Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 145
October 2, 2023
Kushi Review – Love Confounds All
“Why do girls turn out like this after marriage?”
The hero asks his wife in frustration after a fight. He courted her for just about two weeks before marrying her. Bro didn’t even know her long enough to have an idea of what she was like before the wedding.
Directed by Shiva Nirvana, the 2023 movie “Kushi” is a romantic comedy about a renowned atheist’s son falling in love with the daughter of a devout religious leader. Vijay Deverakonda plays the role of a new government official, Viplav, who chooses to take a posting in Kashmir, where he meets the beautiful Aradhya (Samantha Ruth Prabhu).
Thanks to the picturesque Kashmir setting, the cinematography is stunning in the first half-hour. However, the events detailing the circumstances under which the lead pair meet are completely unfunny. Aradhya and her friend are dressed in burqas to blend in with the locals when Viplav spots Aradhya and is captivated by her beauty. He then begins to stalk the girls despite their clear lack of interest. Aradhya’s friend concocts a far-fetched tale to scare away Viplav, but he insists on wooing the young woman. Neither the women’s fabricated story is funny, nor is Viplav’s behavior very romantic. You wonder why filmmakers are still using the regressive “stalk the girl until she caves in” formula! It’s quite unrealistic that a working woman like Aradhya falls in love with a borderline-creepy stranger so quickly that she is ready to abandon her family for a man she met a few days ago.
Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha Ruth Prabhu do make a good onscreen couple, and “Kushi” gives viewers a lot of sweet romantic moments between Viplav and Aradhya after they get married. Samantha as Aradhya is slightly naive, sensitive, and adorable. Vijay Deverakonda as Viplav is the generic male Tollywood hero who makes a few jokes, beats up a few guys, is sexist towards his partner, and says things like “women should be kept in their place,” but is taught a lesson in gender sensitivity by an older character.
With an almost three-hour runtime, “Kushi” has a bunch of songs that weren’t necessary and aren’t foot-tapping either. The “atheism vs religion” theme is half-baked, and the writers aren’t able to exploit the comic potential of their own material. Sachin Khedekar plays Viplav’s staunch atheist father, while Murli Sharma portrays Aradhya’s devout father. While the senior actors ace their roles, their characters don’t get enough space and are practically forgotten midway. The film steers towards being formulaic, with a bunch of emotional clichés thrown in between. The end message of the love story is quite commendable – love conquers all. But the journey to the climax is long, tedious, and unexciting.
If you like lead actors Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, stream “Kushi” on Netflix.
October 1, 2023
The Real Blood-Countess Behind Castlevania’s Erzebet
Hello fellow history buffs and Castlevania fans! Buckle up because we’re diving headfirst into the twisted tale of Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, the Hungarian noblewoman who inspired the dreaded vampire villain in Netflix’s 2023 animated series “Castlevania: Nocturne”. Yes, just like Castlevania’s villain Dracula is based on the 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad Dracula, notorious for his gruesome methods of punishment, including impaling his enemies on sharp stakes; the 2023 series’ antagonist is also borrowed from real life.
The animated antagonist in ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ is called Erzsebet Bathory and she shares several traits of the real life Elizabeth, which include the killing of hundreds of virgin girls/women for their blood. Elizabeth was accused of offing more than 600 unsuspecting damsels in distress and even made it to the Guinness book of world record for being ‘the most prolific female murderer’ in the western world. Legend has it that she believed bathing in their blood would keep her forever young and as these bloody tales became more popular, she was hailed as Countess Dracula.
Elizabeth Báthory was married to Count Ferenc Nádasdy when she was 15, and he was 19, in 1575. Nádasdy was a celebrated but ruthless soldier, and together they had four children. Their marriage allegedly played a role in Elizabeth Báthory’s later actions, as Nádasdy is said to have introduced her to various forms of cruelty and torture. She lived in Čachtice Castle (now in Slovakia), where rumors about her wicked ways began to spread like wildfire. Her reputation garnered more attention when she was accused of killing the young daughters of lower-ranking nobility, and the news even reached the King’s ear. In 1610, King Matthias II of Hungary launched an investigation into the suspicious deaths and disappearances of young women around Čachtice and threw Báthory into prison.
Despite numerous witness accounts and the alleged recoveries of bodies from Elizabeth’s castle, several historians believe that she could’ve also been a victim of political conspiracy. As the wife of Count Ferenc Nádasdy, Elizabeth was responsible for his estate and wielded significant clout over a lot of affairs.
Whether she was the original vampire queen or an unlucky pawn in a larger political game, one thing’s for sure: Elizabeth Báthory has cemented her legacy as one of history’s most enigmatic and blood-soaked figures. We may never know the full truth, but one thing’s for sure – her story is one heck of a page-turner!
The Rat Catcher Short Film Review
Maybe the timing was wrong, but I didn’t enjoy watching the short film “The Rat Catcher”, despite brilliant acting by Ralph Fiennes as a weird old rodent hunter. It just so happens that I’d been reading “The Plague” by Albert Camus a few hours before, and even though I am only mid-way through the gripping novel, it’s all about rats, plague, pestilence and human resilience. Pitted against the world-building of Camus, “The Rat Catcher” felt rather silly and slow. Even though the film is only seventeen minute long and directed by one of my favorite directors – Wes Anderson.
Based on a story by Roald Dahl, the film is rapidly narrated by Richard Ayoade, who plays a journalist and is witness to the rat catcher’s grand plans to rid his village of rats. Rupert Friend also portrays a curious bystander following the rat catcher’s antics. Dev Patel should’ve been in this short film, as he was thoroughly entertaining as the narrator in Wes’ other short “Poison” and overshadowed Richard Ayoade in “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” too.
The cinematography is playful and unfolds like a stage-play, so there are comical bits in the film where a stage-hand comes into the scene to give or take props from the actors. The brief stop-motion-animation featuring a giant rat was the highlight in this short film. Maybe if “The Rat Catcher” was completely animated, I would’ve found it to be more entertaining, but the peculiar story about a man trying to kill rats didn’t interest me at all.
If the premise sounds amusing to you, stream “The Rat Catcher” on Netflix.
Read Next: Jaane Jaan Review – Math, Murder & Aftermath
Also Read: 10 Fiction Books That Re-Imagine Greek Myths (Audio version below)
Hidden Agenda Review – Wishy-Washy
Studious university student Zo has a massive crush on his fellow debate club member, Nita, and his friend gives him the weird idea to ask Nita’s ex-boyfriend, Joke, for dating advice. Joke overhears the conversation and voluntarily offers to help Zo win the popular girl’s heart. Although Zo reluctantly accepts the assistance, Joke has his own hidden agenda for the kind gesture.
Directed by Tee Bundit Sintanaparadee (Step by Step), the 2023 Thai series “Hidden Agenda” spans 12 episodes and stars Joong Archen Aydin and Dunk Natachai Boonprasert as leads Joke and Zo respectively. Jamie Juthapich Indrajundra is Nita, who has zero personality and is only there in the series to push the Joke-Zo story forward. Aou Thanaboon Kiatniran plays Joke’s cousin Jeng, who is dating Zo’s favorite junior Pok (Boom Tharatorn Jantharaworakarn) but their relationship is a secret because Jeng is not out yet.
The first four episodes unfold like a fun college romance where the nerdy Zo tries to figure out what to do with Nita. However, he ends up getting caught up in Joke’s web as the latter goes all out to help him undergo a makeover and build confidence. But Dunk Natachai Booprasert is such a good-looking person that putting him in spectacles and giving him a mildly bad hairstyle isn’t enough to make him look unattractive, so the “makeover” feels a little pointless. “Hidden Agenda” marks Dunk’s second major role; he made his lead role debut with GMMTV’s 2022 series “Star and Sky: Star in My Mind”, where he was first paired with Joong Archen Aydin. While the two actors do look great together, it’s is largely due to their inherent good looks. Dunk, in the role of Zo, struggles with emotional scenes and remains quite awkward. Joong on the other hand seems to be playing the same kind of roles, or at least his performance feels the same as “Star in My Mind” and “The Warp Effect”. Aou Thanaboon is a lot more versatile and stands out even in his smaller supporting roles – he was last seen as the out-and-proud gay activist in “Be My Favorite”, while his character Jeng is in the closet in this series. The sub-plot about Jeng and Pok had a lot more meat than the primary plot and Aou and Boom display great onscreen chemistry as a young queer couple dealing with relationship challenges.
One of the major plot elements of “Hidden Agenda” is the debate club activities. Zo takes debating seriously and hopes to win a major competition that could earn him a scholarship abroad. But the debates were uneventful, passionless, with extremely boring generic topics like “Knowledge Vs Money”. Our high school debate contests had more complex and challenging themes than these university events. If you are interested in watching a debate themed romance, watch the 2018 Netflix film “Candy Jar”, which is set in high school by the way.
I stopped watching “Hidden Agenda” after episode nine and resumed the series after three weeks just to be able to write an objective review. The last few episodes were as boring as I expected them to be, with forced family conflicts about how both Joke and Zo feel under-appreciated by their families. Magically enough, the college students are able to resolve their issues with their parents and it just didn’t feel realistic, sincere or necessary for a college romance.
“Hidden Agenda” is one of those GMMTV shows that should’ve been wrapped up in eight episodes, but is boringly stretched forward with unrealistic or mundane plot twists. And I will take every opportunity to mention that their series “Moonlight Chicken” deserved more episodes. Regardless of the bland plot, “Hidden Agenda” might appeal to viewers who don’t mind watching shows just for the pretty protagonists and some cute moments.
You can stream “Hidden Agenda” on YouTube.
Read Next: Be Mine Superstar Review – First & Ja Could Use Another Showcase
Also Read: Sitting in Bars with Cake Review – Eat, Cake, Cry
September 30, 2023
The Continental Season 1 Episode 2 Review
“Now there’s two kinds of folks in there. Too evil to be trusted or two brainwashed to betray Cormac.”
A new character issues this warning to the protagonist, Winston, as they strategize their battle plan. Titled “Loyalty to the Master,” episode two focuses on Winston Scott’s (Colin Woodell) efforts to mobilize arms and numbers to take on Cormac O’Connor (Mel Gibson), the man responsible for his brother Frankie’s (Ben Robson) murder and the manager of Continental. Arms dealer Miles (Hubert Point-Du Jour) is a 100% onboard Winston’s suicide mission to destroy The Continental, while his sister Lou (Jessica Allain) is a lot more reluctant to go along with their plan. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Cormac to recover the coin-press that Frankie stole from right under his nose.
Much like episode 1 of “The Continental”, the second one too begins with a black-and-white flashback to 1955, which finally reveals the crime for which the Scott brothers were arrested as children. These little windows to the past help us understand the bond between the brothers, despite them living apart for most of their adult lives. This edition also includes a tense Vietnam flashback depicting how Frankie met Yen (Nhung Kate) during his military service. Thus, solid groundwork is laid for crucial characters, enabling the audience to develop a stronger connection with them.
Also Read: Few Things To Know Before Streaming ‘The Continental’
The cinematography remains intentionally noir and retro, although the deliberately dark and foggy scenes that dominate the runtime can sometimes feel too gloomy. Some more light and a touch of color here and there wouldn’t have hurt anybody. For instance, there’s a thrilling action sequence where Lou takes on a group of Chinese-American men for targeting her Dojo. While the Kung-fu style kicks and punches were a delight to watch, the excessively somber color palette diminishes the entertainment factor. Chinatown looks like a dead locality in a Tim Burton horror movie.
It’s the background music that really makes “The Continental” click for me. This edition also features some fun hits from the 60s and 70s, like ‘Homicide’ by the British punk rock band ‘999’ and Nancy Sinatra’s ‘These Boots Are Made for Walking’. Harry Nilsson’s version of “Without You” ironically plays as two assassins ransack a camper-van in search of the coin-press. However, it continues to play during a scene where Lou mourns Frankie’s death, and it blends poignantly with that moment.
The last few minutes of the episode are daunting, with Mel Gibson finally displaying the bloodthirsty, ruthless wrath of his character, Cormac O’Connor. Ayomide Adegun, portraying Charon, Cormac’s current protege, serves as an interesting contrast to his boss’s personality. Charon is young, hopeful, appreciative of the arts, and genuinely believes in the power of family, unlike his psychotic superiors. Overall, “Loyalty to the Master” was a gripping episode that sheds new light on existing characters and introduces some intriguing new personalities into the mix.
You can stream “The Continental” on Amazon Prime Video.
Read Next: Jaane Jaan Review – Math, Murder & Aftermath
Also Read: Sitting in Bars with Cake Review – Eat, Cake, Cry
Poison Short Film Review
In a star-studded cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, and Benedict Cumberbatch, it’s the youngest among them all, Dev Patel, who keeps you hooked to the 2023 short film “Poison” by Wes Anderson.
Based on a story by Roald Dahl, “Poison” unfolds crisply and tensely over 17 minutes, following the harrowing ordeal of Mr. Harry Hope (Benedict Cumberbatch). He lies paralyzed with fear in his bed for hours after a poisonous snake crawls up and falls asleep on his stomach. Dev Patel plays Woods, a friend of Harry’s, who frantically tries to figure out how to save him from the clutches of death. While Dev Patel primarily narrates the tale, sometimes Ralph Fiennes, portraying Roald Dahl, takes over the narration in between.
The cinematography in “Poison” is simpler compared to “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” which also featured the same set of actors. However, this simplicity is due to the limited setting of the story, mostly unfolding in Harry’s home with a brief shift to Dr. Ganderbai’s house (Ben Kingsley), the doctor summoned by Woods. Nevertheless, “Poison” unmistakably carries Anderson’s distinctive style. It’s shot like a pop-up picture book, and the camera angles often make it feel as if viewers are watching the story unfold in a dollhouse. The subtle ticking of a clock in the background adds urgency to the already grave situation, keeping you invested until the end.
Dev Patel as Woods delivers rapid descriptions of everything happening in the story. His swift dialogue delivery, dramatic body language, khaki uniform, and combed mustache remind me of a popular Indian comic-book character called Shikari Shambhu. Benedict Cumberbatch is entertaining as the panic-stricken Britisher Harry Hope, who, despite his dire circumstances, retains his arrogance and superiority, displaying vile behavior towards the Indian doctor sincerely trying to rescue him.
After all the tension and panic surrounding the effort to save Harry Hope from the snake coiled on his stomach, “Poison” concludes rather abruptly and on a noxious note. Perhaps the lesson is – if an arrogant white man is dying, the humble brown man should leave him be.
You can stream “Poison” on Netflix.
Read Next: Jaane Jaan Review – Math, Murder & Aftermath
Also Read: 10 Fiction Books That Re-Imagine Greek Myths (Audio version below)
September 29, 2023
The Dollhouse Family Review
Sneha Jaiswal (X | Instagram | GoodReads)
Alice is only six when she inherits an ancient but intricately beautiful doll-house from a recently deceased aunt she didn’t even know existed. Delighted at the unexpected gift, Alice begins to play with the little dolls inside the house and given her age, she isn’t even surprised when the figurines start to talk to her! But as days go by, a sinister entity in the dollhouse tries to strike a deal with her and haunts her well into her adult life.
Created by Mike Carey, Peter Gross, and Vince Locke, ‘The Dollhouse Family’ is supposed to be a spooky, retro horror tale, and for the most part, it does manage to be unsettling. It’s actually a six-part comic book series but I read the collected edition. The artwork is quite reminiscent of the styles used in superhero comics from the 80s & 90s, which meshes well with Alice’s timeline, as it’s the year 1979 when she comes into possession of the dollhouse.
Interestingly, the story doesn’t unfold chronologically, and there are two parallel plots running throughout the book. While the first one follows Alice through the 1980s and 90s, the chapters alternate between Alice’s adventures and an ancestor’s antics in the 1820s to trace the miniature house’s origins. At first, these chapters feel too disjointed from each other, because the historical flashbacks are slow, weird and seemingly random. It takes a while for a connection to be made between the two starkly different timelines, so some readers might find their interest wavering in the book mid-way.
The parts centered on Alice are intriguing, creepy, and coherent. She’s introduced as a young girl in a troubled home with an abusive father. To escape, she turns to her dollhouse, becoming deeply attached to its miniature family. However, as she matures, she uncovers the house’s malevolent nature and must find a way to rid herself of it. In contrast, the 19th-century subplot’s world-building is confusing and somewhat dull, despite its role in explaining the origins and potential destruction of ‘The Dollhouse Family.’ The ending feels a tad abrupt, but it’s a solid choice for horror comic fans.
Read Next: Camp Spirit Review – Let it spirit you away
Also Read: 10 Fiction Books That Re-Imagine Greek Myths (Audio version below)
Gen V Episodes 1, 2, 3 Review
If you’re already a fan of the ‘The Boys’ franchise, you should know better than to watch anything from the same universe while eating. Things have a way of getting bloody, gross, gory, and crazy. Created by Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke, and Craig Rosenberg, the 2023 series ‘Gen V’ focuses on the first generation of superheroes, who discover that their parents injected them with compound V to give them special powers.
Episode one begins violently, the opening moments are like Stephen King’s 1974 horror novel “Carrie” packed in a capsule and crushed by a hammer. Jaz Sinclair plays Marie Moreau, an orphan with a troubled past, who gets a fresh start when she earns a full scholarship to Godolkin University, a prestigious institute for students with superpowers. There, she encounters a diverse group of students with various special abilities, all competing to maintain their positions in a competitive ranking system. With a shady past, weird superpower, and no social media presence, Marie Moreau must work exceptionally hard to achieve her dream of becoming a supe (short for superhero). Since the timeline is somewhere around the same as “The Boys”, a lot of its characters also make brief cameos in this spin-off.
Titled “God U”, short for Godolkin University, episode one introduces a bunch of primary characters and the most splashy of them is ‘Golden Boy’ (Patrick Schwarzenegger), who burns up like the sun while fighting, is ranked numbers one and is almost sure to become a part of “The Seven” in the future, the most elite superheroes who work for Vought, the firm responsible for making compound V. Patrick Schwarzenegger looks like a young Homelander, he is tall, fit and has the face that’s made for smiling for tabloids. Maddie Phillips is Cate Dunlap, Golden Boy’s girlfriend and her character feels like a cross between a young Rogue from ‘X-Men’ and Allison Hargreeves from ‘Umbrella Academy’. ‘Gen V’ also introduces a gender-fluid supe called Jordan Li, portrayed alternatively by London Thor and Derek Li. Jordan Li is ranked 2, possesses superhuman strength, agility, durability, and the ability to switch between two distinct male and female personalities. Chance Perdomo plays Golden Boy’s best-friend Andre Anderson and it’s going to take more than the first three episodes to completely understand his super-powers, as he doesn’t get to display them much. Among all the new young supes, Marie’s roomate Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway) was the most relatable college student, who’s just there to have some fun and constantly tries to cheer Marie on. Emma can shrink to the size of an ant and has a popular YouTube channel, which also makes her vulnerable to cyber-bullying.
Episode one ends with a tragic unexpected death and also introduces a mystery about a top-secret dubious facility. Titled “First Day,” episode two of Gen V is all about corporate strategy, image-building, and spinning a bunch of lies to the masses. After a gory student suicide on campus, the university goes into overdrive to correct its image and constructs an entire narrative around the incident to redeem its reputation. Marie is given a rare opportunity for a complete makeover, Andre and Cate team up to solve the mystery of the secret facility. Meanwhile, Emma battles body-image issues, and Jordan Li grapples with their fall in rank and the reality that, as an Asian gender-fluid individual, they might not fit the ‘brand’ of Vought International.
While ‘Gen V’ isn’t as vicious, violent or straight up crazy as “The Boys”, it does dwell into some more deeper issues than egoistical men hellbent on revenge. For instance, the character of Marie, a disadvantaged orphan, symbolizes the class struggle within the story. She finds herself pitted against privileged students who always have the protective safety net of their parents. In contrast, even a minor mistake by Marie could potentially unravel her entire life. The plot also explores the vast generation and thought gap between some of the students and their parents. The young superheroes in ‘Gen V’ are living testaments to the twisted desires of their parents, who injected them with the ominous Compound V as infants, shaping them into unwitting products of fame, power, and profit—an unsettling and morally complex backdrop to their ‘heroic’ journeys. The 2022 animated series “The Boys Presents: Diabolical” had a hilariously dark short called ‘An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents’, which set good ground for this new spin-off.
Titled ‘#ThinkBrink,’ episode 3 delves deeper into Andre’s investigation of the secret facility, but his actions also jeopardize the life of a crucial character. The first three episodes of “Gen V” contain numerous references to elements/scenes already seen in ‘The Boys,’ I wished this spin-off series could have dedicated more time to campus drama, college conflicts, and the occasional crime-fighting, rather than sweeping its student protagonists in the politics of the adult world and its dark secrets.
Marie’s initial interactions with most students on campus are less than favorable, but episode three signifies a turning point for her character, hinting at the possibility of more meaningful friendships and connections. The episode concludes with a shockingly brutal scene and an unsettling plot twist, placing my favorite character in jeopardy and leaving fans eagerly anticipating the direction ‘Gen V’ will take in the upcoming episodes. While the series may not match the breakneck pace and hardened demeanor of ‘The Boys,’ considering its cast of youthful characters, the first three episodes lay a sturdy foundation for what promises to be an engaging inaugural season.
You can stream ‘Gen V’ on Amazon Prime Video.
Read Next: Castlevania: Nocturne Grips, Echoes Prequel’s Gothic Grit
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Episode 10 Review
Hope you are here after Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 9 . Minor spoilers ahead.
Pseudo Geto, Mahito, Jogo, and their squad achieve the seemingly impossible by sealing the most powerful Jujutsu sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, after weeks of meticulous planning and strategizing! The balance of the entire Jujutsu world is threatened with their actions. It is now up to the rest of the sorcerers to rescue all the trapped civilians in Shibuya and help Satoru Gojo break free from the dastardly prison realm.
Titled ‘Pandemonium,’ episode 10 of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 unfolds at a frantic pace, with news of Gojo’s fate reaching Mei Mei and Yuji Itadori first. They swiftly devise a plan to confront the cursed spirits still lingering at the scene of the sealing. Amidst the prevailing uncertainty, what stands out in this episode is Gojo’s exceptional composure. The prison realm cube, which holds Gojo captive, is brought to tears by the weight of containing such an immensely powerful entity within its confines.
Both the plot progression and animation quality in this episode were thoroughly engrossing, particularly the artwork that briefly delved into the eerie inner quarters of the prison realm. I love how the antagonists are so casual and laid-back even in the most dire circumstances and the interactions between Mahito and Jogo are hilarious. The two of them have a ridiculous bet to decide what they should do with Yuji Itadori.
Kento Nanami and Ino Takuma, a grade 2 sorcerer, make their appearance in the second half of the episode. Nanami assigns Ino the task of keeping an eye on Itadori and Fushiguro as they all work together to address the Shibuya crisis. “The first issue with losing Gojo-san is the collapse of Gojo clan. The Gojo clan is currently a one-man team of Satoru Gojo himself” – Ino comically explains his juniors in efforts to make them understand the gravity of the situation.
With Gojo no longer in a position to help out his Jujustsu friends, it’s going to be an exhilarating next few episodes, where special grade spirits lock horns with all the sorcerers in the vicinity.
You can stream Jujutsu Kaisen on Netflix or CrunchyRoll.
Read Next: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Review
Also Read: 10 Fiction Books That Re-Imagine Greek Myths (Audio version below)
September 28, 2023
Castlevania: Nocturne Grips, Echoes Prequel’s Gothic Grit
‘I have a reputation. And people accept it because of the heroic and handsome thing. But teenage girls conjuring things from the Otherworld? They start building piles of very flammable wood.’
Richter Belmont says this to his magic-wielding friend Maria when the two decide to alert the Church about a sinister vampire uprising. Set in the 1790s, against the turbulent years of the French Revolution when cries of ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ rang through the air, Netflix’s 2023 animated series ‘Castlevania: Nocturne’ is a lavish spin-off that’s spread over eight episodes.
Directed by Adam Deats and Sam Deats, this follow-up to “Castlevania” focuses on the rise of Richter Belmont, the last remaining descendant of the renowned family of vampire hunters. Orphaned at a young age, Richter is raised by his witch-aunt Tera, whose spirited daughter, Maria, also possesses magic and harbors a passionate desire to overthrow the monarchy. When whispers of a new vampire “messiah” begins to circulate, Richter and Maria join forces with revolutionaries Annette and Edouard to thwart the night creatures from seizing control of their world. While Maria and Annette have their magic, Richter is armed with the legendary Morningstar Whip, which he inherits after his mother dies at the hands of Mizrak, an ancient powerful vampire.
While the 2017-2021 “Castlevania” series featured the nearly invincible Dracula as its primary antagonist, who is based on the infamous historical figure Vlad the Impaler, the writers of “Castlevania: Nocturne” also drew inspiration from the real world for the series’ villain. Erzsebet Bathory is the evil vampire “messiah” who seeks to rule the worlds and extinguish the sun forever. This character is based on Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman who allegedly tortured and killed over 600 girls and women in her castles. To help build suspense and intrigue over this antagonist, the creator don’t let viewers have a proper look at Erzsebet Bathory until episode 6 and tease us with only the briefest glimpse in episode three. The mysterious Mizrak however was a little more interesting, not just because he slayed a Belmont, but also because his loyalties remain a little dubious throughout the runtime.
The animation isn’t the best; there have been few improvements since the 2017 series, and the graphics become rather choppy when the characters walk, reminiscent of playing a glitch-y game from the early 2000s. But at least the color palette is more in line with the gothic themes of the story. “Castlevania: Nocturne also explores the conflicted and paradoxical nature of men who serve the church and the corrupt nexus between the clergy and aristocrats. The abbot has a secret pact with the Marquis to quell revolutionary uprisings and maintain the age-old status quo between the wealthy and the oppressed. However, the exploration is rather tame in comparison to just how fantastically it was done in season one and two of “Castlevania,” where it pitted Dracula against The Church.
Richter Belmont, Maria and Annette are the primary fighting trio in the series and even though they are great characters, their banter is not as fun as I was hoping for it to be. On the other hand, these new heroes have more solid back-stories. The young Richter suffers from PTSD and is haunted by visions of watching his mother die right in front of his eyes, while Annette, a former slave-girl, also witnesses her mother’s murder and escapes her owner’s clutches (a vampire at that) with the help of Edouard, a wealthy Opera singer. While Maria and Annette are very serious for their age, at least Richter has a sense of humor. It is up to these three young comrades, to help stop the uprising of the blood-thirty Erzsebet Bathory and her generals. The odds don’t seem to fair and there are plenty of battles and blood, although not quite as gory as the older series.
Regardless, “Castlevania: Nocturne” is a worthy successor and ends in a way I really wanted it to! Ever since a “vampire messiah” was mentioned in episode one, my mind drifted towards wanting a specific twist, and I kept wishing it would happen, and it does, even though it’s at the absolute end. I don’t want to give any spoilers, so I’ll just say this – season one closes with an epic cliffhanger, and damn, there better be a season two soon! Watch the series if you liked “Castlevania”.
You can stream “Castlevania: Nocturne” on Netflix.
Read Next: Jaane Jaan Review – Math, Murder & Aftermath
