prequel – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: Do you remember watching the first Orphan movie earlier?

Vampire Bat: I do not remember like that. I remember back in centuries.

Vampire Owl: You are not supposed to go that long back with memories.

Vampire Bat: Well, Uncle Dracula goes back longer than that.

Vampire Owl: He can go back as long as the vampire elders can go infinitely.

Vampire Bat: You know the elders. They don’t count.

Vampire Owl: They have been further violent during these years.

Vampire Bat: It is quite natural, considering their loss of fangs.

Vampire Owl: The lost fangs can be recreated with the help of the witches.

Vampire Bat: I hope it is not left in the hands of Doctor Frankenstein.

[Gets a paneer masala dosa and three cups of elaichi tea].

What is the movie about? :: Leena Klammer (Isabelle Fuhrman), a thirty one year old woman with the appearance of a ten year old child has been locked in psychiatric hospital in Estonia for a long time, but has been planning an escape for a long time. She finds a way by hiding inside the car of Anna (Gwendolyn Collins), an art therapist, whom she kills after breaking into her house. She temporarily finds a new home in her place. She looks up for missing girls in the United States of America, and finds that she looks similar to a girl named Esther Albright. For her, it also seems to be an interesting home to live. This gives her a new idea, and she pretends to be the same American child who had gone missing a few years ago. She gets herself found in a children’s park by a police officer who has absolutely no doubts about her, as she has planned the whole thing really well. Allen Albright (Rossif Sutherland) and Tricia Albright (Julia Stiles) get the news that their disappeared daughter has been found in Eastern Europe, and couldn’t get any happier as they were sure that she was lost forever.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As Tricia brings her home, she begins to have doubts about her soon enough, as she has forgotten that their grandmother died, and has developed some painting skills which she never really came close to possessing. Detective Donnan (Hiro Kanagawa) and the child psychologist Dr Segar (Samantha Walkes) feel that there is surely something wrong about her, but they don’t really know what it is. She seems to be rather too different, and doesn’t act like a child at all times. She doesn’t seem to get along well with the brother Gunnar Albright (Matthew Finlan) either. Soon, it turns out that there are family secrets that are being hidden in the house. Leena keeps getting closer to her newly discovered father-figure, which upsets the others in the family. Soon, she will be facing her family which suspects her, but she has her plans to rise above those doubts. But how long can she go on playing this role which only seems to get more and more difficult for her? She would have to get rid of the detective soon enough, but is that an easy job to do? How can she achieve this without being deported back to the mental asylum back in Estonia?

The defence of Orphan: First Kill :: This movie is powered by that antagonist who continues to be a favourite among the horror lovers, and that stays as an advantage. The atmosphere here is interesting, and the setting provides an assurance that there will be some nice moments to remember. The early setting of the mental asylum is more than just interesting. We keep feeling that there could be something more coming up at all times in the first half, the big reveal only set things up well for a grand battle of women. The movie’s hesitation often has it lagging, but it does manage to make things better in the very next scene or so. The cast members do manage to overcome them all, and this selection of the leading performers comes as an advantage. The movie is also a reminder for us to not fall a prey to the cute ones, especially children who are not too far away from the Lord of the Flies situation of William Golding. Well, the cutest among them all might be the one diabolical evil creature which needs to be feared at all times.

The claws of flaw :: Orphan: First Kill doesn’t raise the level from the original movie at all. There were so many opportunities with this idea when going back, but that much is not taken here. This one has also come too late for anyone’s liking, as the gap between the original and this prequel is rather too much. The antagonist does seem to have a more artificial look in comparison to the looks in the first flick. Yet, there are also too many similarities with the first movie, and we also have the absence of surprises here, with twists not getting the required strength either. We know too much about the main character as we have watched the earlier film, and bringing a certain secret ingredient was a necessity. We could have also had some creepy sequences around here which could have managed to balance the situation, but such an attempt is also not made here. It is only with another prequel set almost completely in a mental asylum in Estonia that the bar can be raised now.

The performers of the soul :: Isabelle Fuhrman continues to make Esther an interesting character, a role which she had performed at a young age, and made it a thing of quality. Isabelle does have a challenge in here, as despite the experience that she may have earned through the years, she is still not of that same age anymore. In comparison to her other roles, her work as Esther or Leena is something that has her raising the bar each and every time. Julia Stiles makes another strong character here, and two main lady characters show their strength even further when they are standing against each other, even when not showing the hatred that much. Rossif Sutherland also has his moments here. Matthew Finlan comes out strong in the later stages of the film, and that too when less expected. Gwendolyn Collins makes an initial impression well, and it is sad that she had to disappear too early. Hiro Kanagawa also leaves a mark, and needed more time on screen.

How it finishes :: Orphan: First Kill cannot be compared to the original movie which set something up so well, and it was also something which felt much innovative at that time. The fans would have been expecting a film which would score better than this one. After all, Esther has become a horror icon like no other, and the earlier movie’s twist was something which people didn’t really except. But the prequel has been organized well, and we can see that at the end of the movie, things come together well to bring the possibilities of the next one on to the scene. This one does deserve to become a much longer franchise with a deeper idea about the origins of the main character given. A fine psychopath of the antagonist’s level can do magic for the genre. After all, movies like these serve as those the reminders that we cannot trust anyone, especially someone with the cute side on display – this is a mad world indeed, and has the worst in store for us.

Release date: 19th August 2022
Running time: 99 minutes
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Starring: Isabelle Fuhrman, Rossif Sutherland, Hiro Kanagawa, Matthew Finlan, Julia Stiles

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: I know this person from Baby.

Vampire Bat: This is a spin-off prequel to that movie, and so it is no surprise that you know her.

Vampire Owl: So, this is both a spin-off and a prequel? That should mean two levels.

Vampire Bat: Yes, this one also has Ajay Singh Rajput played by Akshay Kumar, Anjali Singh Rajput played by Madhurima Tuli and Om Prakash Shukla played by Anupam Kher.

Vampire Owl: And joins Shabana Khan played by Taapsee Pannu, I see.

Vampire Bat: There is also our own Prithviraj with an evil side.

Vampire Owl: I don’t see what can be better than that.

Vampire Bat: Yes, Ivide had shown his negative shades better than any other.

Vampire Owl: And we remember that older movie with him playing the bad cop getting reformed – Vargam, I guess. I also liked him in his other Bollywood movie, Aurangzeb.

Vampire Bat: Bollywood needs a few more in their movies, just like him. I still have Memories in my head.

[Gets three cups of strong tea with Mariegold biscuits].

What is the movie about? :: Shabana Khan (Taapsee Pannu) is a college student who is also practicing Judo to take part in a number of competitions. Her mother, Farida Begum Khan (Natasha Rastogi) is in full support of her, whatever she plans to do. She doesn’t hesitate in beating up people who cause any kind of nuisance, no matter how small it is, or how meaningless the fight is. She has made herself tougher, as she had grown up watching her father beat up her mother mercilessly all the time after coming home drunk and out of his senses. On one of those days when he was attacking her mother, she had hit her father so hard on the back of his head, that he ended up dead – it had left her in the juvenile home, until coming back stronger to help her mother move forward with her life. This flashback about her is rather unknown to her new friends.

So, what happens next? :: Shabana is quite a popular girl in the college, and one of her friends, Jai (Taher Shabbir Mithaiwala) has fallen in love with her. He asks her to accompany him for dinner, and they seem to have fallen in love, but on that night, they come across some eve teasing, to which she decides to respond – the result is Jai getting killed and leaving her scarred for life. His parents blame her for the incident, and despite going to the police station almost every day, she finds no progress at all. Frustrated and without hope, one day while returning from the police station, she gets the calls of an unknown man (Manoj Bajpayee) who gives her an offer she can’t refuse. She will get her revenge against the four men, but he wants something from her in return. So, will she manage to live up to the promise on her end, and will he be able to do the same?

The defence of Naam Shabana :: A lot of reviewers who go around in Bollywood are sure to miss how good Prithviraj Sukumaran has been in this movie, and there is that tendency to figure out how much they can appreciate everyone else. The makers won’t give that much for someone of such calibre, and the reviewers will just focus more on the Bollywood stars – just like I had written earlier in the review of the short-film, Invisible Actor, that there are actors and superstars, and there are those who are good enough to become both and maintain the balance. Along with him and Taapsee, the movie has its thrilling side going. There are also some very nice action sequences, and nothing overdone in that department. There are also some nice dialogues to go with the same – some of them are actually funny, whether intentional or not. It also feels good to get an origin story, which provides more scope for a sequel.

The claws of flaw :: Some scenes in this movies are just strange – with people removing their shirts to fight, vengeance given so much importance by an intelligence wing, the villain willingly giving away his identity when there was other options considering how smart he is, choosing the rookie to do this dangerous mission when there are experienced people around, and so on. It is still good to see that such Bollywood tendencies get to be controlled up to an extent. Shabana also has rather less attention on her character than everything else about her. Some of the moments just get funny when they shouldn’t have been, and we also get so much less of the villain who should have been the highlight of this movie from the darker side. The first half of the movie, with its stretched romance, becomes the rather too long thing here too. They could have done without the songs too.

Performers of the soul :: As expected, Taapsee Pannu does provide some knockout punches here, and she suits the character really well – even when the character is not flawless, she nullifies a few bad sides. It her work in the original movie which has inspired this one, and she gets to play the girl with fire more. Everyone loved her in Pink, and this one no longer has her as a damsel in distress – she gets to make sure that her agency remains a proud one. Still, as her work in Baby was so effective in such a short time, that would be remembered more. Prithviraj Sukumaran who was seen in Malayalam movies which were different kind of thrillers, Oozham, Ezra and Tiyaan, here we have him playing the villain, and I am sure that having more of him would have helped this movie better. Akshay Kumar’s role is small, but quick and effective, while Manoj Bajpayee only gets to talk, without getting any action. Madhurima Tuli and Anupam Kher also cross over here from Baby.

How it finishes :: Naam Shabana is a movie which could have done better with more focus on its antagonist, and a more consistent character development of our protagonist. If you don’t go for this one with the expectations high considering Baby, you are surely not going to be disappointed – it is that one which automatically let the expectations go high, and the makers seem to have thought that this would bring the money. They could have made more money with better focus on Prithviraj, but here, they have taken rather too much time for even Taapsee’s training to begin. Still, Naam Shabana is another thriller that works, and even without the name of Baby attached to it, there is more to the tale. Maybe the stand-alone feeling will give the flick even more strength. You can only watch this one and come up with your own opinion, and the need for another movie in the franchise.

Release date: 31st March 2017
Running time: 147 minutes
Directed by: Shivam Nair
Starring: Taapsee Pannu, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manoj Bajpayee, Akshay Kumar, Danny Denzongpa, Madhurima Tuli, Anupam Kher, Murali Sharma, Zakir Hussain, Bhuvan Arora, Taher Shabbir Mithaiwala, Natasha Rastogi, Manav Vij, Mohan Kapoor, Elli Avram, Shibani Dandekar, Virendra Saxena, Aparna Upadhyay