Daniel Markowicz brings us an action thriller, Soulcatcher, where big guns are fired and action heroes throw hay while dark-haired femme fatales are unerring with big sniper rifles. There is also a massive laser pointer-like device that fries people's brains, and the good guys must wrest it from the bad guys. In theory, we could say that the movie has all the makings of an interesting watch, but the 98-minute running time proves for the umpteenth time that not all good scripts translate into a good movie.
Starring Piotr Witkowski, Jacek Koman, Jacek Poniedzialek, and Aleskandra Adamska, among others, Soulcatcher goes all out on explosions and character designs, but a poorly formulated plot and severely predictable course of action sucks out all the fun it could. I have offered. Here is a complete Soulcatcher review for you to decide if this Polish action thriller is your thing or not.
Director: Daniel Markowicz
Writers: Dawid Kowalewicz, Daniel Markowicz
Stars: Piotr Witkowski, Jacek Koman, Jacek Poniedzialek
The Kiel hired mercenaries, also known as Fang, Piotr, Seba, and Harbir, charter a ship to an island where they need to collect photos from a journalist named Eliza Mazur about an experiment being conducted by an evil general. The men are able to quickly get Eliza out, but trouble begins when the unarmed people lying on the ground suddenly go wild and start attacking the rescuers.
The mercenaries are able to kill the attackers, but when a screeching device is fired, two of the teammates start acting erratically. Piotr, Fang's brother, goes berserk and attacks his brother, forcing Fang to stab his brother with no choice. Elsewhere, Seba is afflicted by the device and runs wild, but is shot down by General Mammadov's men. Fang and Harbir escape on their friend Krystof's plane with Eliza's photos while she stays behind.
Back home, the men are quickly arrested and questioned by Interpol before Minister Jan arrives to free them. He informs the men about the mission and that the device responsible for turning Piotr, Seba, and everyone else into savages is called the Soulcatcher, and it can fry someone's brain to the point of boiling fury until it is delicate. . Although created for medicinal uses, apparently, Professor Witold Mazur, Eliza's father, went rogue and used it to kill her crew before joining Mammadov.
Fang's mission is to retrieve the soul hunter and kill the professor, although Mammadov himself is not the priority. Jan says that if the Soulcatcher is modified, he can once again save lives by curing cancer, which is the purpose he was created for. He also gives the crew two of his own men and supplies ammunition and planes. The biggest trap is trying to sabotage a sale that is about to close because Mammadov intends to sell the device to an African warlord on his way to the island.
Kiel visits his old friends Storm and Bull, and together with Krystof and Harbir they organize a rave party to dispel the sadness over the loss of Piotr. When they return to the mission, it is revealed that Eliza is trying to save her father from her, and Kiel and Harbir sneak inside the facility and witness firsthand Mammadov holding the professor hostage.
When the African warlord arrives, the general forces the professor to use his device on some innocent captives, who start killing each other inside a cage they have been locked in. Soon things get out of hand and bullets start flying as Mammadov decides. to fool the warlord and escape with the device and the briefcase full of cash. Fang and the warlord are hit by a minuscule percentage of Soulcatcher's blast, and Kiel's brain isn't totally fried. However, he manages to kill his opponent.
Finally, with the device secured and both the professor and her daughter safe, it's time to head back to base, but Kiel suggests sending Eliza to Harbir because she could be arrested with the professor the moment she puts a hold. foot in Poland. The plot seems to be over, but there's about 40 minutes of running time left, so we all know what's going to happen next.
Like clockwork, Jan betrays Kiel and takes the gun because he seeks unbridled power. Both Storm and Fang are shot, while Bull and Krystof are killed. It is thanks to the Interpol agent that appears and saves the two, as Jan uses Soulcatcher to create a panic in the country and rally support for him. Now it's up to Kiel, who needs to break into the top-secret facility to destroy the machine and make sure the world knows Jan's reality.
Even the most adrenaline-pumping action movies need to have a plot, and the main hero needs to be able to act for the audience to witness more than just a hail of bullets. Even the most shocking action movies, where blood, bombs and bullets are the central point, like Taken or John Rambo, have had protagonists who used their faces to act when they did not have a gun in their hands. However, the lead actor in Soulcatcher misses that point entirely and simply proceeds to smolder in the distance, and the director greenlights that as expression enough. The net result is that the protagonist appears as a cardboard hero with a polished body that can throw punches, and that's about it.
Most of the viewers prefer to change the audio to whatever language they prefer, be it English, Spanish, or even German, as Polish is not the most pleasing to the ears. However, the dubbing fails miserably, as it's full of clichéd lines that make even the most serious moments sound ridiculous. Poor English dubbing and an even lousier soundtrack make the experience very unpleasant for the ears, so it is recommended not to use headphones for this film.
Finally, we can't leave without mentioning the plot. You know a plot is predictable when the biggest fight happens within the first 40 minutes and the hero makes it home safely. Anyone could tell that Jan was tainted by the fact that he wanted such a disastrous weapon returned for profit while he was asking her to kill the only man who could make such changes. The paper-thin plot and comic villains, be it General Mammadov with his smiley face and cartoonish mustache of his or the unnatural-looking African warlord, all point to a simple fact.
Having a big budget doesn't automatically translate to a good movie. There have been quite a few movies about the concept where some stimuli turn people into raging maniacs, including the Spanish horror thriller Virus: 32, but none of them have paid attention to why the rage occurs because it would need a bit more directing talent. that current filmmakers possess. In recent times, many Polish movies have made their way to Netflix, but rarely has there been one that makes the audience think back and sticks with the audience hours after it ends. Perhaps the race for commercial success has won out over the need to produce movies, which used to be intellectual fodder for proper moviegoers.
Perhaps the only good thing about Soulcatcher is the character of Harbir, played by Vansh Luthra, but we can chalk it up to me playing favoritism because he is of Indian origin.
Comments
Post a Comment