streets – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: Do you remember having played the game Diablo?

Vampire Bat: Yes, how can I forget that! But this movie is surely not based on that.

Vampire Owl: Yes, I can see that it is more based on car racing, and reminds us of Need For Speed and Fast and Furious.

Vampire Bat: There is no other RPG action game which had me immersed in it like Diablo.

Vampire Owl: I guess that it was Diablo 2 which our attention the most.

Vampire Bat: Until The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was released, I was still in Diablo 2.

Vampire Owl: And when Diablo 3 released a very long time later, we were very much out of the gaming world.

Vampire Bat: With Oblivion, one could be bitten by a vampire and become one, and it was optional to find a cure for that. Those were the best moments of my gaming life.

Vampire Owl: We still often like the sequels, the second games more than the first ones and third ones.

Vampire Bat: Yes, like Diablo 2, Warcraft 2, Disciples 2, Age of Wonders 2, Quake 2, Need For Speed 2 and Age of Empires 2.

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

What is the movie about? :: Kuba (Tomasz Wlosok), a young man who has a seriously ill little sister to take care of, decides to take part in some illegal races to make some quick money, as it is not possible with his usual job by the day. He has to work at night with these races, and has to go through the darker corners, but he thinks that he can do it. But the racing world is not as easy for him go through, as there are many others who are looking forward to make quick money, and the experienced racers will always have a problem with someone new coming into the picture. The dealings are not always straight, and here, it is like you get everything or you will have nothing – it is the risk which he has to take. There is so much of money involved, and this race which is named after the devil himself will have more to be seen than what meets the eye. Still, nothing stops one from hoping against all kinds of hope in the world.

So, what happens with the events here? :: Kuba also comes across Ewa (Karolina Szymczak), another racer whom he beats in a race, and they are attracted to each other. Love for cars, bikes and racing are just a few of the things which keep going for them, but there is something about her family background which can cause deep trouble for that particular relationship. There are many other things happening along with the racing, as the background has more things written down with clarity. Behind racing, something illegal might be happening, and Kuba might not need to become a part of it cause further trouble. But as he desperately needs the money for his little sister’s heart operation, there are not many things that he wouldn’t do. As everything comes down to that final showdown, Kuba needs to make some tough decisions so that he can be successful, and get what he has always wanted to get. But can he do it? Can Kuba achieve what he intended to do or will he end up missing out here?

The defence of Diablo: The Race for Everything :: It is evident that this is one movie which wants to be like Fast and Furious, without focusing that much on action, keeping things rather simple, as we see it. There are not many other things happening in this movie, and as this is a short movie, and with some moments of racing added here and there, it won’t have many moments to slow things down, even though it does at times. The visuals are all nice, and we feel good to see Warsaw with all its beauty, and inspires us to make a visit to Poland – some of these nations which are not situated to the west of Europe are worth having some trips, and the Polish cities make it to the list along with Romania which brings the Dracula feeling, Estonia, Bulgaria, Belarus, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Hungary, Moldova, Latvia etc among the others. When we watch these movies from the area, we are more attached to the places which are less visited from the tourists from this part of the world. This movie even got a feel-good ending, and it is nice.

The claws of flaw :: Diablo: The Race for Everything doesn’t have any direct relationship with its title meaning the devil, and it is completely dependent on the races and a little bit of action with the guns and some punches which comes in between. More could have been done with the movie instead of focusing on the essentials, and keeping everything close to the usual, staying on the safe side. The romantic relationship here is also half-baked, not really getting to be something of interest, as Karolina Szymczak gets much less than she should have, as we see her beginning so well with her introduction into the movie. There is also certain amount of lack of speed displayed by this movie at times, which is not acceptable for this kind of movie, and there could have also been a better feeling of danger, with everything at stake – but the movie doesn’t try that much to make one feel for the characters despite having a severely ill kid as a motive for illegal car racing.

How it finishes :: Diablo: The Race for Everything does have enough to keep you engaged, despite not having much to raise it level, much to the dismay of the fans of the Fast and Furious franchise, and the admirers of racing fans. But when you need just what this movie brings, which is as much as a usual film with all these contents is supposed to bring, you can get yourself to enjoy it enough. This is also the first Polish movie which I had ever watched from a place which had reowned makers of cinema like Roman Polanski, Andrzej Munk, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrzej Wajda, Agnieszka Holland, Andrzej Zuławski and Jerzy Skolimowski. I hope to add a good number of Polish movies to the list, but this seems to be a good start to a procedure which is to last many years. Diablo: The Race for Everything can be considered as a poor man’s Fast and Furious, which stays somewhere around there, and manages to bring the entertainment.

[Gets some french fries along with another cup of tea].

Vampire Owl: So, the gaming life is going on well. Isn’t it?

Vampire Bat: Yes, even the dialogue about Diablo has inspired me to look at those older games which we tried when we were in school.

Vampire Owl: The game is the diablo that most of us PC gamers of late 1990s and early 2000s will never forget.

Vampire Bat: Also, El Diablo from Suicide Squad, the less appreciated movie.

Vampire Owl: Yes, how can I forget the DC metahuman with powers of flames?

Vampire Bat: Especially when DC has only started to bring their movies.

Vampire Owl: Justice League might never be the Avengers.

Vampire Bat: Well, Aquaman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman are already loved more than usual. So we can only wait and see.

Vampire Owl: The biggest disadvantage of the Corona Virus has been its attack on the movies, especially those like Black Widow which was supposed to be here in April.

Vampire Bat: Well, that virus will take the movie lovers’ curse.

[Vanishes into the shadows behind the teak tree].

Release date: 18th Jaunary 2019
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Daniel Markowicz, Michal Otlowski
Starring: Karolina Szymczak, Tomasz Wlosok, Cezary Pazura, Agnieszka Wlodarczyk, Katarzyna Figura, Rafal Mohr, Jacek Beler, Cezary Zak, Karolina Pilarczyk, Cezary Lukaszewicz, Wojciech Bocianowski, Marcin Rozalski

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

What is the movie about? :: The movie makes it clear that it is not about Raman Raghav a.k.a. Psycho Raman who was a famous serial killer, who unleashed terror in the city of Mumbai in the 1960s. About fifteen years later, another serial killer named Ramanna (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who seems to follow the same kind of methods, starts his work in the same city. His way of operating is rather strange, and the police has not much clue about what his operations are. His list of victims only get longer, and it also includes Ramanna’s own sister, Lakshmi (Amruta Subhash) who is living with her husband (Ashok Lokhande) and their only son. She reluctantly lets him stay and cooks him food, only to get into an argument with the family. She leaves the place and comes back to take their money as well as kill them all one after the other.

So, what happens next? :: Ramanna is not the kind of person who has any kind of remorse for his actions, and he is surely not the kind of man who thinks twice about what he is to do. He is the worst kind of serial killer whom one could have on their trail. Even after being caught by the police and questioned, there is nothing that comes out of him, and he even escapes with the help of some local boys, thanks to the natural acting that comes to him. ACP Raghavan Singh (Vicky Kaushal) is in charge of the investigation, and has no real clue until finding the photo of Ramanna on the scene of crime, where Ramanna had murdered his sister. He figures out that the man whom they had apprehended a few days earlier has some kind of connection with these brutal murders which have been happening all around the city, keeping the residents terrified.

And, what is to follow next in this tale of terror in the streets? :: Even as he puts a tough cop act all the time, and seems to be righteous cop looking after criminal when someone looks from outside, Raghavan Singh is a a troubled person in his mind, having an unparalleled addiction to drugs, and has an even more terrible anger management issue. He is in a relationship with Smrutika Naidu (Sobhita Dhulipala) at whose place she is staying. It is another terrible relationship that they are having, with him forcing her to have more than one abortion after she keeps getting pregnant as he has his way as he likes. He also has no shame in beating her, but she stays faithful to him, and refuses to go home even after her family hopes for her return. Raghavan gets obsessed with catching Ramanna to such an extent that his issues deepen, and Ramanna at the same time, keeps an eye on the investigating officer – where does this game end?

The defence of Raman Raghav 2.0 :: The dark and terrifying avatar is given more and more life as the movie progresses, and then there is the other side which gets rather scarier. You feel the power of darkness in this movie, and there is so much of energy throughout the flick, thanks to the two main performers. It successfully makes you depressed and leaves you disturbing, with not much hope in the world of chaos. Humanity is surely capable of terrible things, and a lot of these capabilities are there right from the beginning, and are further powered by upbringing and the society. We keep wondering what is to happen next, and we are always interested to know how it all ends, or reach a new beginning. It takes only one serial killer to inspire more, and lets hope that Ramanna becomes our Hannibal to bring more of such movies which can prove to be even better. The final twist is something that breathes life like no other.

The claws of flaw :: There is no doubt that we had expected more from a movie like Raman Raghav 2.0 with its cast and the people who are the helm. We feel that a certain amount of hollowness do exist at times, and this one isn’t that much focused on what we would have been hoping to see with a police officer after a serial killer – this one has almost nothing about the investigation about the murderer. More focus could have been on the characters, and they could have had origin tales, even at the cost of the movie going longer – there are some parts of the movie which could have been cut down to provide space for more of the tale. This kind of movies should have more action, thrilling sequences and deeper story-line which should make us wish to remember the tale more than once; but the focus of Raman Raghav 2.0 seems to be rather a little too much divergent. Then there is the violence – nobody is a role model here.

Performers of the soul :: There is Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal doing a fantastic job in this movie, which surely keeps things going strong. We keep wondering when we will see more of them with movies which get the wider release here. If it was more about the former in the beginning, the latter of Masaan fame takes it to the next level in the second half towards the end. You will also notice Sobhita Dhulipala and Amruta Subhash, as two actresses who brings some great performances in two of the best sequences of the movie. The one thing about Bollywood is that these names which are not regularly talked about as superstars are the real actors and acting stars – I really hope that their movies get release in every theatre here rather than those which brings the crowd; if I was running a theatre, I would run a special show for sure, no matter how much of box-office collection such movies are to bring.

How it finishes :: The movie leaves one with the message that everyone has the tendency to be bad, or rather evil, as it is the inherent evil in man which has more certainty to it than anything else. It is the situation that brings the worst out of people, whether they are branded good or bad. The hopeless state of humanity is directly or indirectly reflected in this movie, which struggles to find goodness which seems to fade away further and further as the flick progresses, and by the end of this, we have lost almost all hope in mankind – it is the ultimate truth, right? We do our best, and still we live in a society which is all about money and power, and the need for it as well as the possession of it, will only turn more people against each other. Evil is so easy, right? Being good is so difficult, especially with a new generation caught inside more than one kind of addiction. Raman Raghav 2.0 has that kind of protagonists, and we know that there is a good chance that we are all going to die an early, terrible death considering where the world is going.

Release date: 24th June 2016
Running time: 127 minutes
Directed by: Anurag Kashyap
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal, Sobhita Dhulipala, Amruta Subhash, Vipin Sharma, Ashok Lokhande, Harssh A. Singh, Anuschka Sawhney, Hitesh Dave, Rajesh Jais, Kalidas Parthitan, Rhea Pagar, Arun Singh