villainy – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: I have always believed in the capability of Venom to be a future vampire.

Vampire Bat: We are not taking applications from aliens right now.

Vampire Owl: So, we are receiving applications from the demons, but not aliens.

Vampire Bat: There are exceptions when both are just the same.

Vampire Owl: It was first talked about by Doctor Frankenstein, right?

Vampire Bat: I am sure that Mr Frankenstein had nothing to do with it.

Vampire Owl: He is the greatest scientist of the realm, and he has something to do every time.

Vampire Bat: He creates fiction works out of nothing really well.

Vampire Owl: So, you think that great discoveries can only be fictional.

Vampire Bat: Well, there is realistic fiction, but not in his case.

Vampire Owl: You fail to have respect for such great men.

Vampire Bat: If he is a great man, there is not much to say about greatness.

Vampire Owl: You should stop even talking about him. He has ears everywhere.

Vampire Bat: I know that he can do nothing.

Vampire Owl: He has not come this far by doing nothing in his eventful life.

Vampire Bat: Creating that useless Frankenstein monster do not count.

Vampire Owl: Not all monsters are forever.

Vampire Bat: Yet, we are immortals and monsters for humans.

Vampire Owl: Yet, that was one fine monster of science.

Vampire Bat: Science itself is a monster and murderer of many species.

Vampire Owl: Do you feel that it is soon bringing the apocalypse here too?

Vampire Bat: That is indeed a nearby possibility, not a distant one.

Vampire Owl: So, the humans will kill themselves and even take us with them to the grave.

Vampire Bat: We have come out of the grave. It is our chance to live again and again.

[Gets a box with cheese popcorn and three cups of ginger tea and moves into theatre].

Vampire Owl: The series remains a fine one, but I am not sure about this particular entry.

Vampire Bat: There was a lot more that a Venom movie could do.

Vampire Owl: This is basically supposed to be an epic conclusion.

Vampire Bat: Well, for this to be epic, there should have been such grandeur and a classic final battle, and in both cases, the movie struggles.

Vampire Owl: The battles here, despite scoring in between, often becomes a struggle.

Vampire Bat: It reminds me of X-Men: Days of the Future Past, where the mutants had no chance of survival against the newly created robots and keep dying. The case is the same with the symbiotes facing these monsters.

Vampire Owl: The performances have been really good though, especially from Tom Hardy.

Vampire Bat: Juno Temple also has a certain amount of mystery running through.

Vampire Owl: The different symbiotes seem to have a variety of attributes too.

Vampire Bat: The terror brought by the ruination of humans continues to work.

Vampire Owl: This time, there is a fine villain, but does not come to the front enough. He keeps sitting there like a hermit when imprisoned.

Vampire Bat: The terror of infinity of villains from space never ceases to amaze us.

Vampire Owl: Well, the idea that varieties of hell might me somewhere in space keeps everyone going to discover more out there through unparalleled creativity.

Vampire Bat: You are going back to the good old computer games in outer space. We remember even those shooting tournaments in other worlds of space, don’t we?

Vampire Owl: And those game to movie adaptations with Resident Evil scoring the highest with those box-office collections and never-ending fame.

Vampire Bat: You were not that much of a fan of those particular adaptions, and fought against the creation of game-based movies.

Vampire Owl: We see all these aliens, different types, coming right out of space, and symbiotes and transformers are only a few of them.

Vampire Bat: The human imagination has been everywhere these days, wandering through the stranger worlds and often not making that much of sense.

Vampire Owl: Human creativity has been messed up whenever sequels are involved.

Vampire Bat: Still, the details on the creatures are good, and the powerful villain leaves scope for more in the future.

Vampire Owl: There is no future for humanity and this film is supposed to be the end.

Vampire Bat: But we see the possibility for continuation in the end with the post-credits scene.

Vampire Owl: In a world where humans are bigger monsters than symbiotes, there is the infinite possibility of evil to bring new movies.

Vampire Bat: Well, Venom needs fear factor with humour, and the second one somewhat works in this particular movie.

Vampire Owl: I keep wondering why this movie could not improve from the previous movie, even when there were so many deviations that could have been chosen.

[Disappears into the darkness of the day because the clouds have done the trick, and awaits the darkest bloody night of the week].

Release date: 25th October 2024
Running time: 109 minutes
Directed by: Kelly Marcel
Starring: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo, Alanna Ubach, Andy Serkis

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

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: There is nothing unforgettable in this world.

Vampire Bat: It is not true. Some things just stay. I thought you would agree to the unforgettable nature of things.

Vampire Owl: I have been able to forget everything, and re-programme my brain with ease.

Vampire Bat: Was that part of one of the experiments by Doctor Frankenstein?

Vampire Owl: No, it is my own special skill, and no Frankenstein is required for the same.

Vampire Bat: But I know that you keep remembering Lady Death and your inability to get to her realm when needed.

Vampire Owl: Lady Death is not of past. She is more like the present.

Vampire Bat: This is exactly what I am talking about.

Vampire Owl: There is more to that particular story than what meets the eye. You should realize that better, considering how life has been. Well, it follows.

Vampire Bat: I think that you are going to write a book, considering how you have been talking about your life’s story in the last few days.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with banana chips].

What is the movie about? :: Julia Banks (Rosario Dawson) is in a new relationship with David Connover (Geoff Stults) who has only recently separated from his wife Tessa Manning (Katherine Heigl) with whom he has a child, Lily Connover (Isabella Rice). They seem to have managed very well as individuals, sharing the custody of their daughter who stays with each of them at one place after the other. Julia herself has her own little secret, with her abusive former boyfriend Michael Vargas (Simon Kassianides) getting arrested for his violence on him, and is on a restraining order, which has only few days left. To add to her fear about the same, she also has Tessa acting rather strange, seemingly intruding into their lives. Her best friend Ali (Whitney Cummings) would comfort her telling her that these are just common things in life, and is surely better than her last abusive relationship which left her with scars on her body.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: After leaving her job and city to arrive at this town, her biggest nemesis remains Tessa who keeps creating problems for her, mostly in the name of the child, and her inability to take care of the kid as she is not a mother. Scolded by her own mother Helen Manning (Cheryl Ladd) for letting go of her marriage, Tessa gets more and more angry and frustrated, deciding to teach her husband’s new lover a lesson. She searches for information on Julia and finds more than enough about her past, which is not revealed to David. She decides to use the same to her advantage, and contacts Julia’s ex-boyfriend. What follows is a series of events which involve Tessa trying to get rid of Julia, while latter somehow manages to hold on. But the question remains about how long can she evade the traps set by Tessa who seems to have everything in control.

The defence of Unforgettable :: There is the suspense associated with this one, and it keeps you engaged about what is to happen next, and how the plan works out. But above everything else, and even above the story, the movie works the best due to its two leading female actresses, Rosario Dawson and Katherine Heigl. The former shows her desperation to perfection, while the latter is more like the snow queen who has her heart made into ice, having almost no remorse over her action which would destroy lives – the selfishness that is reflected there is more than what a regular villain would bring in a movie like this. Katherine becomes what they describe by psycho barbie between two characters, and there is some terror hiding behind her eyes as she stare into her nemesis. There are some smart movies being made, but twists oppose the same, and thankfully there is no melodrama even while dealing with this kind of a theme. The one doubt left is whether we have loved the villain so much that we were wishing for her to thrive.

The claws of flaw :: There are a few moments which looks not really living up to what seemed to be planned, and we have some situations that seems to be not done well enough – the movie has its problems here and there as it brings its content. There could have been more to the flashback of the villain too, as we see how good she is even without the same. The final sequence is also strange, seemingly made to let the heroine win, and it is only fair for someone’s good side to let her be the last woman standing, and we wished otherwise, and it would have been more realistic that way. The male characters don’t really have anything interesting to do here, and we see that there was so much more of villainy that could have been brought on. There could have also been certain suspense about what was going to be done, and how worse it could become for the protagonist – the psycho barbie idea could have been twisted to the extreme limits.

How it finishes :: When you see a movie like this, there is that category which you fit this one into, and that is erotic thriller, and then there is erotic drama which has more chance to be chosen by the regular audience. This is certainly not a movie that will be memorable for a very long time with its thrills, but thanks to Katherine Heigl, this one gets raised from where it could have stayed otherwise. After watching this movie, one thing is for sure – we would want a bigger version of such evil on the screen – it is more like the purge that takes away all the bad things; we need something like this more often. When you see the negative reviews and you watch this one, you are going to be surprised by what it brings, and we know that thrillers based on relationships and home can also bring some more when you least expected them.

[Walks into the balcony with another cup of tea].

Vampire Owl: I think that this particular lady reminds me of someone.

Vampire Bat: If it is about the ex-girlfriend, it might be about Lady Death.

Vampire Owl: What meaningless thing are you talking about? She is not an ex. She is part of my present.

Vampire Bat: Don’t you know that the realm of death has stopped all connections with the vampire world? You can only be trapped in one of the worlds.

Vampire Owl: It is not possible. We are the connection between the living and the dead. We are needed.

Vampire Bat: Even the Lich Queen has been saying the same. There is no real contract regarding the same.

Vampire Owl: There is one with the Vampire Elders.

Vampire Bat: Dude, that connection no longer exists. The Vampire Elders have given up all positions of powers because they are very old.

Vampire Owl: It is absurd. A Vampire Elder rules forever.

Vampire Bat: You should read The Vampire Times at least once a week.

[Walks into the silence of darkness].

Release date: 21st April 2017
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed by: Denise Di Novi
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Katherine Heigl, Geoff Stults, Isabella Rice, Whitney Cummings, Cheryl Ladd, Simon Kassianides, Sarah Burns, Alex Quijano, Stephanie Escajeda, Kincaid Walker, Aline Elasmar, Lauren Rose Lewis, Jayson Blair, Robert Wisdom