stunt – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: Are we going for another investigative thriller?

Vampire Bat: I am sure that this will not be the usual murder investigation.

Vampire Owl: There have been some interesting investigations in a short period of time.

Vampire Bat: Yet, this movie came out with less hype.

Vampire Owl: The trailer was pretty much interesting.

Vampire Bat: We would not have a serial killer here though.

Vampire Owl: I miss those serial killers a lot.

Vampire Bat: Humans can have millions of serial killers among them.

Vampire Owl: I would expect that with the evilest species ever created.

Vampire Bat: The devil has too many similarities with them.

[Gets an oreo shake and three cups of Bagdogra tea].

What is the movie about? :: Ullas Augustin (Shane Nigam) is a newly appointed civil police officer appointed at the control room, and he is someone who is determined to do his job very well, as his father was also a police officer who died only a few months before the end of his service. One day, he receives a call about a minor and his friends consuming drugs in his room – the information is passed on to the nearest police unit doing patrol. It is the boy’s father who made the call, and Ullas understands that this case might ruin the minor’s life – he asks them to escape, but the police officer in pursuit, Mallikarjun Mannar (Sunny Wayne) has already reached the place and started chasing the boy. Mallikarjun abuses Ullas through the transmitter and from the very next day, it is heard that they boy has gone missing. Ullas finds himself on the receiving end of a suspension order. But that does not stop Ullas from searching for the boy, whom he feels that Mallikarjun kidnapped or murdered to help his partners in crime who deals with the drugs.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The only police officer who seems to care about him is SI Ashok Kumar (Sidharth Bharathan), and he asks him to get back to the control room, as he is the only person who is serious about the work. He decides to get back to work, but ends up with strained relations with Smitha Varadarajan (Namritha MV), who hopes that they can get married soon. Ullas is only concerned with providing justice to the missing boy, and finally decides to get back to the control room with all the evidences that he managed. But he would not be able to get an audience with higher ranking officers. At the same time, Manapullikavu Vela is the annual festival of the area is all set to take place. The festivities have the whole area of police officers distracted, and Mallikarjun, despite being part of the Vela, decides to teach Ullas a lesson with the help of his goons and police officers who are under his control. Can Ullas go beyond all these problems and help the boy’s father receive justice at some point of time?

The defence of Vela :: Here, we can see an attempt to move beyond the usual plot, and the narrative is really effective. The movie is not the usual police action masala and neither is it the police procedural stuff. The unpredictability is maintained at all times, and the stylish side is kept to an optimum level, never overdoing the same. There is never the overdose of elements to exaggerate the presence of the protagonist and the antagonist. The initial scenes have us interested in the film, and the interval is shown at the right point. The aesthetic side guides us well, as we see the beauty of the place with night making it even better with the shades of darkness with some fine colours added. The emotional side of the movie remains effective, and the helplessness against the system is shown with full strength. It shows how the common man, even with a police uniform is not able to make an impact to bring the truth to light. There is also a certain amount of casteist and racist angle being shown around here, as the antagonist attempts to thrive on his roots from many years ago. The dialogues are as much effective as the other elements.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is too long, stretching beyond the two and half hour border when we add those advertisements to the time we spent at the theatre. The length negatively affects the film in totality more than expected. There is some struggle to reach that end, and we feel that some parts should not have been extended too much. Some parts of the movie just seem to have been added to be present there as an extra addition, yet does nothing much. There could have also been more exciting moments here. There could have more control room calls and solutions to be shown here, and some cases where the unexpected happens, with better touch of humour or elements of possible terror that could only be stopped with that particular call. The romantic side remains very less explored too. The ending should not have been this quick either, as something more should have been told about what happens after that finish. The possibility of continuity that is seen in the end could have got a better touch. The music remains somewhat effective.

The performers of the soul :: Shane Nigam who had the biggest hit of Kerala’s grand festival in the form of RDX: Robert Dony Xavier, makes his mark again, and seems to be perfectly suited in the role of the youngster hopelessly trying to bring out the truth. His helplessness and angst while facing the supreme political and other faces of extreme power can be clearly seen here. His shades of excellence are often repeated through interesting moments. Sunny Wayne is a very admirable antagonist here, as he is one villain who has many shades of villainy. His dialogues remain very memorable, and he is clearly seen as the menace that we do not want to face. Sidharth Bharathan plays the third most important character in the film, and he has a much different avatar than we had seen him in, and he will also remain with us in the form of this character. Namritha MV, the new face leaves a lovely mark, and we expect to see her in more roles in future. We would have wanted to see her as part of the romantic side further, but the film remains focused on two main characters for most of its time. Aditi Balan’s small role will also be remembered for the timing itself.

How it finishes :: Vela seems to get less response at the theatres, but it is rather a strange thing because this is a classic story of unauthorized investigation with twists and turns having suspense maintained well at all times. The female characters in the movie could have had more screentime, at least the main heroine, and it could have been shorter with a smarter ending, but we know that this is one classic and mostly realistic tale about two sides of law and justice that never ceases to make us wonder what is going to happen next. The movie came without much hype, but has gained enough positive reviews to keep it going and gain the pace. After all, we have had our love for investigations before corona virus through Anjaam Paathira and Forensic, and the same effect has continued during these days too, as we have hoped for the police to do the right thing every time.

Release date: 10th November 2023
Running time: 148 minutes
Directed by: Syam Sasi
Starring: Shane Nigam, Sunny Wayne, Sidharth Bharathan, Aditi Balan, Namritha MV, Bipin Perumbilli, M Sajas

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

<<< Click here to go to the previous non-Malayalam film review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

* “Too much gaming details warning” for the first three paragraphs 😛

Games of the soul :: How much value does a movie based on video game have in this world? If we look at movies like Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, that should be zero both for the critics and the box-office, a fate which it never deserved – unlike DOA: Dead or Alive which was expected to have such fate. Then there are the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series which grosses a lot more than the critics see in them. Well, they don’t like my personal video game favourite Hitman, neither do they come close to being interested in Max Payne or Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time which were actually much better than what we are made to believe about them. If a movie based on a video game is somewhat like that game, can we blame the makers? Isn’t it how the movie is supposed to be? I am looking forward to the upcoming movies based on Mass Effect, Deus Ex, Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed. There is going to be a lot more to explore in them, especially the first one I mentioned. I have a feeling that it is that movie which will change the opinion about video game based movies.

NFS reloaded :: My first love for NFS series began with Need for Speed II SE which I came across at a time when I was actually playing more Road Rash than ever. I loved the game and decided not to retreat to the earlier version. I didn’t like Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit any better even as I spent quite a long time in it. Then came Need for Speed: High Stakes which I chose to hate, which made me take a small leap into Midtown Madness but that stayed only for a short time. Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed brought me back though. Then Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 made me realize that I was trailing in graphics card, and I had trouble with the speed of the game. After upgrading my system, I went directly into Need for Speed: Underground which remained my favourite until Need for Speed: Underground 2 made the whole thing awesome, with Brooke Burke around. From that moment, NFS remained my favourite racing game genre, and the stage was set for the greatest racing game I have ever played; Need for Speed: Most Wanted. I loved almost everything about it, and loved being chased by cops towards the beautiful sunset, except the fact that Josie Maran was no Brooke Burke.

The desire for speed :: Need for Speed: Most Wanted had set such a high level of racing game experience which was nearly impossible to overtake. It was one of the most interesting racing challenges ever, and it was that kind of a mission that you always wished to go for, or even more than was in our minds. The next game, Need for Speed: Carbon couldn’t match its predecessor in anything, and I decided to uninstall it soon enough. Need for Speed: ProStreet also came up with nothing special for me. Need for Speed: Undercover was last NFS game I ever played, and that was the end of my NFS life. Due to its alleged similarities with ProStreet, I decided against checking Need for Speed: Shift, and Need for Speed: Nitro was not made for PC which kept it completely out of the equation. Then there was the 2010 version of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed, Need for Speed: The Run, Need for Speed: World and Need for Speed: Rivals, not to forget the 2012 version of Need for Speed: Most Wanted. But I had got rid of my graphics card by then, and the only games left with me now are the older non-racing ones.

What is it about? :: Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is a street racer and a mechanic who struggles for money. He is interested in Anita Coleman (Dakota Johnson), but due to his financial condition, that is rather impossible for him as she becomes more and more of a former lover. Still, he is having a pretty good time with his friends, enjoying the little things of happiness. But as one of his friends and Anita’s brother Pete Coleman (Harrison Gilbertson) get killed in an illegal race event involving the three, and the third person disappears without evidence, he is sent to the prison. With the help of Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots) and a number of his friends who worked with him in the garage, he decides to take on Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), the man responsible for the death of his friend. But as Dino has announced a bounty on stopping him, and also with so many cops on his tail, the question remains if he can make it to the big race where he intends to defeat, humiliate and expose the lies of his enemy. Even as this one is indeed a big race, it doesn’t remain just another race, as it is personal.

The defence of Need for Speed :: It is nice that they decided against using computer-generated imagery. Aaron Paul is good as the protagonist and he remains solid in his character, but the more impressive one is the charming lady who accompanies him, Imogen Poots who has the best moments of the movie with her, as she seems to bring such beauty and energy into the sequences which is rarely seen, and not to forget the fun – the best lines are there when she is there, and the same is the case of the incidents. One has wonder if she actually stole them with an irresistible charm! I haven’t seen a more lovable performance from any female character in any racing movie before. The cars remains awesome, especially the Ford Mustang which we have all driven in the game. Each actor who plays any of the hero’s friends make sure that none of them lags behind. The villain is without surprises, but manages to be a typical villain of a movie like this. The nostalgia that this movie brings is priceless. As we know which kind of audience will go for this movie, what more can they ask for?

The Claws of flaw :: The one big problem with the movie is that this could have been anything else – a random racing movie rather than being that NFS movie which the fans have been waiting for. There is no real speed in the progress of the movie, especially in the first fourty five minutes or so. It is so slow that one comes to the early conclusion that this is neither fast or furious, and nothing can match Fast & Furious franchise. We can’t deny that after watching this movie. There is almost nothing about it that can make it different from the usual racing movies of the past, and there is no imagination as the game franchise had. The plot is ordinary, concerning the revenge of a former street driver who is sent to jail for the wrong reasons against the man who is responsible for the same. There is not enough car races either. Nobody is going to enjoy this one more than the wonderful games in the super-hit franchise. One might often wonder if this was made due to the need for a movie based on this video game rather than based on the need for some speed. Yes, this movie needs more speed and a better imagination in story.

How it finishes :: Now I only play three games, Age of Empires II: The Conquerers, Age of Wonders III: Shadow Magic and Unreal Tournament, that too once in a blue moon. But Need for Speed is that game which refuses to go out of memory, especially the flare of awesomeness which was Need for Speed: Most Wanted. It was never really just a game for most of us, as it was a wonderful racing life supported by another world which was inside the game. Yes, there were many others which were to become my favourites later, including the big three action-graphics extravaganza; Mass Effect, Oblivion and Prototype, but NFS always belong to a different world, and its strength has been its supporters, as there have been almost no gamer that I have known that have failed to play at least one NFS game with some interest. There is always the Prince of Persia, Hitman, Age of Empires, Unreal Tournamet, Tomb Raider, Max Payne, Resident Evil and such franchises which become the all-time favourites of some people, and then there is Need for Speed which is liked by all who likes the others too. Lets hope the same about this movie.

Release date: 21st March 2014 (India); 14th March 2014 (US)
Running time: 130 minutes
Directed by: Scott Waugh
Starring: Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Scott Mescudi, Dominic Cooper, Dakota Johnson, Ramón Rodríguez, Michael Keaton, Rami Malek, Michael Keaton, Harrison Gilbertson, Stevie Ray Dallimore