Mark Smith – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: It is the time to test our powers, right?

Vampire Bat: There is no need to test any power right now.

Vampire Owl: All powers need to be tested. We haven’t used them for some time.

Vampire Bat: The powers belong to all of us, forever. We don’t need to keep testing them.

Vampire Owl: These are basically skills. They weaken without practice.

Vampire Bat: Frankenstein needs to go through practicing skills, not us.

Vampire Owl: You mean to see that we have the powers like humans have lies.

Vampire Bat: Yes, lies are their superpowers, and we have ours.

Vampire Owl: I don’t think that we can have any stronger power than that.

Vampire Bat: Well, lies are immortal, but no human likes to hear the truth. Not even Mr Frankenstein in human form.

[Gets a masala bonda and three cups of white tea].

What is the movie about? :: The story takes place in East London in the year 1974. Trade unions and the government are now against each other as the economy is in crisis. Blackouts have been ordered to conserve power, leading to long time periods of darkness every night. Valerie (Rose Williams) is a young nurse who is supposed to work through the night on some day. She is also someone who loves being part of pediatrics. She used to be an orphan, and hopes that she can make a difference among the people in the poor community of the area. But as the matron finds her talking to a doctor against her advice on the first day itself, she puts her on night duty earlier than she is supposed to be. She is left in charge of the intensive care ward, and is asked to stay there at all times, as the whole place will be dark. But the power seems to go off rather too early, and she is left in the middle of nowhere, as she tries to get back to her level and ward.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: She has no idea about how to get to her assigned level, but is helped by the nurses of the only other ward which is working at night. Barbara (Emma Catherine Rigby) is the only other person who is in the ward, and she happens to be an old acquaintance. She is also not happy about being in the hospital, as she hopes to get married to someone rich, maybe a doctor. Soon, the generator which just manages to provide the minimum lights to the room goes out, and Barbara goes out to check, leaving Valerie behind with a candle. Soon, Valerie begins to have some strange visions, and even feels being pulled from behind. She needs to get some medical charts, but it is darkness everywhere. There is also a girl around there who hasn’t left with the other patients too. Is there some secret about the place that needs to be dealt with? Is there something supernatural about it which cannot be stopped? What could be hiding in the darkness and awaiting an opportunity?

The defence of The Power :: The movie attempts to depend the most on the atmosphere – the settings elevates the film all the time. The situation seems to favour the horror genre from the beginning to the end. The year of everything happening around here, and the historical background also seem to be things of interest. There is the feeling of danger present at all times, thanks to the visuals contributing so well here. The same also adds to a feeling of antiquity around here, as we are transported to that past successfully. It is more or less like a walk through a hospital museum. The horror is somewhat working, mostly due to the darkness and unpredictability rather than anything else. There is nothing clearly visible around here to bring the horror, and the uncertainty does work, even though we do end up asking for more. The movie also seems to move towards some message, even though that is not really achieved in the end.

The claws of flaw :: The movie mostly remains slow, even though there were so many opportunities to raise its level, and bring something special in between to speed up the pace here. When a horror movie which is only one and half hours long feels long, it means that there was the need for something to be done in between. A number of areas feel complex, and the explanations often feel strange. It seems to have more with the way this story is told, and the mystery is being built. The synopsis seems to have had more to offer in comparison to what we have here. How many demons could have been used here, and in what all means? The scope was endless in this atmosphere, and with this scope. But what we have here is half-baked in nature. The route to the ending is also nicely built, but we see that in the end, that is not strong enough. It needed to live up to the title of the film, but we see that there is a certain struggle regarding that too, with the movie not being strong enough with enough power.

The performers of the soul :: The movie depends a lot on Rose Williams to come up with a deep performance. With spirits around and possession also coming up, there is a lot more to be added around here. Even as she does so well, the movie is the one that lets her down with its inability to make her seem that good as she really is. She has more power than the movie itself, and would shine in another horror movie as the scream queen even more. In this particular movie, we are often confused about what her character is really about, and what she is actually trying to achieve. Emma Catherine Rigby doesn’t have that much to do around here, and she has to quickly disappear without making an impact, which we did feel that she would make. One would have expected more from her though. Diveen Henry has quite a strong presence in between, even though it is not there for too long. Charlie Carrick also has a smooth role, but it is also small enough. Shakira Rahman as Saba is also notable enough, and she also has her moments.

How it finishes :: The title, The Power might feel a little bit confusing with another movie releasing with the same name, in the same year. It is also a movie which could have done a lot more with its premise. What is required was more power rather than anything else, along with better focus. During these days, making an interesting horror movie requires more than just one spirit and an environment for it to thrive. Innovation has been a basic requirement for any horror film without a grand cast or lots of budget, and this one also required to keep that in mind for longer. This also makes one wonder why Amazon Prime Video is not acquiring quality horror movies like Netflix has been doing. It shouldn’t always be about Madres, The Manor and Black as Night. We all prefer Prime as there are multiple advantages to it, but there are so many movies from last year which Amazon can get into its bag. Let us hope that a good number of them will be of horror or thriller genre, and raise the bar.

Release date: 8th April 2021
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Corinna Faith
Starring: Rose Williams, Marley Chesham, Diveen Henry, Mark Smith, Amy Beth Heyes, Emma Catherine Rigby, Maria Major, Paul Antony-Barber, Nuala McGowan, Robert Goodman, Sarah Hoare, Anjelica Serra, Charlie Carrick, Shakira Rahman, Joe Haddow, John Mackay, Gbemisola Ikumelo

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: And, here is our Academy Award Winner of the year, Zootopia.

Vampire Bat: It also won the Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Movie Award and Annie Award for the Best Animated Feature Film.

Vampire Owl: I see that it had also received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film.

Vampire Bat: But I still thought that Moana would get the award.

Vampire Owl: So did I, with The Rock also there for our entertainment.

Vampire Bat: The movies that we like the most rarely gets the award, does it?

Vampire Owl: Yes, I remember such occasions a lot.

Vampire Bat: Maybe we should get the chance to recommend a few ourselves.

Vampire Owl: We need the Vampire Academy Awards as soon as possible.

Vampire Bat: Still, I don’t think that there is that much of a difference between the Oscar nominated and won movies.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with sweet porotta].

What is the movie about? :: We are introduced to a world in which different kinds of animals thrive, as they live together without considering the differences that their species bring. The lifestyle is more like humans, and they are separated by their species and cuisines like we are by all those things beginning with race, there is a clear reflection of human life. The centre of all these is the place where everyone wishes to live in, the mega city of Zootopia where there is the chance for everyone to be what they want to be, and have a good life. So it is quite natural for a lot of animals to choose to go to this city and try their luck, as it is with many human cities. It is due to the same reason that a rabbit from a village called Bunnyburrow, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) wishes to become a police officer in the city. But it is not that easy, because it is not a usual job for the rabbits.

So, what happens next? :: But Judy does manage to become a police officer, even though her father Stu Hopps (Don Lake) and her mother Bonnie Hopps (Bonnie Hunt) doesn’t believe that she can perform well enough. They believe that she will come back to her some day, and save herself from the dangerous criminal world. With every other person in the police department being a strong mammal, Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) doubts the abilities of her as a rabbit, and puts her in parking duty – her parents like it, but she doesn’t, as she performed so well during her training, and wanted to prove herself. But with other animals being bigger in size and strength, like buffaloes, leopards, tigers, lions along with others, it was always going to be a tough task for her to prove something physically. But she decides that she will prove everyone wrong.

What is to follow now? :: As she leaves the parking duty to arrest a thief Duke Weaselton (Alan Tudyk), Bogo is furious about her. As she even volunteers to solve a case related to Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer) whose husband has gone missing, he decides that he will give the case to her, but she will have to quit if she fails to solve it. Dawn Bellwether (Jenny Slate) who is the assistant mayor of Zootopia, supports her, but she gets only forty eight hours to solve the case of this particular person and many other missing mammals. She makes a small-time con artist fox Nicholas P. Wilde (Jason Bateman) also join her, because he was the last one to see the missing person, and he also has many contacts in the city. Even though reluctant at first, he decides to join her in the end, and they go on a search deep into this problem – can they solve this or will Judy have to go back to her carrot farm in the village?

Zootopia as a tale with a fine core :: The movie has to be admired for how it uses its idea of different species to symbolise different people. There is difference in everyone whom we meet, and the idea of being different in many ways, is shown here too. It is up-to each one of us to go chasing that dream as a different person, and it is what everyone needs to do, no matter what problems come in between. At least the attempt has to be made here. The message against bullying is there, and we can also see that judging others is the worst thing that can be done against a person with an opinion on his own life. If someone wants to pursue something with all their hearts, the society just comes in between – what we want to do, we rarely gets to achieve; lets hope that Zootopia brings the inspiration for people who wish to be different with their lives.

What it says about the world :: Still, the other major idea in this movie is rather something which is so difficult to come true that it will work for almost nobody – you really can’t be anything that you want, and it is a fact; no matter how much one tries, he or she will be only become what the society wants them to be. There are so many people who are caught in this web from which there is no escape. We wonder why is the world so much interested in judging us, and eventually we fall into that trap. We are judged at home and we are further judged at the office if we have a job – we are judged by our relatives if we don’t have a job or are not married. The judgment is passed in such a way that we are good only for one thing, and people will rate us by what we earn – they will decide what we are capable of – it is a shameful thing, isn’t it?

How it finishes :: Zootopia is a movie that has so many messages in store, which makes this a movie for the adults as well as for the children. One has to wonder if this movie was preferred over the rest of the movies nominated for the Academy Awards due to the message against “racism” rather than the rest of the things including those nicely detailed characters and the extra messages that come into the picture – so, it got to follow Inside Out, Big Hero 6 and Frozen in that winning path. Everyone can hope to leave the theatres with questions as well as the messages that linger in the mind, and at the same time, with that feel-good effect. Well, the animated movies are the best whenever it comes to bringing some fine messages for the children and the adults alike. Zootopia follows the same path without giving its viewers a chance to complain, and there is a lot of fun in store without doubt.

Release date: 4th March 2016
Running time: 108 minutes
Directed by: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush (co-director)
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira, Raymond S. Persi, Maurice LaMarche, Phil Johnston, John DiMaggio, Gita Reddy, Katie Lowes, Jesse Corti, Tom Lister Jr., Josh Dallas, Leah Latham, Rich Moore, Peter Mansbridge, Byron Howard, Jared Bush, Mark Smith, John Lavelle, Kristen Bell, Josie Trinidad