Tag Archives: Wyatt Russell

Thunderbolts

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Vampire Owl: Are they talking about the God of Thunder?

Vampire Bat: The Marvel original heroes are done for now.

Vampire Owl: What about the DC heroes? They have godly people too.

Vampire Bat: Well, they have already destroyed Man of Steel.

Vampire Owl: Yes, I have heard that they brought dogs instead of cats to be super.

Vampire Bat: I believe that they always had dogs, like we have wolves.

Vampire Owl: We still have more cats, bats and rats.

Vampire Bat: Yes, after most of the wolves aligned with werewolves and took some dogs from the human world to assist them too.

Vampire Owl: But we still ended up winning, didn’t we?

Vampire Bat: Well, you know that everyone is afraid of big bats and black cats.

[Gets a paneer masala dosa and three cups of Vagamon tea].

What is the movie about? :: Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) worked for a long time in Malaysia and finally destroys a laboratory for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who has been on a run to destroy any evidence of her involvement with a superhuman project known as Sentry. As Valentina faces impeachment for her work with OXE Group with the Sentry project, she plans to erase all evidence by putting all her agents in one place against each other, as Yelena finds Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko), Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen) and John Walker (Wyatt Russell) with weapons and bullets flying all around. Antonia gets shot dead by Ava, while a young man called Bob (Lewis Pullman) is released from a suspended animation pod, only to remember nothing about what has been happening with him. As they are locked in the room, they realize that they are going to be incinerated according to the plans of Valentina who wishes to erase her past and all who were part of it, thus saving her from impeachment.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The contact with Bob brings the worst memories of Yelena and John back to them, and she also takes the gunfire to help the others escape, only to display his superpowers, as he seems invincible, but losses consciousness, and is captured by Valentina, who understands that he was the only survivor and positive result of her project. With the help of her assistant Mel (Geraldine Viswanathan), she intends to use Bob as her success story from the Sentry project. Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) arrives to save the team led by Elena, only to be captured by Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) who became the Winter Soldier again long after being elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives. But they soon realize that they need the team of Black Widow, Captain America, Winter Soldier, Ghost and Red Guardian to save the day against the evil plans of Valentina who would unleash the Sentry that she cannot control. Mel who has her doubts decide to help them, but they might be too late to become the New Avengers.

The defence of Thunderbolts :: Here is the one movie with big battles without magic that comes after the golden age of Marvel seems to have ended and sent us to some depression. Florence Pugh remains the heart and soul of this movie as she lives in the character like nobody ever did in the universe with the emotional side. As she joins the forces with so many others forming a team, we are reminded of Avengers assembling as much as a Justice League forming. But this team is a lot more interesting than the rest as it is one team that we least expect to be together and they are also fighting a villain who is so much stronger, unlike the underdeveloped superheroes who are too strong to like the much disliked and boring character of Captain Marvel. But our heroes here are all having their troubles and the movie is about the changes that they undergo, shown in a beautiful way. The dynamic characters run through the movie really well here. Psychological trauma, redemption, mental health and flawed characters keeps the world running in a different way, and the way in which emotions and humour blend so well in here needs some appreciation.

Positives and negatives :: Thunderbolts misses a main character Taskmaster played by Olga Kurylenko, which should have been the second most important character here, considering her skills and the immense possibilities in battle. Even though there are some big fights here, there is no moving towards that ultimate terror and colossal destruction, and the movie’s plan to keep close to the mind and heart is worth some appreciation too. Still, those massive multiversal crises, deeply complex plot twists and so many connections from past will not make way here – but the movie rises above the same with its simple and classic journey. The recent entries might not stand a chance to get even close to the quality of this one. It is indeed more of an experience than the usual superhero movie, and we can feel that there is always something to be done in the universe, and running out of ideas might not be the right thing to do. Well, we do have a lot more to come, and with DC coming up with change, let us see how things would come together.

The performers of the soul :: Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova steals the show, not just with the action, but also with emotional moments. The dialogue in the last moments to the father figure about being alone and being reminded of the terrible things she had done through thoughts that keep coming back to her – it might be the greatest emotional dialogue delivered in any Marvel movie. We also see Violet McGraw doing the younger role nicely. Lewis Pullman’s Bob brings multiple sides of a personality really well, and keeps reminding us that with great power, comes responsibility and terror from different sides. The disappointing moment of the movie would still be the early death of Olga Kurylenko’s character, and it pulls the movie back for some moments, and takes some time for it to get better – we know how capable she is with action movies, and we have to hope for the character to make a return. Geraldine Viswanathan makes a fine impression in between, while David Harbour brings so much humour. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a strong antagonist while Hannah John-Kamen has her moments. Sebastian Stan stands strong as expected.

How it finishes :: Thunderbolts becomes the one movie long after Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers Endgame that becomes the classic, even though Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness had held the ground for some time. The movie is also the best dealing with anti-heroes since Suicide Squad, as the next version of the same did not rise up that level, and Deadpool and Venom never really showed that power. This movie is the reminder that Marvel Cinematic Universe still has that power, and the dumb and ridiculous comedy associated with Deadpool would not live for long, but this right combination of action, emotions and comedy is surely going to stand tall. The fact that this one managed less at the box-office is not a problem of this movie, but that of the audience that has been losing that class. Maybe with a sequel, this one would have better audience. But without such an audience, the greatness of this universe might be at stake, for there are so many other superhero universes from Gundala to Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra. Note that the movie also becomes renamed as The New Avengers by the end of credits.

Release date: 2nd May 2025
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Jake Schreier
Starring: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Olga Kurylenko, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Night Swim

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Vampire Owl: So, these humans want to be nocturnal swimmers.

Vampire Bat: Well, they could swim better during daytime.

Vampire Owl: Night Swim should mean fine horror though.

Vampire Bat: Vampires are not fond of swimming pools even at nights.

Vampire Owl: Well, we are not people of the water.

Vampire Bat: Except for the Vampire Penguin, Vampire Crocodile and Vampire Alligator.

Vampire Owl: You mean that they are not dead yet.

Vampire Bat: Why should they be dead? They are young vampires.

Vampire Owl: The young ones can die easier as they are not strong enough.

Vampire Bat: The strength of the youth will keep them going, as they feel the flow life through them as new vampires.

[Gets a chicken cutlet and three cups of iced tea].

What is the movie about? :: Rebecca Summers (Ayazhan Dalabayeva), a young girl is shown moving too close to her family pool on a rainy night to bring back a toy ship belonging to her terminally ill brother. As she tries for the same, she falls into water, and while keeping on trying to get it, something is seen coming up from beneath the pool pulls her underwater. Nobody in the house seems to realize that something like this incident happened. Many years later, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), his wife Eve Waller (Kerry Condon) and children Izzy Waller (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot Waller (Gavin Warren), come to that side of the town to live at the same house with the exact same pool, which seems to have been not in use for some time. They decide to choose this house as the availability of swimming pool would be suitable for Ray who is having a medical condition after his career in baseball seems to have ended too early. But Ray does fall into the pool and also injures his hand while clearing out the pool.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As water seems to keep coming out from underneath the swimming pool, it is revealed that there is a natural underground spring below the pool, and the water keeps coming in from there. Things do not seem to be that easy though as the family cat goes missing and both the children are attacked by something inside the pool. Izzy’s plans of making out with her lover in the pool at night when parents are not there, is thus gone after a scary episode, while Elliot tells them that there is a girl underneath the pool. Ray who was first introduced to the pool, seems to be affected by it, and even seems to get better in health with time. His actions become rather strange as life goes on. It is shown that the house and pool has had a long sequence of disappearances. There seems to be something sinister about the water which gets into the pool from underneath, and it might precede everything that was built on those lands. Is the family good enough to stop it or will the entities of water have whatever they want from the residents?

The defence of Night Swim :: This is one movie which begins strong with activities at the swimming pool that sets things going, and we know that some suspense is coming and some revelation is to arrive at some point. There are enough scares to bring balance as a part of the one true genre that keeps us entertained at all times. All the horror is nicely brought to the home backyard with the reminder that there is more ancient evil than we would ever explore in a world of chaos. All the scenes inside the pool are very effective with that of mother and daughter coming as surprise, even though the initial scene had established the possibility of fear well enough early itself. The power of aquaphobia comes into play here, and the underwater angles and reflections work very well. Keeping itself to the genre and adding some emotions, the work feels done well enough. The predictability comes in, but the movie manages to keep it to a lesser level, much to our surprise as we feel more than just the usual being present.

The claws of flaw :: The sinister elements in the movie could have brought more scares. We have seen how well such a background has served movies like Sinister and Insidious and has taken spin-offs like The Nun, The Curse of La Llorna and Annabelle out of The Conjuring – that kind of a vision, even though at a lower level was needed here, especially with some pure evil coming from underneath. Evil should always be at its scariest when coming from deep underneath, not just water, but anything, as shown in Superdeep, the Russian science fiction classic. The background tale of ancient mystery should have also been explained further. A scarier ancient past would have made this world more sinister than ever – the strength of premise which could have lifted this one does not get to that certain level. The psychological elements just go missing even when they could have been at least present as red herrings. The situations where horror occurs seem to be more created than being a part of the plot.

The performers of the soul :: The work depends on the performances more than the terror itself, as this movie sees some fine work from Kerry Condon, who plays the role of the helpless wife and mother who decides to take things into her hands. She realizes the terror early enough underwater, and gets deeper into the same. The emotions are nicely displayed when she is around, and rises to the occasion every time. Wyatt Russell scores with some fine moments, and comes up with the best in the final moments. The eerie feeling is provided by his expressions at different situations, and we feel the change that the sinister elements bring. Amélie Hoeferle has her moments, and excels in the underwater terror scenes and by the end. She seems to be nicely suited for the genre of horror, as a scream queen of relevance. Gavin Warren stays solid, and manages the young child in terror well. He faces the fear elements and keeps his side fine. Ayazhan Dalabayeva shines in the small role, and establishes the level of the movie.

How it finishes :: Night Swim makes a good thriller out of nowhere, and we become interested in the whole thing from the beginning itself. It is not that kind of a movie that people in this part of the world might not know about, as it is indeed a stranger to us. Even though we often feel that the moments in the pool should have been more, and that there could have been more peaceful moments which transform nicely into evil – whether those of happy, romantic or terrifying moment as the focus is on that, we are mostly satisfied with the totality of scares and the idea that works out. There could have also been a terrifying flashback to ancient times, but we can imagine that well enough. Even without these, the movie here feels elevated compared to most of the horror movies which lose their steam in between. This one feels right outside syllabus of this year’s horror text book, and that deviation seems to have helped the film well enough to create an impact which would keep the movie floating on the swimming pool.

Release date: 5th January 2024
Running time: 98 minutes
Directed by: Bryce McGuire
Starring: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, Jodi Long, Ayazhan Dalabayeva, Nancy Lenehan, Eddie Martinez, Elijah J. Roberts, Rahnuma Panthaky, Ben Sinclair, Ellie Araiza

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Woman in the Window

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Vampire Owl: There is a vampire in the window if you look around from here.

Vampire Bat: It is only a picture of the vampire in that mansion.

Vampire Owl: Why would someone put a picture up like that?

Vampire Bat: Maybe it is someone who wishes to be popular.

Vampire Owl: I should put my picture on the window too.

Vampire Bat: We are not that kind of vampires.

Vampire Owl: We are still the kind vampires around here.

Vampire Bat: Why should vampires be kind?

Vampire Owl: Kindness is a quality which can be used to fool people easily.

Vampire Bat: Vampires do not fool people. Humans do. They lie, cheat, steal and murder all the time.

[Gets a vegetable puffs and three cups of white tea].

What is the movie about? :: Anna Fox (Amy Adams) lives alone in an apartment in Manhattan, New York after being separated from his husband Edward Fox (Anthony Mackie) and daughter Olivia Fox (Mariah Bozeman). She always try to cheer herself up despite the loneliness, and has good support through the phone. Anna suffers from agoraphobia, leading to a lot of anxiety about her surroundings and she observes her neighbors from a second-story window, and that includes the Russell family who recently moved in across the street. She has a large number of medications to take on a daily basis, and also goes on with a lot of alcohol consumption. David Winter (Wyatt Russell) is her tenant who lives in the basement area of her home, and often helps her with some househould work as well as repairs. She does feel lonely at times, and has talks with Ethan Russell (Fred Hechinger), the boy who lives as part of the Russell family, and is upset for some strange reasons – she tries to use her skills as a former child psychologist here.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Anna continues to see the world around her in suspicion and feels that her neighbours are up to something all the time, and that Ethan suffers due to the same. Soon, she also comes across Ethan’s mother, Jane Russell (Julianne Moore), who has some good moments of talk with her, making her happy and relieved. This leads to her believing that Ethan has an abusive father. One night, Anna hears a scream from the Russell family home and then sees Jane being stabbed to death in the living room, but she is not able to find who exactly did that. She has a camera, but forgets to take a photo in panic. She contacts the police, but they do not believe her, and tells her that everyone in the family is just fine. At the same time, Alistair arrives at her home along with his wife, who is a different woman from the one she had met earlier. The police as well as the neighbours tell her that she is hallucinating and making up things, and David also has the same opinion. But she decides to keep spying on the Russells, but it won’t be an idea which will help her.

The defence of The Woman in the Window :: Here, we do have a murder happening, without the surety that it is real, and one would wait for the twist which is to happen at some point of time, as there is the feeling that something is not right, throughout the movie. It puts almost everyone in the line of doubt, and one keep guessing, only to find out that there are not enough clues to completely focus on one suspect. The movie does mix agoraphobia well with the happenings, and we know that it is something that needs serious attention. It is the kind of thing that many of us do feel, and while reading about the same, I have felt that I did have similar problems on many occasions too. I have felt my world to be unsafe with no escape, and had continuous fear and discomfort with regular nightmares for months, as I kept at home for a very long time, and very rarely, I did go out, and that too only with people by my side. Therefore, I was able to connect to this lady very well, and there are moments which make us believe that one of them could be speaking the truth, but that person actually changes as movie progresses.

The claws of flaw :: The Woman in the Window is quite a slow movie, and that is indeed strange, because there were so many occasions here where some more material could have been added to strengthen it further. It could have also focused completely on agoraphobia, and also divide the world into reality and hallucination – it instead focuses on dialogues and what the main character is doing without focusing on the relevant. The time that it takes to start moving is also a little too much, and the revelations could have been made in a more powerful manner, for here we just have it done quickly. It could have also speeded up things at least during those moments which are rather thrilling. The focus on the killer is also a little too less, and we end up not watching enough of his actions of terror and the murders also stay a little too much outside focus. The whole movie focuses on one place with one type of action being focused, thus maintaining the unity of action and the unity of place among the three classical unities talked about by Aristotle, but by doing the same, this movie doesn’t really focus that well on both to elevate the movie, and thus rather brings it down.

The performers of the soul :: If there is a movie starring Amy Adams, I would rarely choose not to watch it, and a thriller does suit her as much as the many genres which she has explored in the past in her career. Nocturnal Animals and Arrival had some fine work being done by her, and both of them were movies which were slow enough too, and you do remember her as a Disney princess too. The superhero movies fans would recognize her more from Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League – well, she is a well-known actress in this part of the world too, and she surely deserved a quicker movie rather than this one. Gary Oldman plays the man who seems to be full of mysteries, and also the one the protagonist feels, is a murderer. He surely has his secrets, and the role is played with a certain amount of class being added there. Julianne Moore seems to be there more as playing a guest role rather than anything else, but we remember her for that scene. Fred Hechinger plays the boy well enough, while Wyatt Russell has his moments. Brian Tyree Henry has memorable times as the detective too.

How it finishes :: The Woman in the Window is the slow thriller that just manages to keep you interested by throwing something in here and there, serving well as the psychological thriller that it is. You do have the doubt about whom you should doubt, even though there is no specific assertion on where you should concentrate that particular feeling. My first thought was that this could be a movie like The Voyeurs, but that is not the case – being a psychological thriller, that path could have also been taken, but The Woman in the Window takes the safe one, lacking in courage and thus being not ready to take the tougher step. But it is nice to see that it still works, and has enough steam to keep it going – the usage of the word “steam” is more relevant than it seems, as it is not innovative or better equipped as some of those newer films are. Well, it can always do better, and if you are standing at the window, witnessing something terrifying, this won’t be the rest during most of the times. The Woman in the Window doesn’t seem to think that further on the same.

Release date: 14th May 2021 (Netflix)
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Fred Hechinger, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Julianne Moore

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.