Quite an interesting contrast compared to the first Underworld. Where the first was a straight forward vampire/werewolf urban fantasy action flick, Evolution tries to be more. We get deeper worldbuilding, more backstory–especially for Selene–and more hints that the entire world is changing. It works… well enough?
Modern Day. Vampires versus Werewolves. That’s basically Underworld in a nutshell.
Luckily, it does it very well.
Recently I went through and read the entire (modern) catalogue of Hellblazer and rewatched The Matrix. So… let’s give the 2005 Constantine film another try!
Oh the Matrix Revolutions. In a nutshell, it’s The Matrix Reloaded: Part 2. We cut in right as that one ended, with Neo out for the count, robots descending on Zion, and Smith doing… whatever Smith is doing. I particularly appreciate the idea of humans, programs, and machines perhaps finding common ground (which The Matrix Resurrections really got into).
Neo: I just have never…
Rama-Kandra: …heard a program speak of love?
Neo: It’s a… human emotion.
Rama-Kandra: No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies. I see that you are in love. Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection?
Neo: Anything.
Rama-Kandra: Then perhaps the reason you’re here is not so different from the reason I’m here.
Morpheus: [Morpheus addresses the people of Zion] Zion, hear me! It is true, what many of you have heard. The machines have gathered an army and as I speak, that army is drawing nearer to our home.
[the Zion crowd becomes louder]
Morpheus: Believe me when I say we have a difficult time ahead of us. But if we are to be prepared for it, we must first shed our fear of it. I stand here, before you now, truthfully unafraid. Why? Because I believe something you do not? No, I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me but because of the path that lies behind me. I remember that for 100 years we have fought these machines. I remember that for 100 years they have sent their armies to destroy us, and after a century of war I remember that which matters most… We are still here! Today, let us send a message to that army. Tonight, let us shake this cave. Tonight, let us tremble these halls of earth, steel, and stone, let us be heard from red core to black sky. Tonight, let us make them remember, THIS IS ZION AND WE ARE NOT AFRAID!
More Matrix! I love it!
For me, Toy Story falls at just the right time for a blast of nostalgia. It came out when I was a kid and I watched it over and over again. Somehow, Toy Story 2, despite only coming out 4 years later, just doesn’t hit the same mark. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a good fun movie and worth watching, but… it’s just not quite as good.
Buzz Lightyear: Woody, stop this nonsense and let’s go.
Woody: Nah, Buzz.
[sigh]
Woody: I can’t go. I can’t abandon these guys. They need me to get into this museum. Without me, they’ll go back into storage. Maybe forever.
Buzz Lightyear: Woody, you’re not a collector’s item, you’re a child’s plaything. You - are - a toy!
Oh the Matrix. This movie came out at just the perfect time for me–I wasn’t into the counter culture as much, but even then I was messing around with computers and hacking–and I absolutely love every minute of it. It stands up even today, with a retrofuturistic sort of vibe that really still works even though it’s been twenty years.
After the smash hit of the first three and the downer that was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, I was cautiously hopeful that they could pull something off with Dead Men Tell No Tales. And… they did? Sort of?
Well that’s just a delightful movie.
Start with “Anyone can cook”, turn that up to 11 by making ‘anyone’ a rat (because rats don’t belong in kitchens, get it?) and end up with a surprisingly touching movie about believing in yourself, doing whatever you set your mind to, and not having to necessarily do what it is that others expect of you.
Pirates of the Caribbean… without Bloom or Knightly? At least they still have Johnny Depp I suppose. And Barbossa–ish.
Easily the weakest of the series. It’s… fine, but it doesn’t have the absolutely bonkers charm of the earlier movies.