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Mortal Kombat II

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Vampire Owl: So, it is that time of the year when we fight against them all.

Vampire Bat: We do immortal combat and do not fight mortals.

Vampire Owl: Why should we immortals engage in immortal wars?

Vampire Bat: We have had our immortal war moments in the last few years.

Vampire Owl: But zombies disintegrate, werewolves live and die. Where are the immortals?

Vampire Bat: The shadow demons are immortal, and our fight is with them.

Vampire Owl: They have not reached the realm yet, as far as I know.

Vampire Bat: The tunnels connecting our realm and the shadow world are active.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that there is activity down there?

Vampire Bat: Yes, vampire scouts are expecting a surprise attack soon.

[Gets a ghee podi masala dosa and three cups of Munnar tea].

What is the movie about? :: Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) had defeated and killed King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam) as part of the final battle against Edenia, and took Queen Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen) as his new queen but completely under his control. Later Shao train Jade (Tati Gabrielle) whom he found in a slave pit, and he also has Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) who is the daughter of Jerrod and Sindel by his side, as he also keeps her ready to fight on his side. Many years later, with the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament is about to happen, Quan Chi (Damon Herriman) revives Kung Lao (Max Huang) and Kano (Josh Lawson) as they are in need for more warriors to serve their purpose. While Kung Lao becomes under their control, Kano remains the same, greedy and selfish, not able to be controlled by anyone. Meanwhile, Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) approach a former Hollywood star who has lost his roles with his age, Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to recruit him as their fifth champion alongside Sonya, Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Jax Briggs (Mehcad Broks) and Cole Young (Lewis Tan).

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: But as he understands that he stands no change against fighting to conquer Earth with superpowers, and knowing that he could just die in the arena with ease, Johnny refuses to participate. Even though he returns to Earth, he is drafted into a battle with Kitana who wins the same with ease, but she does not kill him even though Shao Kahn asks her to. At the same time, Sonya is taken into face Sindel whom she ends up killing after some initial difficulty. Jade discovers that Kitana is working as a spy for Rayden, and captures her with the help of her guards while returning from Earth and presents her to Shao Kahn. Feeling betrayed and angry, he orders for Kitana to be tied up in the centre of the city for everyone to see her as a dishonoured traitor on display with chains stretching her arms and legs. Jade asks her to seek forgiveness from Shao Kahn, but she refuses and chooses to stay in bondage. The resurrected Kung Lao travels through the path in which Kitana journeyed to Earth and wounds Raiden, allowing Quan Chi to take his power into an amulet, which they bind to Shao Kahn.

And what more can happen here as end seems near for Earth and its people? :: This process makes Shao Khan immortal, but Raiden is almost killed in the process. Johny and Sonya are defeated by the attacking fighters who are quick to knock them unconscious, and at the same time, the second round had begun and three fighters were already at the battlegrounds. Liu Kang and Kung Lao face off against each other, and despite the former trying his best to reason with the former to return as Earth’s hero, the fight continues – Liu Kang is forced to kill Kung Leo by throwing him to his own bladed hat. Jax who fights with Jade also finds it easy to defeat her as she stands no chance against his strong mechanical arms, but he spares her life as Kitana had asked for the same earlier when she visited them. Cole fights and almost kills Shao Kahn, but his wounds heal instantly, shocking him. Shao Kahn who calls for the Scorpion blood brutally kills him and throws his body away, keeping the competition between two worlds close. With Shao Kahn being invincible and Raiden on life support, and running out of fighters, can Earth be saved from invasion?

The defence of Mortal Kombat II :: Calling all the attention to himself, Karl Urban steals the show nicely with this one. He had some fine action movies failing despite being so good, most notable one being Dredd, but this stays strong to avoid that fate. He nails this character and it is the one character that stays strong and also brings the fun. The fight choreography has also managed to be better, and it feels so much like a real arena fight, and the gaming nostalgia nicely comes back here. As fans of this one game which kept us so much interested in multiplayer as much as single player with so many options, this nostalgia keeps us interested at all times, as the danger gets ready to unleash itself on our world. There is the violence which stays close to the game, as we feel the shades of those fatalities which seems to be straight out of the game. The new characters and situations also add the epic dark-fantasy scale that can inspire a sequel – the world-building has been top class and more can follow in the franchise.

Positives and negatives :: Those who are looking for full-strength, well-planned scheduled tournament of fights in order would be disappointed. Some characters could have also developed further with better understanding of new worlds and fights occurring in a variety of settings. There could have also been adventurous journeys to serve the purpose. Even though the tournament gets active, there is not much of a fight among the audience or something that is shown continuously as grand battle. The movie’s female leading fighters Jessica McNamee and Adeline Rudolph are just too good too, and their fights are admirable. Jessica would have done nicely to have more fights too, while Scorpion and Sub-Zero not with the best glory might keep people wondering. This happens even when the characters do not undergo that much of a development. There is also no real terrifying character, as the terror is not built that much, as the game might be the scarier and more effective thing compared to the movie as many other gaming adaptations from Hitman to Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Monster Hunter and Doom.

How it finishes :: The movie takes the live-action franchise further forward, delivering a sequel that is sharper in moving through what fans expect from a computer game adaptation. It delivers a thoroughly entertaining spectacle with action that levels up from the predecessor in an even better world. The change of protagonist also seems to have served the movie well, even though one big tournament fight with him would have been nice. The nostalgia that we feel related to this franchise is also really a lot, and we never are never really out of it – I remember traveling so many kilometres to play a version of this game as it could only be played on Pentium IV Processor and above with a GeForce Card. Quan Chi’s double knee stomp was a favourite as he jumps up and keeps on walking on the opponents, then Scorpion and Sub-Zero also remained. We might never have a game based on some of the classic titles like Unreal Tournament and Age of Empires, and so we enjoy what we have, as it has been well-set before us. We might have missed it at the theatres, but the need to watch this one never really left us.

Release date: May 8, 2026
Running time: 116 minutes
Directed by: Simon McQuoid
Starring: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Martyn Ford

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Quantumania

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Vampire Owl: I am sure that we are going to have a Vampire Ant soon.

Vampire Bat: A vampire with the size of an ant is never going to work.

Vampire Owl: It might not be scary, but would be effective enough.

Vampire Bat: You are expecting to send them as spies?

Vampire Owl: They could actually be made bigger with science.

Vampire Bat: You are going for more scientific experiments?

Vampire Owl: Yes, experiments led by Doctor Frankenstein.

Vampire Bat: You are going with the pseudo-scientist again.

Vampire Owl: Do you know that Doctor Frankenstein got another degree?

Vampire Bat: You should understand at least now that he is fake.

[Gets a Kolkata Kathi Roll and three cups of green apple tea].

What is the movie about? :: Scott Lang a.k.a. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is now living the happy and much appreciated popular life after teaming up with Avengers to defeat the villain who was going to kill half of the population on the planet. He is happy living with his girlfriend Hope van Dyne ak.a. Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) while his daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) has a strained relationship with him and remains a very irritating activist who listens to nobody. She also has a suit like her father, but is not able to use it appropriately. As Cassie meets Hope’s parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and reveals to them that she was trying to contact the Quantum Realm with a message through a special device. This leads to Janet panicking and almost switching off the device, only to have them all taken into the realm. They were separated in the process, with Hope, Janet and Hank on one side of the realm, and Scott and Cassie on the other.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Janet tries to find a solution with an old friend Lord Krylar (Bill Murray) who is now aligned with the new ruler of the Quantum Realm, known only as Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) who have enslaved the local population, torturing and killing them as he wished. The enslaved population is led by Jentorra (Katy O’Brian) through a revolution which stands no chance against the mighty conqueror and his army. Also hunting them is Darren Cross a.k.a. M.O.D.O.K (Corey Stoll) who has been transformed into a cyborg-mutant combination working as a super-soldier for Kang. It seems that Janet has a past with Kang, and it involves the long period of time that she spent there. Kang is revealed to be someone who is capable of conquering and destroying different timelines, thus changing the multiverse. He is caught in this world after his exile only because of Janet’s actions and will do anything to escape. But can he do that with his army or some foolishness of the teenage daughter of Ant-Man, or can Janet once again do what she did long ago?

The defence of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania :: The world here is really well created with some fine detail that never ceases to amaze us. You see the objects floating around in this world and are left mesmerized with them. It could manage to be better than different alien worlds and creatures shown in other movies which are more popular and revered as even bigger names. There are also some interesting creatures which are added well enough. We are always looking at the background details of the world and appreciate the same. The world has surely got a strong villain too, as this one will go on to impress further in later movies as it seems, with a setting for a sequel. The ending has the scenes during credit which assures even more. The family moments and the focus on rebellion are present – it means that there is the certainty of emotional moments and messages running right through. Some of the humour does work too, but not those idiotic ones which we could have lived without, as Marvel refuses to grow up too often.

The claws of flaw :: The movie maintains the irritating thankless child idea, and the new generation of characters seem to be as much irritating as the new group of superstars, none of them making an impact – it was evident with The Marvels, and nobody wishes to see such a ridiculous new generation being provided the superpowers. Captain Marvel was already too overpowered, and too without a kryptonite. But to add to that, the movie also ridiculously holds on to the strange past. The humour is also less effective, and silly enough for most of its run. The thankless kid would never be a thing of humour either. Some of the elements might have also been lost in relation to some series which have been going on, but we are the fans of cinema, and cannot be persuaded to watch such continuous series. Marvel needs to think about its audience in all parts of the world, and focus on what appeals to them rather than just trying to make things absurd with some foolish, childish characters introduced as children of earlier Avengers.

The performers of the soul :: Paul Rudd continues his good form as the one superhero character that we keep remembering with a funny side. He is good with the funny side, and there are no moments when he is not into the character. There are many superheroes who feels funny or family-oriented and this is both with a big heart – he rightly becomes the same with ease. Evangeline Lilly seems to have come up with a tired performance in comparison to Michelle Pfeiffer who seems to have only gaining in strength as years pass. Michael Douglas is there as the other ant-member, and this is already too big an ant-family to look out for. Then there is Kathryn Newton as ant-woman which becomes another unnecessary addition to make the family even bigger and seemingly ready to explode with too many ant-people around. She is mostly irritating as the daughter, but manages pretty well in the action sequences. The one who impresses the most in the action sequences is Katy O’Brian as Jentorra, without any touch of overdose – her scenes are realistic, and we do not feel that she is not the rebel who battles who fights her heart out. Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror is a powerful antagonist that never gives up, and we often connects with him so well as a king rather than the villain.

How it finishes :: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania takes the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame forward in its on way, focusing on the shrunken subatomic world rather than the one that everyone knows well enough. It is a fine method when we think further about it, as there is not that much in the universe that we already know along with its miserable group of people. While doing the same, the movie has created a fantastic world which might feel better than traveling to another planet or dimension full of aliens – there are enough creatures and civilizations in there to keep us interested. The entertainment factor never goes out of fashion, even though we would have surely loved to have a lot of action. There would have been the chance for more, and the irritating dumb jokes could have been avoided to make the world more serious. Well, this does manage to be interesting enough with its content, and we know how well different universes can manage to make an impact.

Release date: 17th February 2023
Running time: 124 minutes
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O’Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, Michael Douglas

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Shang-Chi

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Vampire Owl: Let me know when Marvel has actually finished with the superheroes.

Vampire Bat: You do think that it is a possibility?

Vampire Owl: Yes, everything comes to an end, in one way or the other.

Vampire Bat: Not everything. We are immortals, so you should know.

Vampire Owl: Marvel is not immortal. There are no vampires among them.

Vampire Bat: There are vampiric superheroes and villains though.

Vampire Owl: But they are not real, you know.

Vampire Bat: They don’t consider us as real either.

Vampire Owl: Who cares about the evil humans think about?

Vampire Bat: We should care about them as they possess the evil of science, and sooner or later, they will come to get us through that portal on the north.

[Gets an onion vada and three cups of cardamom tea].

What is the movie about? :: Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) had discovered the mystical power of ten rings which granted immortality and the strength resembling a god. He could have used these powers for the good, but instead had chosen to get richer and even stronger, being left with almost nothing to conquer as he had all nations under his control directly or indirectly, within a few years. Later in the 1990s, he travels to a magical forest, which he also required to be in his control. Therem he is stopped by the guardian of the forest, Ying Li (Fala Chen), who stops him, and the two ends up falling in love. As he is not accepted in the village, the two leaves the village and returns to the city. Back to the present, Xu Shang-Chi a.k.a. Shaun (Simu Liu) has grown up, and is best friends with Katy (Awkwafina), both now living carefree life at San Francisco in the United States. They do valet parking for a living, and Shaun doesn’t want to remember much of his martial arts training of early childhood as things seem to go in a natural way in the city.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Soon, he is attacked by a group of assassins on a bus. The attackers take his pendant, and he does feel that he need to find his sister, Xu Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), and save her. Even though he decides to run away soon, Katy manages to convince him and accompany him on the journey after the awakening on a darker past. As he reaches the place where Xu is staying, she turns out to be a thankless moron of a sister, who forces him into a battle with her, which she cheats to win. She also abandons him to fight on his own, until she finally has a change of heart to become less of a deserter. Now, it seems that it was their father who had sent these people to take the two pendants, which he wants to use for some strange and evil plan. But Xu is that kind of a person who feels that she will build her own empire that rivals her father’s, and Shaun would be caught between the two, not looking forward to goodness in anyway.

And what more is to be added to this world of possible chaos and destruction? :: It doesn’t matter how much they fight, as the father finally returns to take them to their original home, and make his son the grand successor, and the holder of the ten rings. Wenwu who wishes to reunite the family again, uses the pendants to bring to life, a magical map leading to that old, enchanted forest – Ta Lo. He tells them that he feels that he could hear his wife calling from the village where he has been held captive. He intends to make them release her, or he will burn the village to the ground. But the two children don’t really have anything to do with it, and they are locked up in the dungeons. There, they meet a former actor who was imprisoned for impersonating Wenwu. There, they find a possibility for some future plans, as there is a magical creature which can lead them to the magical forest through an easier path, which is a little bit too dangerous though. Can they get there before the evil father does?

The defence of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings :: There is a lot of action around here, as one would expect from a movie like this. The same is nicely supported by the visuals and the special effects contribute very well. The final battle with the dragon is so much full of grandeur. There are also some nice details with the magical world and the fantasy creatures present in the village which has all the most beautiful secrets that we find around on the screen. It is the kind of mythological and magical world which we connect with the medieval model with castles and dungeons like so many of the films from Hollywood have done so far. This is the divergent one in that case, and we never really have enough of this. Well, the world surely needs to be different in each and every case, and that would provide us with the feeling of seeing a different civilization every time with its own attributes in Age of Empires and its sequels, or different magical races in Age of Wonders and its sequels. Nowadays, globalization has brought too many similarities, making landscapes looking so similar to each other.

Positives and negatives :: As this movie is releasing rather late in comparison with the others, one can be sure that there are indeed repetitions which are to be found around here, even though there is a certain flavour added which makes them feel somewhat new. Yet, a little predictability will provide some resistance and won’t go away at all. There is always something about different worlds coming together, and evil trying to get into another realm to capture it – the same has been the idea of so many wonderful video games too. The father-son battle is also a usual thing, and even though repetitive as it is, there is something divergent about it for sure. Simu Liu nicely becomes the fine protagonist that we have all wanted around here, and Awkwafina as well as Meng’er Zhang comes up with some fine support in the process. Tony Leung makes a strong villain too, and he surely has more than what meets the eye. Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist also has his moments, and so do Michelle Yeoh and Fala Chen as the fighter motherly figures.

How it finishes :: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings keeps on moving the Marvel Cinematic Universe straight forward after Infinity War and Endgame provided us with what seemed to be a grand end. There is the feeling of something more magical about this particular movie than any other in the franchise, maybe with the one exception of Doctor Strange, which was all so much of magic and sorcery. You can only enjoy the beauty created by magic around here, instead of the science that has run through Avengers all the time and begged for attention. It is always nice to see magic having the upper hand over science, which has been all about war, death and terror. After all, the Corona virus is also a product of science, and we have failed to stop it completely. The mythology of the Dark Gate and The Great Protector told in this movie also further helps in understanding the terrible nature of humanity, and how the whole world should be a better place without their ambitions and hatred that always prevails.

Release date: 3rd September 2021
Running time: 132 minutes
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, Tony Leung

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.