Movie Review: Underworld Evolution (2006)

Plot:Picking up directly from the previous film, vampire warrior Selene and the half werewolf Michael hunt for clues to reveal the history of their races and the war between them.

When films like Evolution gets hated on online I am always quite surprised. This said trashed film and it isn’t nearly as horrible as it is made out to be. The entire Underworld franchise is garbage rated on both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, but here’s the kicker: it’s actually not that cheesy, it is quite dark and violent and the history between the lycans and vampires are well thought out. Is there some sort of secret society in the entertainment industry that decides to trash things for reasons unknown? Oh wait, that’s the Academy right?

Continuing immediately after the events in Underworld, Seline and Michael narrowly escape after her killing the vampire elder Viktor (Bill Nighy). Seline hopes by awakening Viktor’s brother and last remaining vampire elder Marcus (Tony Curran), she will be able to save her life and Michael’s life. But even though Marcus and Viktor have a long line of dispute between them, Marcus is furious to find his brother dead and sets out on his path of retribution. He is terrifying as some sort of hybrid, and they have a dangerous road to survival set out to them. A whole lot of other things also occur and in it is more insight into the lycan and vampire history.

Evolution remains dark, sexy and violent. It is not so much different from the first film. We are still following the gorgeous Seline and the gorgeous Michael, and we are treated to some sexy time between them. It was a little risqué, much more than the usual amount generally applied in mainstream films, but it continues to suit the tone of the series and stops just short of being icky.

More history is given about both species and I enjoyed that. I’m not sure whether there was a real point to bring in a father figure of Markus and Viktor and explaining all that sordid history, but at least it ultimately makes Seline able to walk in the sun.

At the end of the film all I wanted is Michael and Seline to be together and safe. That wish is mostly granted. It still ends with some depressing voice overs, but for the most part we are left with our favorite couple in a relatively safe future.

Underworld Evolution is enjoyable, gritty, oddly romantic and with a lot of sexy Undertones. I’d give my left pinky toe to be built like Seline, and I wouldn’t mind dating Michael either, hybrid or not.

Rating: 7/10

June 2, 2017May 28, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: 2006, Bill Nighy, Derek Jacobi, Hybrid, Kate Beckingsale, kiss, Lycan, Michael Corvin, Michael Sheen, Movies, mystery, Reviews, Scott Speedman, Seline, Shane Brolly, Supernatural, Tony Curran, Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, Vampire 6 Comments

Blindspot 2016: Memento (2000)

Plot: A man juggles searching for his wife’s murderer and keeping his short-term memory loss from being an obstacle.

Rating: 8.5/10

The entire point of Blindspot is to see things that we were supposed to have seen ages ago but obviously never did for a number of reasons, most notably laziness in my case. Memento is definitely one of these films, and after watching it I am so happy that 1) I finally got to it and 2) somehow avoided spoilers all this time.

Directed by one of the craftiest and most intelligent filmmakers of our time, Memento is some of Christopher Nolan’s finest work. And it should be clear that nearly all of his work is fine – Prestige was on my Blindspot in 2015, I loved Interstellar, Inception blew my mind on a level that I still haven’t written a review for it. Those Batman movies? Dark and heavy and undeniably brilliant. Memento is some of his earlier work, and definitely some of the best that he’s ever embarked on. The directing is excellent, naturally – the black and white and color alternating between past and present. GENIUS.

Guy Pearce plays Leonard, a man with short term memory loss. That alone fascinated me from a medical viewpoint.  Memories and retention of them are so fascinating and complex and the Nolan brothers managed to bring Leonard to life in a way that gives insight to the complexity of his problem. Leonard is highly organized and tackles his memory loss by notes and tattoos. I kept hoping he had some form of a tattoo on his back that would resolve a lot of his problems. Alas, he didn’t, but his tattoos on the front of his body were highly informative and disturbing. Pearce also gives the performance of his career in my opinion – tightly controlled and methodical, this role would have been a disaster in a less accomplished actor’s hands.

The other characters are all a bunch of shady fellows you can never quite pin down – are they bad, are they misusing our guy, what exactly is going down. Assistance is provided due to the movie moving backwards – Leonard never knows what he did yesterday, but at least we do. It quickly becomes apparent that Natalie (Carrie Ann Moss) isn’t what she pretends to be to Leonard, and it is very very easy to quickly learn to hate her. I STILL have no idea whether Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) is a villain or what. He’s most certainly not a good guy and is one of the best grey characters in the story.

The directing is unique and brilliant – stark black and white alternating between current events that are depicted in color – I have to admit I only noticed that part afterwards reading up about it – it is quickly clear that the movie is moving backwards in a way, but the clear difference isn’t something I immediately picked up on. I’ll definitely have to see this again at some stage.

So that is basically it for my second last Blindspot of 2016. I kicked against watching it, but in the end I was so entertained that it will definitely make one of my favorites of this year.

January 3, 2017January 2, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Blindspot, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Blindspot 2016, Carrie-Anne Moss, Christopher Nolan, Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano, Memory Loss, Movies, mystery, Reviews 9 Comments

Book review: The Obsession (Nora Roberts)

Plot: (not included – I literally couldn’t find one that didn’t spoil the entire book!)

Rating: 8/10

So I gave in to my obsession (hehe) and bought this book in a world where books have become so expensive I’m not that surprised that people aren’t reading anymore. It was worth the cost and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Roberts seemed uniquely inspired in The Obsession, because let’s face it, the woman recycles her stories. The outright creepiness of this story was a brilliant way to go, because it is something that we always witness in the news but it remains so shocking and terrifying. It pleased me to no end that Naomi and her brother were raised by her gay uncle and his partner, that they weren’t portrayed as extravagant or stereotypical – they were the best thing that happened to Naomi and her brother, and that their sexuality was merely a characteristic and not an insult, which is something a lot of authors get horribly wrong.

The development of the book is great. Nora Roberts has a talent when it comes to describe certain phases of her character’s life, providing in-depth insight to a character. I liked the following of Naomi’s discovery, her adaption to her new life and the eventual present day for her, where she has to ultimately fight the demons of her past. It was really good. I had some issues with the end – not that it wasn’t satisfactory, but I couldn’t understand how a four hundred page book had it’s final scenes within twenty pages. My other (only) major complaint is that it is becoming clear that a Roberts book only properly develops until the first sex scene. It feels disloyal to say this from one of my favorite authors, but we get a fantastic villain, great character development and gorgeous scenery, until the first sex scene and then all we get is steamy showers with a final rushed ending. It deducts from the impact from the book.

If it sounds like I didn’t enjoy the book, that’s wrong, because I had the best time. The characters are great and I laughed so much with the prototype male the hero was – who couldn’t just love that? I also really loved the dog, and wanted to pet and adopt all the dogs in the world.

This mammoth book was one of my latest favorites from Roberts – there is a sense of refreshed uniqueness that she’s been missing. It ticks all the boxes, except perhaps the rushed end. It is a definite for fans, and she might even get a couple of new fans from this!

July 21, 2016July 19, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Books, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Books, literature, mystery, Nora Roberts, Reading, Reviews, Romance, serial killers, suspense, The Obsession 5 Comments

Sherlock Season 1 (2010)

Premise: Sherlock depicts London “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) in solving various mysteries. Holmes is assisted by his flatmate and friend, Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman), who has returned from military service in Afghanistan with the Royal Army Medical Corps. Although Metropolitan Police Service Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves) and others are at first sceptical of Holmes, over time his remarkable intellect and powers of observation persuade them of his value. In part through Watson’s blog documenting their adventures Holmes becomes a reluctant celebrity, with the press reporting on his cases and eccentric personal life, and both ordinary people and the British government ask for his help. (Via Wikipedia)

The latest adaption of the iconic novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is something I have thought of frequently to watch. Everybody is loving and raging about it, it has established a cult following. I thought it would be safe to start Sherlock because 1) people aren’t ALWAYS right if everyone loves it, but it is usually a good indicator, and 2) there are currently three seasons on the market and I wouldn’t feel bereft soon.

HAH. As I am watching I know I will watch the last episode of season three tonight, and I will definitely feel bereft afterwards. I know this, I am sad already.

Sherlock is addictive in every sense of the word. I have to admit that I wasn’t as taken with the first season as I had hoped to be, but I think I watched it after working 12 days straight and that the exhaustion made me more irritable than usual (which is usually a lot) and hence I wasn’t as easily pleased as normal (I’m still lying, I’m never easily pleased).

The first episode of season one felt very slow. It dragged a bit, and felt worse than the other two, which is also 90 minutes per episode. I still thought it was good, and progressed to the second one, to be amazed, and have the addiction take place.

What I loved

The casting. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes is just everything. His face, his incredible voice, his acting, everything is superb about the man. I am gobsmacked by his ability to portray his emotions, and to bring such a complex character to life and to do it realistically must have been a draining experience.

Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson: Bilbo Baggins is on a new adventure and it is working really well. I’ve never read the books so I wouldn’t know if Watson is an ex-army man or not, but I think that particular arc suited the series. I enjoy how he is serious minded and has issues and still manages kindness and compassion, and that he is also no-nonsense enough to deal with Sherlock’s maddening nature. Martin Freeman is such a good actor and I am really enjoying seeing him in this.

Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarti: I am going to try and keep it really simple and say that I absolutely friggin love this man as Jim Moriarti. Moriarti is mad and brilliant and the only person who is on Sherlock’s intellectual level. He is pure bad whereas Sherlock has bad pockets in him but chooses to be the good (my favourite quote ever in this series comes from Season 2, so keep an eye out for the review!). The last episode of season one was such a nail biter, and the events leading to Moriarti and Sherlock finally meeting was so intense all on its’ own. I loved the voice altering of Moriarti, his sheer madness, how he didn’t have a control button on his own emotions. He was wild and free and mad and it worked SO well.

Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes: I thought for a second that Mycroft, when I just started and didn’t really know who he was, may be this massive, yet unknown villain. The whole deception that went on there was really good and I was shocked when I realised it was Sherlock’s brother. Their relationship is highly competitive, fascinating and argumentative. They obviously have beef with each other, and I think it stems from both of them having intelligence levels above average. Mark Gatiss is SO British. I find his mannerisms so hilarious and the way he speaks through his nose incredibly funny.

The bridge between the past of the books and our present time.

A modernisation of iconic literature just doesn’t seem like the world’s freshest idea or the most original. Once again, HAH, myself. The story is that much more believable when you associate everything you know and understand in there. It has Twitter, blogs (YAY), cell phones, terror attacks. These are things we deal with, and seeing the iconic sleuthster solving problems RIGHT NOW is entertaining on an unprecedented level.

The lack of lame relationships

I’m not going to lie, I love a good romance between characters. I think it makes some stories, but it can also destroy some stories. If this had been some big boy meets sexy girl adventure it would have failed miserably. Sure, the sweet Molly obviously crushes badly on Sherlock, but she has purpose and a real goal in the story and he isn’t stringing her along, he is just completely oblivious towards romance in general. Watson’s love life develops, you know he is seeing a lot of someones but once again the story is much more than who banged who.

It is so British

Sherlock is very British and it has a definite charm. The English are so much more elegant than the rest of the world and I actually just love listening to their pronunciation of everything. The show has darkness to it that works really well – these crimes are masterful and would likely have gone unnoticed had someone like Sherlock not existed. Can I go out on a limb here and say that the British should often make drama because they make it so well, and comedy not as often because that is not their strong point?

What I didn’t like

My only major dislikes are the length of the episodes and the female police officer. The female police officer is not annoying because of her performance, which is really good, but her attitude towards Sherlock. I get that there has to be someone who truly openly despises him and questions his morality, and that not everyone can be exasperated yet charmed by him. Also, realistically, if anyone working with Sherlock Holmes completely loves him I will be worried, because he can be such a little brat at the best of times!

Rating: 7.5/10

Definitely recommended, it becomes better and better! Something great to get involved in if you want entertainment but don’t want to wait centuries to reach a conclusion through too many episodes.

August 13, 2014August 12, 2014 by Natasha Categories: SeriesTags: Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Watson, Mark Gatiss, Martin Freeman, Moriarti, Mycroft Holmes, mystery, Reviews, Series, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, sleuth, suspense 7 Comments