time: 148 minutes
Directed by: Lana Wachowski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jada Pinkett Smith

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

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Mother Android

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Vampire Owl: So, another movie with the world going to end?

Vampire Bat: Yes, humans love making this kind of movies.

Vampire Owl: It is basically because they know that their world is going to end soon.

Vampire Bat: They know that so well because they are causing it.

Vampire Owl: Well, Doctor Frankenstein wouldn’t make such dangerous inventions.

Vampire Bat: Mr Frankenstein has never been a real scientist.

Vampire Owl: At least he is making some medical inventions, not trying to run away to the Moon and Mars like the wealthy humans.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that he doesn’t care about our world any more than humans.

Vampire Owl: You know that as an undead doctor, he is trying to do his best.

Vampire Bat: He has been a dead doctor for a longer period of time than being undead.

[Gets a blueberry cake and three glasses of orange shake].

What is the movie about? :: It is a Christmas evening, and Georgia Olsen (Chloe Grace Moretz) finds out that she is pregnant with the child of her boyfriend, Sam Hoth (Algee Smith). Georgia is disappointed, as she doesn’t want to have a child at an young age. Sam tells here that she is ready for anything, and also asks her to marry him. She is not really sure about this particular relationship, and wonder what the next step is – she also hides this newly discovered secret from her parents Mr and Mrs Olsen (Jon F Merz and Tamara Hickey). An android Eli (Stephen Thorne), which is owned by the Olsens wishes wishes them Happy Halloween, which seems to point to something being wrong. Soon there is a sound which resembles a technical glitch, and while the smartphones start exploding, and the androids start attack their owners. As they watch another android named Daniel (Liam McNeill) attack its owners, and a series of explosions everywhere, they understand the end of humanity is close enough to arrive now.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Nine months have passed after the incident which was then considered as close to the end of the world as it could get. Now, Georgia is expecting her baby any time soon, and try to get to Boston which is supposed to be highly fortified. The rest of the areas had androids taking over, and completely running through the military forces. Georgia and Sam have heard rumours about new mothers and babies being transported to Asia, where they can have a peaceful life. But to reach there, they have to cross an area full of androids who will not stop until they find all humans out there dead and buried. On the way, they find a military post, where they are let in, and Doctor Howe (Kate Avallone) allows them to have the baby here, but as Sam gets into a fight with a soldier, they are thrown out. Once they are outside, they decide to take a motorbike and quickly go through the android-infested area, but with the machines on the hunt, that seems to be one grand dumb idea.

The defence of Mother/Android :: The man vs machine theme is present, even though not used to the best advantage. The movie getting released on Netflix after Hulu was indeed a good idea, as more people have access to it now. The beginning stages of the movie can be considered as the best parts, as we know that we are up to something big, and there is an apocalypse coming up, like that of the Terminator and similar movies. The expectations are raised high during those moments. The world after the apocalypse is also nicely created, without hope, and with most of the civilization already finished. There are similarities to a zombie apocalypse here, even though there is no transforming into machines. The final moments do capture the strength of the emotions back, and it works because of Chloe Grace Moretz, an actress whom we have seen from her childhood, one young lady who never holds back with her work. As Raul Castillo comes in later, the performances can mostly be appreciated, and we are all in support of a lady who is soon to be a mother, trying to survive against all odds.

The claws of flaw :: Mother/Android required to have more science and also more action, along with more thrilling moments, as the elements of drama are the ones that have the advantage here, with the rest taking the backseat. The emotions could have also been better defined, instead of having only a woman who is going to give birth at the centre, with not that much to be added after that. You have a couple in love with each other, and the woman is pregnant – there is not much to do for the the man here other than become the protector. The man is the protector and the woman is the mother, thus having not much of a significance here otherwise, as their personalities are not that much to remember, as both do get irritating at times. The movie is slow, and is about half an hour too long, as we look at it and try to feel the entertainment. The idea of the androids attacking is also not used to the best advantage, and there are no real memorable scenes, even after that twist has us taken for surprise – the advantage is just not taken here.

The performers of the soul :: Chloe Grace Moretz is an actress whom we have seen around for a very long time, from those times when she was not an adult – she was there as part of so many different roles which had our attention. Dark Shadows and Carrie were the ones which caught my attention first, but these made me go back and watch one of my favourite vampire movies of all-time, Let Me In – she has been one remarkable actress from her childhood days, and she had also played a similar figure with motherly affection in a more recent movie, Shadow in the Cloud, a full action film. As usual, she holds her side strongly, and with all the focus on her, gets it right, even when the movie seems to struggle with some of its content. She fits into the mother looking to survive in a machine-troubled world with ease, as no role seems to evade her fine performance. Algee Smith plays the supportive role, and that is done in a natural way, with nothing huge, and no surprises added. Raul Castillo plays the man with a secret, and he is surely the kind of actor who is suited for a post-apocalyptic work, as he has some action sequences to go with it.

How it finishes :: Even with the restrictions related to the budget, Mother/Android has managed a pretty good post-apocalyptic flick with fine performances to go with it. Just like the title says, it has only two significant things in the movie, the android and the mother – the others are pretty much insignificant. Just like some of the recent post-apocalyptic works, this one stays slow, even though there is just enough of the thrilling moments in a specific atmosphere as well as the twists to keep it going – well, not all movies set after apocalypse can be asked to become as quick paced as The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, Mortal Engines or Mad Max: Fury Road. This one does manage to bring the feeling of the end of the world again, and as expected, with technology, the idea which the Terminator franchise has always provided the support for. Well, the world, most probably is going to end due to the effects of science and technology – it is surely the one thing which has brought all the global warming and the nukes to the scene, and if this movie also holds it responsible one can only agree.

Release date: 7th January 2022 (Netflix)
Running time: 118 minutes
Directed by: Mattson Tomlin
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Algee Smith, Raul Castillo, Linnea Gardner, Kiara Pichardo, Oscar Wahlberg, Christian Mallen, Jared Reinfeldt, Liam McNeill, Stephen Thorne, Jon F Merz, Tamara Hockey, Jason Bowen, Hana Kim, Benz Veal, Will Lyman, Owen Burke, Kate Avallone

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Terminator: Dark Fate

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What is the movie about? :: The movie is set after the events of Terminator: Judgement Day, as three years after defeating the T-1000 and preventing the unleashing of the artificial intelligence Skynet, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and John Connor (Jude Collie) are spending some time on a vacation far away from home, so that nobody can find them. They live with the feeling that there is no immediate threat from the future as they made sure that there would be no Skynet as the reason for the same no longer exists. Suddenly, another T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent from the later time line before Skynet’s fall in the future, arrives and kills John in front of her. Meanwhile, with Skynet no longer a threat, the future is altered significantly, as in present time, two more people are sent from the future with assigned missions.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: An advanced Terminator model, the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) is sent back in time to Mexico City with the mission of murdering one girl, and an a cybernetically-enhanced soldier Grace (Mackenzie Davis) is also sent to the present from the future to protect her. The two people from the year 2042 converge on one girl Daniella Ramos (Natalia Reyes) who is the new target. The machine kills her father Ramos (Enrique Arce) and brother Diego (Diego Boneta), but Grace manages to save her only to be attacked by the highly advanced terminator’s cybernetic endo-skeleton and shape-shifting liquid metal exterior, cornering them on a motorway. But they are saved by Sarah who arrives there in time, and sends the terminator to the backfoot, but fails to finish it off, as it moves to access the database to plan a more accurate attack.

And what else is to follow? :: With the terminator not on their direct trail as of now, Grace, Daniella and Sarah locks themselves in a room, and have a better understanding of the situation. Sarah has been hunting terminators who arrive from the future, as she would be texted their location from some unknown private number and coordinates which were also written above Grace’s abdomen. Grace comes from an altered future in 2042 in which there is no John or Skynet, but there is an advanced artificial intelligence known as Legion which was particularly designed for cyber-warfare. With Legion taking control of all servers resulting in a nuclear holocaust and the death of most of the population, the machines started hunting the surviving humans. With no food, shelter or hope to stand against the highly advanced machines, there is a new resistance, and Grace is a soldier who was seriously injured in a fight and was turned into a cyborg – now she has the toughest mission ahead!

The defence of Terminator: Dark Fate :: Arnold Schwarzenegger returning as the favourite Terminator never gets old, as it has had a great role to play in our childhood. With him returning, Terminator: Genisys was also a lot of fun. Here, the terminator stuff continues to be there with the same strength. There are those high powered and intense action sequences which are there throughout the movie. There are fights on the motorway, inside a factory, on a dam, and even in the air, with an airplane at the centre. The visuals are all nice, and there is also some humour with this one. The idea of the machines having a conscience is also there. The visions of a devastated future is nice, even though we have already seen things like that before, not just with Terminator movies, but with other action and science fiction titles. This movie does keep the Terminator franchise going well, and bring more sequels within this time line.

The claws of flaw :: We can see the case of repetition here, as the Terminator franchise struggles to add anything new to what was already there. There is the feeling that we have seen all these before, and we keep wondering if there would be different artificial intelligence systems known as Skynet, Genisys and Legion along with different people to be protected like John Connor and Daniella Ramos, known just by different names, varying only by ethnicity, gender etc. The idea is very close to expiry date if something innovate is not added – machines taking over the world and time travel are two very common things unlike how it was during the time of Judgement Day and Rise of the Machines. There is the need to take this to the next level with an advanced level of thinking rather than keeping the same thing happening again and again – maybe the time travel idea can be done with, and we can move to that future infested with deadly machines.

The performers of the soul :: Arnold Schwarzenegger once again carries another movie of the franchise on his shoulders – he has been doing this forever, except for being a very small part of the Christian Bale and Sam Worthington starrer, Terminator: Salvation. Arnold once again makes this movie better, and he never ceases to amaze us in the franchise. As he makes a return to the screen later in the movie, things get even more interesting. The same can’t be said about Linda Hamilton though, as her character and dialogues are badly written. Using the lines of the terminator, and fighting terminators at that age is absurd, unless you are a machine like Arnold plays. The character is too much of an exaggerated version, even though that can be added to some dumb fun. Mackenzie Davis is delightful to watch though, and she makes a great character, and fantastic during action sequences, proven from the first moment she lands. Natalia Reyes excels as the chosen, confused girl, even though not that much as the leader. Gabriel Luna makes another good terminator.

How it finishes :: The Arnold Schwarzenegger – Terminator childhood nostalgia should be the one thing that keep the audience here interested in the movie. But the audience is still limited, and in towns like Kothamangalam, there is zero female audience for this movie, as it was with movies like Aquaman – a surprising case which makes one wonder if the Hollywood movies except the Avengers stuff have been reduced to male audience in towns further away from Cochin. Well, if the focus was given on Arnold instead of getting Linda Hamilton more screen time, the problem would have been solved in this part of the world. After all, the effect that Arnold had created is greater than the same created by any other superstar has been creating these days. With Terminator: Dark Fate, it would have its audience for sure, and the same would have higher numbers in the multiplexes in the cities, as the Terminator franchise can grow from this with the new time line, moving towards the future.

Release date: 1st November 2019
Running time: 134 minutes
Directed by: Tim Miller
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta, Linda Hamilton, Alicia Borrachero, Enrique Arce, Steven Cree, Tom Hopper, Jude Collie

<— Click here to go to the previous review, and earlier one.

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Kill Command

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killcommand (1)

Vampire Owl :: I remember having made such a command.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, I totally understand. To your zombie minions?

Vampire Owl :: No, to the Frankenstein Monster.

Vampire Bat :: No wonder nobody gets killed by that command.

Vampire Owl :: My question is about why nobody has told me anything about this movie yet.

Vampire Bat :: Nobody I know have heard about this movie either.

Vampire Owl :: But I have a feeling that we will like this one. The poster is so nice.

Vampire Bat :: A science fiction action thriller will only do good at this time. We never really get much of such movies.

Vampire Owl :: We are going to make Dr. Victor Frankenstein proud by watching such movies.

Vampire Bat :: And we have Vanessa Kirby as the central character.

[Gets three cups of tea with bananachips].

What is it about? :: The story set a long way into the future, as technology has gone beyond human expectations, transforming lives as well as combat. Captain Bukes (Thure Lindhardt) and his team of marines are off to a training facility in a remote island. They are joined by Mills (Vanessa Kirby), a human who is genetically enhanced by robotic technology, being part of one of the many types of machines and hybrids who are supposed to replace the human soldiers later. The idea is simple, to finish off the machines which were designed by Mills and get out of the facility, as she herself will observe the whole thing. The soldiers don’t really trust Mills, and hesitate to consider her as one of them. But they trust themselves to go through this training with ease, as the opponents are just mindless machines who have always been there as part of the programme.

So what happens next? :: Even though things seem easy in the beginning, soon they find out that the machines are copying their battle style, and are learning how to counter the human soldiers, using the human idea against themselves, and steadily becoming the superior force with better skill acquired through the experience of fighting with the marines. This no longer remains a training programme, but a battle for survival, as there are more effective killing machines on the island than they had imagined. So, with marines getting killed one after the other, what are the chances of them completing the training or at least getting out of the island? What role does Mills play in this newly declared war, and on which side does her loyalties lie? Where did this simple training programme go wrong and how can the marines make their last stand with machines everywhere?

The defence of Kill Command :: The movie has great CGI; it was rather unexpected for a lesser known movie which seems to be made from a lower budget. It is the kind of movie that you can watch instead of all those high budget movies which keep coming for you, with almost nothing inside them other than the repetition of what we have been seeing for many years. The machines look really good and environment including the surroundings and the insides of the buildings are all nicely designed. There is also a lot of action going on here. There are some nice thrilling moments with the machines around, and you can look forward to a big adventure. This is also a short movie and things go on smoothly throughout its run, leaving no boring moments behind. The acting is also good, and there is something special about how it turns out on the screen – you see even a few nice scares to go with it.

The claws of flaw :: There will be similarities to be found when in comparison with other movies, with its central idea. A better treatment of the same subject could have been done with more entertainment and further twists. This one often takes its progression straight, taking things for granted, and not making the best use of everything. There is also a certain amount of predictability that comes in, and it hesitates to go as the movie progresses towards the end – a better finish would have also been nice, as everything seemed to be moving towards the big final moments, but that never really happens. There are the nicely designed machines, there is the partially machine character, there is a special environment which can bring mystery and horror, and also a lot of action, but all these are not used to create the maximum impact, which would have raised the level of this flick.

Performers of the soul :: The best of this movie are its machines; we will get to love how they look and work. This whole thing can be compared to one big video game that you might have played during your childhood – there is that kind of a feel throughout this flick. The cast includes mostly unknown names as far as people in this part of the world are concerned. The best among them, and the one who leads the way as the protagonist, is great to watch – Vanessa Kirby who has played Estella Havisham in the BBC version of Great Expectations, makes her half-human, half-machine character work with ease. Genetically enhanced characters or cyborgs are not really the best characters had to be that good, and I would consider this particular one to be another memorable mixed existence. The rest are there in support, which they manage well.

How it finishes :: Kill Command is that kind of a movie which can create a great video game out of itself – it is like a perfect setting for a First Person Shooter, especially one featuring some arena battles following games like Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena. As a sci-fi action thriller, it makes a nice impact, even without trying too hard. With the kind of material that exists here, I would want to have a sequel, and I am pretty sure that it can surpass this one. Kill Command provides you with that feeling that some nice sci-fi movies can be made without the big names and those huge action sequences that destroy everything around. Just a few machines, some people and a remote location is enough to make the whole experience better with some nice CGI and performances, as long as the resources are used nicely. I would consider this movie to be a fine addition to those simple, but effective sci-fi movies – this is no Ex Machina, but still a fine work.

***This is the 300th movie review on this blog!!!

Release date: 13th May 2016
Running time: 99 minutes
Directed by: Steven Gomez
Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Thure Lindhardt, David Ajala, Bentley Kalu, Tom McKay, Kelly Gough, Deborah Rosan

killcommand

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.