underdog – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: So, we are getting back to the transformer robots again.

Vampire Bat: Well, there have been too many infinite transformers for my liking.

Vampire Owl: Yes, and the first three seemed to have worked the best.

Vampire Bat: The first one is nothing less than a classic.

Vampire Owl: The youth who liked the robot cars fully supported them.

Vampire Bat: It was a new concept for our audience then in that age.

Vampire Owl: For this age, it is all about too much information and OTTs.

Vampire Bat: OTTs have brought so much in front of the new generation.

Vampire Owl: This includes a lot of Transformers too.

Vampire Bat: At least, there are no Vampire Robots, at least not yet.

[Gets a thattu dosa and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Beyond the stars, Cybertron is a planet formed through technology from the deity known by the name Primus and is occupied by sentient robots. Their life is sustained by a substance called Energon without which most of them would cease to exist. With only Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) remaining among the Primes who were supposed to rule the planet, there is no Matrix of Leadership, without which Energon has stop flowing, forcing the robot miners to extract it. Sentinel has been telling his people about this loss and how the battle with alien invaders called Quintessons has left the surface of their planet not good for life anymore, leaving them to survive underneath all the time. The fear of Quintessons coming back for Energon, and the lack of the same resources have left their world quite a dull one. The newly established hierarchy based on whether robots possess a transformation cog that allows them to shapeshift, decides if the citizens would be miners or something in the higher hierarchy.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) are best friends among these miner robots without the transformation cog. They live in the lower level of the long hierarchy where they mine for Energon to sustain the people of their world underground while Sentinel Prime and his army led by Airachnid (Vanessa Liguori) travels to the surface in search of the Matrix of Leadership, and any trace of aliens. The unit of Orion and D-16 for mining is led by Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), an arrogant mining supervisor who is so focused on following the protocols that she feels that one day she will be promoted. But due to Orion’s compassion for another miner Jazz (Evan Michael Lee) leads to a breach of protocol to save the person during an accident, which leads to Elita-1 being demoted and D-16 getting punched on the face by their overseer Darkwing (Isaac C Singleton Jr) while defending his friends. Orion, being optimistic, promises to find a way to do something bigger.

And what more happens around here in a world of chaos? :: This is the time when Sentinel Prime returns and once again tells them that the Matrix of Leadership could not be found and Energon should continue to be mined, with a need to work harder. He still calls for a race for some entertainment, and in between the transforming robots, Orion and D-16 enters, and gets close before losing it. An impressed Sentinel Prime promises them a reward only for a defeated Darkwing to blame them and throws them to the garbage incineration level. There they meet B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) who has been working there for a long time, at what would be one of those lowest levels of hierarchy. There they find the message of a Prime known as Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne) who seems to have put the coordinates to the Matrix of Leadership there. Now, the three are determined to take this message to Sentinel Prime or if possible, investigate all of these by themselves. But are they good enough to do that?

The defence of Transformers One :: This movie seems to qualify for the position for the best Transformers movie ever with the quality that it displays on the screen, and the known idea about autobots and its leader which it further spreads so well here. The journey into the past of past of autobots and decepticons is supported by rich storytelling which starts from the lower level, and also explores class divides in the process. The movie also talks about how the influential ones, and governing people manage to hold the commoners on the leash and also create an even lower class to work for them without much given in return. The idea of thinking process being manipulated is also seen here, and there is also that entertainment which is provided to the crowd to keep silent, and the telescreens which display only what the rulers wish for them to see. There is also that life underground prohibiting everyone from going outside in the name of danger – all of these seem to point to one thing, deception, and in other terms, a dystopian world; for these robots there are enough twists in store.

Positives and negatives :: The idea of this movie might be well known, but the elevation of the same here is much notable. The origin story of autobots and decepticons also gets a twist here, and this including Sentinel Prime goes for another path. The world here is shown more for a forced illusion for the crowd who are just dumb fans like people who celebrate celebrities in our world and would believe anything they say and are ready to die for them – a matrix to keep the order. We are given the feeling that there is something greater to come and mysteries to be revealed, with scope for rebellion present all the time. The beautiful animation helps the process, with the world here being too beautiful to compare to any animated film of Hollywood. The voices serve the purpose nicely, especially that of Chris Hemsworth. The high ratings are a reflection of the movie’s qualities, as all the action nicely adds on. There are still some predictability elements and the character development of newly formed villain that got some struggles.

How it finishes :: Transformers One is that Transformers movie about which most of us had no idea about when it was releasing. Usually, the Transformers movies come with some huge hype that would surround them as if they are Avengers or Jurassic Park, but not in this case – maybe it is because of the animated side, but we know how well the animated movies have been doing too. With so many movies with imaginary characters made in an epic format here, it has been difficult for big movies to make an impact among the audience, and that might have affected this one too. Looking at this movie, we can still be sure that there are better movies from one side, and most of those which we had around here in the name of epics were just copies. This one surely feels too good with what is shown on the screen and despite a little of the feeling that we have seen most of this before as much as the idea that is repeated. But we also know that this is such a great movie. This one will stay with us for long, even if late, as something even better than the live-action ones that came right at us.

Release date: 20th September 2024
Running time: 104 minutes
Directed by: Josh Cooley
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree, Henry Scarlett, Johansson Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Hamm

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

What is the movie about? :: Manoharan (Vineeth Sreenivasan) finds himself outdated in a world which has traveled a little too quick for his taste, making him feel unable to keep up with the pace. He is known as an artist and a painter, and as he had failed miserably in tasting any kind of success in life, not passing even plus two, he lacks any kind of confidence, suffering from a certain inferiority complex. Even as he is engaged to be married, the girl leaves him for someone who is better educated and earns more. His best friend is Prabhu (Basil Joseph) who has always been with him since childhood, and continues to support him despite all the failures which come back to him. One problem that they continue to have from those days is Rahul (Deepak Parambol) who has created trouble for them for a very long time. He is rich, and wastes no time in making fun of Manoharan.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: Manoharan finally decides that enough is enough, and with the support of Prabhu and Varghese (Indrans), has a flex printing store set in the town, the first of its kind around there. For the same, he decides to learn Adobe Photoshop which would help him to move from the early artistic skills to modern computerized drawing and painting. He joins an Akshaya Centre for coaching, and Sreeja (Aparna Das) is his new teacher, but even though she is good in programming languages and other computer courses, doesn’t know Photoshop. They try to learn Photoshop together, and there is more than one person’s future on the line as Rahul is also trying to begin a flex printing shop in the town, and he also has a lot of money to invest in the same. Who will succeed and who will lag in this journey of hope?

The defence of Manoharam :: There is the journey of the commoner, an artist trying to survive in a world which is dominated by the newer things, rising above the old world, and even leading to the clear submergence of what is now considered outdated. But this gets interesting as he refuses to be submerged like some slave language in the plantations or an ancient religion facing modernity – he decides to fight, and it is this battle that we see in the movie. The same is something that inspires, without doubt, even though it takes a long time – the final moments are nicely done to rise above any problems which were there in the earlier stages. The songs are just okay, and there is nothing much to stay in our minds for long. The movie is only a two hour journey, which means that there is not much of a drag which awaits us – the journey is rather direct and clear. There is no leap into melodrama, as this one takes none of it.

The claws of flaw :: It is to be noted that the movie has nothing new, and it goes on a journey which has been traveled before, in different ways, through different paths, reaching the same destination. The struggling heroes like these have been more common than any other, and the situations like these have been created for them to struggle hard and go past all these obstacles; even from ancient myth, people have been doing the same. This fight of the simple and ordinary man to survive in a world which has jobs and opportunities taken over by machines and those who are able to know the machines is still not shown in the best possible way. A lot of incidents in the movie could have been shown in some other way, and more humour could have been added related to the same. When it focuses too much on the flex, it losses the human interest, and makes one confused about the objective correlative. This one had a lot more opportunities for emotional depth.

The performers of the soul :: This is another movie which depends upon Vineeth Sreenivasan to make that simple man effect, like he already did in Aravindante Adhithikal some time earlier. He has no trouble in doing that, and this character only has that certain amount of inferiority complex to go with it. He fits into the role of the commoner with ease, and goes through his struggles in a believable manner. The character is not presented with that much of an intensity or by providing us with that much of a lovable nature for the audience to stay close to him, but the same can boast of bring unique in that way. At the same time, the director of Kunjiramayanam and Godha, Basil Joseph gets a full-length comedy role here, and he makes an impact, adding some nice, funny moments – the humour is handled by him without getting overdone at any moment, and we have one more person to be of support to heroes in a realistic as well as funny manner.

Further performers of the soul :: Indrans also has one fine role here, and we see him to be in support for the main character at all times, even more than the main supporting cast. Indrans doing serious roles have a special kind of an effect for us, similar to what Suraj Venjaramoodu has been doing. This role is not that emotional, but it is close to the heart. Aparna Das makes her debut as the heroine after having a very small role in Njan Prakashan, and she begins well, even though the character is never really taken that seriously. Deepak Parambol and Ahamed Siddique plays the characters who are against the protagonists, even though never really becoming the villains, and they only make limited impact. Delhi Ganesh and VK Prakash also do come in some notable roles. Hareesh Peradi also has a character who makes an impression in the short period of time on the big screen. Jude Anthany Joseph is once again there in a small role to come and go quickly.

How it finishes :: Anwar Sadik has his second directorial venture after Ormayundo Ee Mukham which also had the same lead actor in the form of Vineeth Sreenivasan – this one also goes a similar path with the feel-good factor. The tale of a skilled common man, an artist who has a lot to prove, never gets old, and rarely gets outdated as long as there is inequality and partiality in this world – something which is as old as humanity itself, and will go on to the edge of doom. It is the same reason why even without getting near perfection, Manoharam will have a place in the heart and soul of the soul, and can stay there for a longer period of time than those entertainers which have a different kind of path to take after creating the quick impact. Just like Porinju Mariyam Jose and Thannermathan Days have stayed for long, this one should too.

Release date: 28th September 2019
Running time: 122 minutes
Directed by: Anwar Sadik
Starring: Vineeth Sreenivasan, Basil Joseph, Aparna Das, Indrans, Deepak Parambol, Delhi Ganesh, VK Prakash, Nandini Sree, Jude Anthany Joseph, Sree Lakshmy, Hareesh Peradi, Neena Kurup, Ahamed Siddique, Nandhu