Vanquish Synopsis: A mother, Victoria (Ruby Rose), is trying to put her dark past as a Russian drug courier behind her, but retired cop Damon (Morgan Freeman) forces Victoria to do his bidding by holding her daughter hostage.
With the shoot’em up genre featuring fewer action stars than previous eras (The Rock and Jason Statham have moved on to big-scale blockbusters), Ruby Rose’s indoctrination as an action heroine has been refreshing to see. Supporting roles in John Wick 2 and xXx: Return of Xander Cage have propped the talented actor to starring roles, although most of her early vehicles have sunk under her sharp-edge abilities (last year’s The Doormanwas a snooze fest).
Now, Rose is gracing the big-screen alongside Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman in the twisting action/thriller Vanquish. Despite the noticeable pedigree on display, director George Gallo’s film rarely conveys the taunt bloodshed synonymous with the genre.
Gallo, an unsung veteran of the genre (conceived the Bad Boys franchise and wrote Midnight Run), possesses some stylistic juice behind the screen. A myriad of inventive shot selections and atmospheric lighting draws colorful imagery despite the film’s technical inconsistencies. From dingey greens to glowing club-scented hues, Gallo sets a vibrant playground for bullets to ensue while allowing his actors to take center stage. Morgan Freeman’s signature gravitas and Ruby Rose’s steely delivery are far better than what material gives them.
While mildly engaging, Vanquish rarely excels within its genre framework. Gallo’s go-for-broke approach behind the camera lacks the required grace and technical prowess to pull off a pulsating sense of momentum. Several of the overbaked flourishes wind up in unintentionally comedic territory, with Gallo throwing the kitchen sink at the screen with hilariously dated results (repetitive zoom techniques and whip pans feel like a goofy distraction). The bizarre visual busyness detracts from any of the sturdily drawn stuntwork on display.
On a narrative front, Vanquish doesn’t score points for its minimal effort. Gallo and Samuel Bartlett’s barebones screenplay does little to reinvigorate its rudimentary cat-and-mouse formula, seemingly pausing the film at times only to introduce waves of dull exposition. Neither Rose nor Freeman’s characters are imbued with much humanity or dimension, while the rouge’s gallery of scummy adversaries do little to elicit much interest (they range from glib henchmen to painfully dated stereotypes). There’s nothing here of note when the action isn’t flying at a frenetic clip.
I’ve sat through worse run-of-the-mill actioners, but that’s the best statement I can declare about Vanquish. Aside from a few memorably bizarre flourishes, Gallo’s effort does little to elevate the genre’s bargain bin formula.
Vanquish is available in Select Theaters on April 16th and on Apple TV, and Everywhere You Rent Movies on April 20th! Available on Blu-ray and DVD on April 27th.
Sasha (Natalia Ryumina) has inherited a house in her family’s home country of Ukraine, so despite the long trip and the expense, Sasha and her husband, Peter (Nick Wittman) head off to Ukraine where they can get settled in. Sasha soon starts exploring the house, but Peter has other ideas and is hoping to convince Sasha to sell the house so they can spend the inheritance more wisely.
However, during Sasha’s investigation of the house, she starts to find thing that were hidden away and soon discovers a dark history of her family that should have been forgotten.
The Inheritance is a horror mystery thriller shot in Ukraine, written and directed by Chad Barager and Kevin Speckmaier. The set up for the movie is very familiar and for those who think they may have seen it all before they may not be that surprised. However, for those wishing to see a standard thriller with elements of the supernatural and a bit of mystery thrown in may not be disappointed.
As Sasha searches the house further, there are elements which may leave the audience to believe that there may be more going on than they expected. Sasha starts hearing noises, seeing things that Peter doesn’t and she even finds physical evidence that the house is hiding secrets.
Barager and Speckmaier do indeed create a tense atmosphere, and coupled with ethereal music and moody lighting, the scene is indeed set for something sinister for Sasha to uncover.
Unfortunately, there’s not a lot more to the movie that audiences haven’t already seen done before many times over. Sasha’s investigation does take her out into Ukraine so the audience may get to see sights they haven’t seen before, but the whole thing is rather predictable and formulaic.
There’s a little humour during Sasha’s journey to uncover the truth, but it’s all heading to a point in the script where characters start acting strangely and things just seem to happen to finish the story. There may be a few twists and turns along the way, but nothing that will make an audience sit up and take notice.
Geeta (Saloni Batra) and Shirish Mathur (Vikas Kumar) have a wonderful life, they live a relatively privileged life with friends, family and a steady income. Geeta even tells Shirish that they’re expecting a baby, so life couldn’t be better.
Then one night on their way home after celebrating Geeta’s birthday, they get involved in a car accident after hitting a rickshaw driver on the road. They take him in and tend to his wounds, sending him on his way, but a few days later a couple of his relatives turn up at their front door and tell them that his condition has got worse.
A chance encounter which the Marthur’s thought they could easily brush off soon becomes tense as a rift starts to come between them.
The Knot (or Uljhan) is an Indian drama written and directed by Ashish Pant in his feature directorial debut. What starts out as a seemingly happy story, soon turns fraught with drama as Geeta and Shirish’s lives change in the blink of an eye.
Geeta takes pity on the family of the man they hit and soon takes in his relatives in order to make amends for their misdemeanour. However, Shirish takes a different approach and tries to carry on with his life as his focus is more on money and their future together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPBgutPIfH8
What The Knot does so well is to tell a story that highlights the differences in class and gender bias in Indian society, but never make it feel like it’s preaching to the audience. Pant’s script carefully weaves his story with small moments that make the characters question their own actions and as they do, it feels more like a natural progression than a plot contrivance.
What could have easily been a thriller or a heavy-handed morality tale, The Knot simply shows life on both sides of the fence and reminds its audience about how fragile life can be. However, the final scene does feel blunter than the rest of the film, but it’s still worth seeing so that its audience can think about their own place in life.
The Whole World Is Watching: Falcon And Winter Soldier – Disney+ Talk (SPOILERS!)
We’re now past the halfway point in ‘The Falcon And The Winter Soldier’ and, while I’ve just found the show ok overall, I can happily say that this is my favourite episode. Furthermore, this article will be discussing the ending, so there will be spoilers at the end.
Episode 4, titled ‘The Whole World Is Watching’, sees Sam and Bucky close in on Karli, in the hopes that they can negotiate with her and learn her motivations, all while John Walker grows impatient with them.
The episode starts where the last one finished: Bucky reunites with General Okoye. The beginning of the episode was interesting and something we hadn’t seen before: Bucky’s training in Wakanda. This was only something that we saw in the end credit scene of ‘Black Panther’ so, to see more of his mind control resistance training was interesting and emotional in a sense. Because of the context of Bucky’s past, him succeeding to overcome the code words was fantastic to see. So, when Okoye informs him that she knows about Zemo being broken out of prison, it would feel like a slap in the face after everything she did for him. I hope she plays a more prominent role in the next two episodes, presumedly overlooking the lead characters so they can take Zemo in for killing King T-Chaka.
This episode is essentially what I wanted from the last episode: Karli’s motivations and plans are explained, and she’s given more screen time. One of the best scenes is after the funeral of her guardian, where Sam talks to her. This shows that she’s a calm, logical person who can hold a conversation without lashing out. It isn’t until her plans are threatened that she’ll attack. This scene also highlights that Sam agrees with her cause, but just not the way in which she’s getting to that cause. And this, despite the end of the show nearing, is finally a decision of Sam’s I can agree with. Her plan also highlights an unexpected problem with the Blip: the major event has almost created a class divide between the people who were snapped and brought back and the people who weren’t. An example that’s given is that if someone lives in a certain house but is snapped, someone else will eventually move into that house. But, five years later, that previous owner comes back and will defend their ownership of that house because, for them, only a second has passed. The government then decided that the previous owners were still the rightful owners so the people who weren’t snapped were placed in Resettlement Camps. Like Wandavision briefly brought up, the Blip may have been a joyous event for the Avengers, but it was ultimately disastrous for the economy, housing market, relationships, etc. However, if Karli made everyone super soldiers, then they’d be no class divide. Her plan makes perfect sense, even if her methods are less than favourable.
Overall, Episode 4 was fantastic and is my favourite. Admittedly, the show has been fine with some interesting aspects, specifically the physiological aspects of the lead characters, something that was mentioned in the last episode. And, with the way this episode ended, I am now very interested to know where the last two episodes will go.
So, please be warned that the article from this point onwards will be spoilers!
The Whole World Is Watching: Falcon And Winter Soldier – Disney+ Talk
The Whole World Is Watching: Falcon And Winter Soldier – Disney+ Talk
So, once again, this section will cover spoilers for Episode 4 of ‘The Falcon & The Winter Soldier’.
And the spoilers will be wholly focused on one character: John Walker.
While I only hated this character because of the situation he was placed in (him being the new Captain America), he seemed like a good guy just trying to do the right thing so far. It wasn’t until the beginning of the last episode that we saw how hot headed he can be. And, in this episode, his behaviour becomes worse.
Firstly, I understood his feelings towards being Captain America: he had a lot to live up to after the passing of Steve Rogers. On top of this, there was also pressure from the government and public that would’ve been a huge weight on his shoulders, as well as pressure from himself. He wants to be as good as Steve Rogers. However, he’s also hot-headed, arrogant and lacks compassion and empathy. He sees a situation in black & white/good vs evil; nothing is complex for him. Someone is either evil or they’re good and there’s no in-between point. Which, as a person, isn’t always a great mindset to have but, as Captain America, is dangerous. It would be even more dangerous if this mindset was mixed with the Super Soldier Serum, but that won’t happen…right?
Earlier, I mentioned that Karli’s plan was to change people into super soldiers and had been developing more of the serum. This is discovered by Zemo after John Walker and Bucky interrupt Sam’s interaction with Karli. As predicted, Zemo destroys the serum vials…but forgets one. Which John Walker finds and, predictably, takes it. And his reasoning makes sense, even if he doesn’t deserve the serum: He had previously been defeated and left humiliated by the Wakanda General in a fight that they easily won. So, it makes sense as to why he took the Serum. It also meant he could easily fight the other super soldiers. However, this doesn’t mean he deserves it. Because a dangerous mindset mixed with the Serum can potentially lead to a death. Which it does.
The final scene of the episode sees Walker’s sidekick Hoskins die in a fight. Walker, seething with rage, catches up to the Flag Smasher who killed Hoskins and brutally murders him with the Shield. All whilst in the public eye, so everyone can film the horrific act. Not only is this a complete PR disaster, but it also indicates a lot of things: firstly, it’s time for Sam or Bucky to take up the shield, as Walker has now proven himself unworthy of the role. Either one of them can replace him (and both characters have done in the comics), and it would make sense, as they both had close relations with Steve Rogers. Secondly, the symbol of hope that Captain America once held is now gone: people will now know the shield as a symbol of cold-blooded murder and hatred. This is showcased beautifully in the final shot: a low angle shot shows John Walker standing tall in his Captain America suit, holding a bloody shield. What once would’ve been seen as a joyous image is now tainted and vile.
But, because of this final scene, I am now very interested to see what the last two episodes hold.
Darren Aronofsky created yet another fantastic and sick movie with “Mother!”. Watching this on April Fools day, the biggest joke I noticed was that Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, and Aronofsky were all nominated at the Razzies for their work. I mean, this is certainly one of those movies that not everybody likes, but everybody will agree that the performances and the direction were on point. “Mother!” is in its entirety one single climax that gets crazier and crazier with every second, which is why I absolutely loved it.
After seeing just three of his seven features, Darren Aronofsky turns out to be one of my favorite directors claiming the number 2 spot in my Directors Ranked list. Nobody can create horror quite like him. I love how he perfects his character ́s transition into madness. “Mother!” may be very much his craziest and most surreal movie, but I think that ́s exactly why I loved it so much. Although I feel a pinch of David Lynch, Aronofsky ́s approach is quite unique and really superb.
Without asking any questions, he puts the viewer in a position that feels mysterious, but still very normal at first. But the more time we spent with the protagonist discovering the surroundings, we find out that we are in a lonely house in the middle of nowhere. It feels normal, but yet we are in a very surrealistic world. With every second the events catch up to the surrealism and join in in confusing the viewer ́s mind. “Mother!” is a sick – a very sick piece of craziness. Call it senseless, call it exaggerated, but I absolutely loved this craziness.
The thing that I found to be most interesting was the pacing. “Mother!” is one big climax that is stretched out for a very long time. At first, it feels peaceful, and out of nowhere endless noises appear and suddenly you find yourself in a massive crowd intensely panicking for an escape into silence only to find out that the silence is the true scary thing. When the vociferation silences, “Mother!” will grab you and throw you on the edge of your seat. I was constantly afraid of a jumpscare or the next mind-blowing thing.
Aronofsky tells a one-sided story. The focus is on Jennifer Lawrence all the time, and the camera never leaves her. Overall, the cinematography felt very close to the characters which made things very personal and mysterious. In order to do this, you need a very good protagonist, and well, in my opinion, Jennifer Lawrence was amazing. We can embody her pretty well because we are just as confused as she is. We follow her step by step and while I enjoyed the craziness, I could also feel her pain very much.
Furthermore, “Mother!” is very uncomfortable and sometimes even disgusting. The ignorance of other people even triggered my nerves from time to time which is a signal that I was tied to the plot. I can understand that some might find this repetitive knocking on your head that everybody around is discourteous very annoying, but for me, it made this entire madness way more intense. Not to forget that the biblical and apocalyptical circumstances at the end are just out of this world; I totally didn ́t expect it to go that far. “Mother!” made me scream, it made me scared, and it even drove me a bit into madness myself. I loved this experience.
All in all, you could very much argue that “Mother!” is way over the top from time to time, but I loved the madness and the mystery beneath it. It was sick, it was thought-provoking, and it was a crazy experience. Aronofsky certainly didn ́t make something for everybody, but if you love surrealism combined with horrific madness, this is a perfect fit.
