Chiwetel Ejiofor

Universal Unleashes First Trailer For ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

With the critical and commercial failure of “The Exorcist: Believer,” you would think movie studios would get the picture and realize that “The Exorcist” franchise had long since overstayed its welcome. But because Universal Pictures spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the rights to this long-running franchise, they still need to get their money back. Clearly, they will do anything to keep this from looking like a horrific investment.

So, David Gordon Green is out, and in his place now is writer and director Mike Flanagan who has spent much of his career adapting the literary works of Stephen King to the silver screen. With “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” Flanagan looks to reboot the franchise with what has been described as a “radical new take,” and he was very aggressive in getting the director’s job as he felt he could bring something new to this franchise which some will say has seen one sequel too many.

And now, we have the first trailer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs” which will be arriving in theatres everywhere come March of 2027. One hand, it makes the upcoming film look quite creepy, but its also makes it look like a movie. When it comes to William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” it was not so much a movie as it was an experience (and an incredibly visceral at that). The sequels have either failed to live up to that experience or have dared to take things in a more cerebral direction. With “Martyrs,” I am not sure where this sequel or reboot is going to land, but I have a feeling it is going to be more of a movie than an experience.

The trailer has a clever beginning as we see Detective Julie Miller (Scarlett Johansson) descend down a number of steps which may not be the same ones in Georgetown, but they certainly reminded of those same steps we saw Jason Miller tumble down all those years ago. Julie comes up to a murder scene involving an altar boy who her partner, Detective Gina Restrepo (Sasha Calle from “The Flash”), tells her is about 15 to 16 years old. We do not see all the gory details of this altar boy’s death as Julie’s head is in the way, and Universal Pictures will not benefit from a restricted trailer at this point in time. But to see this boy being crucified upside down is quite the image, and the medal we see being pulled out of his mouth looks exactly like the one from the original film.

The rest of the trailer features a number of images which have quickly seared into my memory, we see John Leguizamo who is playing a character about to be executed by lethal injection, something which has not been very effective in Tennessee recently. Laurence Fishburne shows up as a priest who looks to have many years etched on his face (please do not ask me how I cam to this conclusion). And an especially prominent figure here is Julie’s son, Max Miller (Jacobi Jupe), who looks to provide this film’s innocent moments in addition to its most terrifying ones.

But for me, one of the most memorable images comes with Julie entering a room and then stopping in place to where I was convinced someone or something would jump at her when least expected. Instead, her son Max asks her, “What is it mom?”

To this, Julie replies, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me that.” And when it comes to Johansson, she delivers this line in a way which is not the least big theatrical or demonic, and it makes the dialogue all the more terrifying as a result.

I also have to add; we never hear Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” played once in this trailer. Maybe this film will indeed be a radical new take.

After watching this first trailer for “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” I have to be honest and say I cannot help but be intrigued by what Flanagan has to offer us. At the same time, I am quickly and often reminded of how the original “Exorcist” was a visceral experience more than anything else. This one, however, looks like just another horror movie. Can Flanagan and company come even close to duplicating what Friedkin gave us years ago, or can they only hope to make a movie which is only slightly better than “The Exorcist: Believer?”

Well, it cannot be any worse than “Exorcist II: The Heretic.” Can it?

Check out the trailer below.

‘Salt’ Has Angelina Jolie Doing More Than Tomb Raiding

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Salt movie poster

Looking back, the summer 2010 movie season was truly the summer of the preposterous action movie. We got the big screen version of “The A-Team” which had four guys trying to steer a parachuting tank with its turret by firing rounds out of it, then there was Tom Cruise who could do just about anything except take the time to go to the bathroom in “Knight and Day” (Jack Bauer had that problem too), and even the brilliant “Inception” employed a concept which is not at all possible (unless the military is trying to keep it a secret). And then there was “Salt” starring Angelina Jolie which runs very rapidly through a river of plot holes and leaps in logic, and it’s just as much fun as the films I just mentioned. Thanks to director Phillip Noyce (“Clear and Present Danger” and “Rabbit Proof Fence”) who keeps things moving at such a fast pace, there’s not much time to sit back and count all the inconsistencies. All we can do is hang on to the edge of our seats and revel in the slam bang action brought to us without an overuse of CGI effects.

Jolie plays CIA agent Evelyn Salt who is just about to head on home to her loving husband Mike (August Diehl) who loves to study spiders when she and her partner Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) suddenly get the opportunity to interrogate a Russian defector. During this interrogation, the defector reveals that a highly trained Russian agent will assassinate the Russian President when he visits the United States. He the name of this agent is Evelyn Salt, and the chase is on from there. Immediately thrown under a veil of heavy suspicion, Evelyn desperately rushes out of the office to find her husband before he disappears from her life forever. Never mind abiding the law or taking the time to explain herself, she wants her husband now! When a woman gets pissed, it is in your best interest not to argue with her, especially if she is a CIA agent!

Evelyn Salt is a mixture of both Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer, and this is especially the case in how she manages to evade capture or break free from highly trained agents and officers on more than one occasion. The movie really plays on Jolie’s strengths throughout, and of the kind of person the media has perceived her to be. I say this because over the years she has been treated like some seriously deranged human being who would have sex with her bother instead of a regular person which she is if anyone actually bothered to notice. Jolie plays on these perceptions throughout “Salt” as we watch her relentlessly pursue those who wish to capture and question her, and also when she changes her appearance to get closer to her objective.

I also liked how by the time she comes to meet the man who will soon become her husband, you can believe she has been fully trained to all she can do. A lot of movies would have you believe these characters were born with these skills and have perfected them since they were toddlers. With Jolie, you never doubt her even as the movie becomes more ridiculous by the minute.

There are so many twists and turns throughout “Salt” to where it shamelessly flaunts its illogic plot developments throughout to where we give up trying to figure it all out. Compared to many of Noyce’s other movies, this is easily the most kinetic action movie he has made to date even when compared to “Dead Calm” which introduced Nicole Kidman to the world. You could complain about how things don’t add up, but Noyce never lets the pace of the movie lag for a second, and we never find the time to sort through the plot and characters while we are watching. For other movies this would be a major hindrance, but for “Salt” it works to its advantage. You’re too thoroughly entertained to even care if this film is messing with our head one time too many.

In addition to the talents of Ms. Jolie, you also have Liev Schreiber as her partner and friend Ted Winter. Many consider Schreiber to be this stone-faced actor who wears the same expression in each and every movie he does, but this is probably because they have never seen him act onstage where he gives one brilliantly inspired performance after another. Schreiber holds his own opposite the formidable Jolie as he desperately works to protect his friend from those who would make her disappear, and you root for him as he gets closer and closer to getting a full idea of who she really is.

You also have Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody, an agent above Winter who pursues Salt relentlessly. He’s the character you want to shake around and slap in the face so he can see how wrong he is about her (or how wrong we think he is). Chiwetel has done great work over the years, most notably in Stephen Frears’ “Dirty Pretty Things,” and he makes Peabody more than your average one-dimensional government official who would foolishly believe a Russian defector over a loyal agent from the CIA.

We also have to give Noyce a lot of credit for not relying on a plethora of CGI effects in “Salt.” When you see Jolie clinging for dear life on her apartment building 12 stories up from the ground, that was really her (get ready for some serious vertigo). It all reminded me of how good “Live Free or Die Hard” was as it tried to make the effects as real as possible as the filmmakers came to realize the typical film going audience would no longer be easily fooled by CGI effects. Sometimes they are not even better than the real thing.

If there is one seriously massive complaint I have against “Salt,” it’s in regards to Andre Braugher’s role as the Secretary of Defense. Those of you who know me are fully aware of what a die-hard fan I am of the NBC cop show from the 1990’s, “Homicide: Life on the Street.” Braugher’s work on the show was beyond brilliant, and not many other actors can manipulate people through such theatrically volcanic explosions of anger. Furthermore, let us not forget his work in movies like “Glory” where he made the first of many memorable impressions. But in “Salt,” he is relegated to a role where he barely has any lines and is given far too little to do. What gives?! You want to cast Braugher in a movie, then you give him a role which is in tune with his well-known talents. Stop giving him roles which could be played by anyone.

Maybe “Salt” is more fun than it deserves credit for. But along with a pulsating music score by James Newton Howard and some tight film editing by John Gilroy and the well-regarded Stuart Baird, the movie gives you a good dose of adrenalin pumping fun which we don’t always get on the silver screen. Nitpick all you want about the events in “Salt,” it’ll still keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

* * * out of * * * *