war – Page 3 – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl :: You mean to say we are going for an ape movie.

Vampire Bat :: Or Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.

Vampire Owl :: I would rather watch monkeys all day than watch a new Bollywood Romance.

Vampire Bat :: I already watched that Humpty Dumb though.

Vampire Owl :: This is why your choices are always bad.

Vampire Bat :: It was because the local theatres were showing it for a change.

Vampire Owl :: Still, you decided to commit suicide.

Vampire Bat :: Unless you are suicidal, it is impossible to watch a Bollywood movie these days. Movies like Madras Cafe and The Lunchbox comes once in a blue moon.

Vampire Owl :: I hope our current venture is not like that.

Vampire Bat :: Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania makes you strong enough to watch anything! It was that bad!

[Enters the movie hall].

What is it about? :: The human testing on the apes had resulted in them getting smarter and escaping from the human world creating another civilization of their own, based on some newly discovered values. Meanwhile, the virus which was developed by the humans has caused their own downfall and they are on the brink of extinction with cities destroyed and with the lack of resources, fighting one another as they have done for centuries. A group of genetically immune humans who have survived the virus are living in a guarded tower not too far away from the abode of the apes. As their power source seems to disappear, they hope to find enough power from the dam which is located in the lands of the apes, hoping to make the hydro-electric power plant work again. Even as they convince the apes and everything seems to work so well with the city ready to get enough power, we come to know that there are people on both sides who want a war due to the heavy distrust that exists of the other species, and it is only a matter of time till a war breaks out. The extinction of one race might soon begin.

The defence of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes :: The movie’s biggest point is its relationships, between apes and creatures of the same kind, humans and their own kind, apes and humans between each other and their attitude as a whole. The emotions are dealt with nicely in a believable manner as we would expect them to be. The movie also shows the evil of war and how it makes both sides dumb and thirsty for blood forgetting all the good things which can happen if there is peace. The story is a little bit more inclined to the ape side this time though. The visuals are impressive, especially that of the post-apocalyptic world and concerning the detail of the different types of apes. There are also some good action sequences related to the ape life. It successfully tests the loyalties of the the audience as it goes through the lives of apes and humans just come into it. The movie also talks about the fear of the unknown or the other, the rising hatred for the outsider just because he or she is just different.

Claws of flaw :: The incredibly long named Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is rather too slow a movie. It is never really in a hurry to progress through anything, whether it is the original story-line or the sub-plots. It takes its time and makes sure that the audience gets the feel of everything ape and post-apocalyptic human before getting things complicated and it is not a bad thing for the people who are watching a movie of the franchise for the first time, but not so much for the rest of the people. It does go along predictable lines at times, and the story of one ape trying to kill the leader of the pack to become the new chief was much expected, and a war was always on the cards, nothing out of the box with these species. The humans were always coming in for some reason, and there was always going to be the hatred for the other species. Other than the main characters, the human side is also weak and its civilization also on the losing side. James Franco and Freida Pinto are being missed here too in this continued world.

Performers of the soul :: Jason Clarke has a wonderful presence here, not something which matches James Franco, but rightly suitable for the situation of this movie. Keri Russell is also there, and it is surprising how good she looks after this many years, and she has done a wonderful job as the lady lead – liked her a lot since Bedtime Stories. Gary Oldman plays the typical human with the fear and hatred for the other and branding them as just animals who can be killed for the good of the humans. But nothing matches the strength of the ape characters as the focus is on them. Andy Serkis’ Caesar has more strength and emotions than any human or ape around as this character gets a lot better as a worthy leader of the gang. Toby Kebbell as Koba has the physical strength powered by his experiences, and Nick Thurston as Blue Eyes has a powerful emotional side like nobody else. Karin Konoval as Maurice, the orangutan is once again in the centre of things. This nice characterization of the apes make sure that there is something big coming up in the next sequel, like the 2001 version of Planet of the Apes which was huge in its ideas.

Soul exploration :: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes comes with a strict anti-war message which runs through its veins like blood. It is to be noted that it is the apes who don’t go to war like the humans even as they are less civilized. They value peace, but the twist is that it is them who starts the war which humans wanted. If we look into our world itself, we can see that it is not just side which is hungry for war, and if there is retaliation, it should mean that the colour of blood is not the same on all sides. As it is evident with almost all the people who talk about a war, the colour of blood changes according to which person they are supporting according to their religion, caste or race, and this is the same thing which is shown in this movie. Apes don’t kill apes as they would say, and humans want to kill apes because they are outsiders and a threat. Unfortunately this prejudice of “our people” exists among humans, and thanks to their influence, the same thing begins to exist in apes. A war is a war, and it causes the shedding of blood of the same colour on both sides, and if the deaths are less on one side, it wouldn’t mean that those who lost more men or buildings are better. There will always be someone who begins the war and innocents who suffer.

How it finishes :: I have always felt something special about the 2001 Planet of the Apes and it would remain my favourite movie of the series. I haven’t written on it yet, but it is still special for me. I would love to see a connection between that movie and this one, may be with General Thade traveling back in time to meet the apes of this franchise giving them the much needed advice which would indeed change the planet into something really of the apes – this could lead to the final situation in the end of that movie which can justify the ape planet. It would bring Mark Wahlberg back which would be pretty awesome. It was one movie which deserved a sequel with its potential. But other than that, our movie has nicely continued the story of the first movie, not failing like most of the sequels that we face. Compared to Rise of the Planet of the Apes which serve as an origin story, this works as a wonderful story of survival and that too not just for one kind of species. The movie is surely going to do well considering the opinion that it has generated and the lack of any big opponent challenging it. This is indeed the time of the apes.

Release date: 11th July 2014
Running time: 131 minutes
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Judy Greer, Jocko Sims, Kirk Acevedo, Enrique Murciano as Kempt, Kevin Rankin, Keir O’Donnell, Terry Notary, Karin Konoval, Nick Thurston, Doc Shaw

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

It is not that often that we see spy movies which keep close enough to reality rather than the James Bond model with stylish action and a display of superior skills and strange, unbelievable gadgets. In that case, this movie has successfully resisted its temptation to be another Ek Tha Tiger or Agent Vinod with all the super-stylish espionage with a romance tone always ringing a bell in the background. A few people might find it difficult to keep away from the usual pattern, but not Shoojit Sircar who continues his success of Vicky Donor. This was actually a week which was plagued by the absence of good English or Malayalam movies, and therefore the choice had to be Madras Cafe, but not before suffering from the Malayalam movie Olipporu. What came to my mind when I heard about this title was Kerala Cafe, the 2009 Malayalam movie which was quite a landmark, and such a matching title is nothing less than inspiring enough to watch the movie, not only the positive reviews and the good personal opinions which has been gathered by this movie so far. Its message is simple – that in the case of each and every war, it is the civilians who suffers the worst on both sides, and it is the terrible loss of human life and property that is the ultimate truth.

The movie is set mainly in India and Sri Lanka, and the action also shifts to the United Kingdom, Singapore and Thailand on occasions. So the movie is a political thriller as well as an espionage action flick with all the eyes on that defining moment in Indian history. It is the story of Vikram Singh (John Abraham), an Indian Army special officer in the backdrop of the Sri Lanka Civil War. He is appointed by the Indian intelligence agency to lead the covert operations in Jaffna just after the Indian intervention there didn’t really work out. He travels to Sri Lanka leaving his wife Ruby Singh (Rashi Khanna) at his abode at Cochin, and comes across Jaya Sahni (Nargis Fakhri), a British journalist of Indian origins. As she is there for humanitarian concers, Vikram is there for the Indian causes, and their paths meet consistently. But their world is still not that apart and their objectives are not that different in the end. The result is not just the uncovering of all the conspiracies which runs behind the scenes, but also finding all those people who work for the other side, and finally discovering a plot to assassinate a former Prime Minister of India.

This is undoubtedly one of the best roles of John Abraham so far. The most significant thing about this role is that our hero is completely out of his comfort zone except for those shooting scenes which comes quite often. He is still there to fit in, as the perfectionist covert operations officer, the loving husband to a lovely wife and a true patriot whom his department deserves rather than the other way around. He is tactically superior to almost everyone around even as his impact is limited due to the huge amount of backstabbing and treachery which is involved among his own people. Still, he is perfectly human and doesn’t come up with the typical John Abraham show as one would expect from the hunk. But this one is a more realistic, and the much need performance from him, a lot above what was expected. He has taken over his role as the leading actor with what was needed just like his role as the producer. There might surely be the people who are to find it difficult to agree to that statement, but it is proven, and John Abraham is back.

Nargis Fakhri’s Jaya Sahni, a British journalist and foreign war correspondant in Jaffna has a significant role in the totality of investigation, but not that much of an imposing screen presence. She looks beautiful, determined and adamant throughout the movie as a character who might have almost worked a miracle on the events. She is the daredevil, the exact opposite of Rashi Khanna’s Ruby Singh – the worried housewife who is troubled by the absence of her husband who disappears in Sri Lanka and is later consistently under threat. She still has a lovely debut though, opposite one of the most stylish actors in Bollywood, and does her part well. Siddharth Basu’s Robin Dutt is an outstanding performance which adds to the rating of the movie by a good margin. The others have also done well making this movie a very good combined effort which is brought together by its working of the plot, the narrative style and the effort of the director.

How often do we get such good political thrillers? The Malayalam movie Left Right Left was one of those political flicks which seemed to make a powerful impact. Well, this one is clearer in its vision, as it takes no sides and passes absolutely no real judgement. Its viewpoint is the same as that of any neutral person watching the movie. To add to it, this time there is the espionage element – it is present at the right dose, and not at all glorified or exaggerated. Nobody is killed in slow motion and no hero takes on a large group and throws bodies in all directions like a freak of nature. There are also no bloody songs or retarded emotional nonsense of dumb romance, as this one keeps its world alive in reality rather than in a romanticized pandemonium. But people might still prefer the wrong movies which makes absolutely no sense and at the same time, has not even that ability to inject nonsense at the right dose. What would happen to the real good movies then? That is a question which can be answered only by the statistics which show more of a world deserving depression.

3 Idiots, Chennai Express, Ek Tha Tiger, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Dabangg 2, Bodyguard, Dabangg, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Don 2 and Ra One are the highest grossing Bollywood movies according to Wikipedia. This clearly leads to the loss of faith in humanity and the need for the end of the world is asserted in a brutal manner. Unless movies like Madras Cafe, Go Goa Gone, Table No. 21 and a few similar ones have some spot in that list, there would no justice served. Well, they can add Malayalam movies like China Town and Maya Mohini to that list of pure nonsense which grossed the highest. Rowdy Rathore, Ready and Agneepath follows in the high-grossing list, and that adds to the need for a quick destruction of the world. The restoration of hope in this generation and the movie-watching people of this world can happen only after having a look at the final collections of Madras Cafe, something which could be fine, but nothing exceptional.

The movie is still slow, and that might be a bad thing for some – but the slow rhythm of the movie still can conquer some other hearts. There was so much of details and information being showered upon the audience and this slower pace might have helped it to blossom – come with the brains this time, for you have watched too many mindless movies which made no sense and scared the world’s best nonstop nonsense. We already had successful slow thrillers in the form of Memories and Mumbai Police, and it is time a slow political thriller takes its place among the best movies of 2013. It took me some time to watch this one only because of the horrible attack of the movie Olipporu and my fears on being not able to understand the political scenario in Hindi. But that went really smooth, and the whole thing was very impressive, ending with Rabindranath Tagore’s lines “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”

Release date: 23rd August 2013
Running time: 130 minutes
Directed by: Shoojit Sircar
Starring: John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri, Rashi Khanna, Siddharth Basu, Ajay Rathnam, Prakash Belawadi, Tinu Menachery, Agnello Dias, Piyush Pandey