Rise To Stardom - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: Audience Reception
[Thursday, 21st Of August, 2019]

There was a bit of anticipation and excitement that hung in the air as many people flocked to their various, popular cinemas to watch their preferred movie.

Standing around, walking into and chatting, were all various things people were doing as they were situated around the premises of a particular cinema in Vancouver.

There was also a fairly long line that led to the booth for those who wanted to buy a ticket to watch [Bohemian Days] whilst that of [Epoch One] was quite short in comparison.

As these happened, some people whom had just arrived at the cinema, were having various discussions.

“Babe, if this movie ain’t worth it, I’mma be furious with your ass.” Sasha said to her boyfriend, Kevin, the action movie junkie.

He had been the one whom had decided to watch [Epoch One] from the very first time he saw the movie’s trailer.

“Your tomboy energy is through the roof today. Didn’t think you were even gonna wear the dress but hey, I stand to be corrected.” Kevin merely smiled and then replied.

“You look gorgeous honey.” he added with a genuine smile, soliciting a small blush from the lady.

“Thanks babe…” she muttered while twirling her hair, her gaze locked to the floor.

She really had put a lot of effort into dolling herself up for their date night and she was glad her efforts hadn’t gone to waste.

“Uh? I didn’t hear what you said?” Kevin teased her, only to receive a blow to the tummy.

‘So feisty.’ he winced, a mixture of amusement and pain on his features.

“I still won’t forgive you if your hunch is wrong though. These heels are killing me.” she mumbled as she cuffed arms with him, both of them making their way into the cinema to get their tickets.

Being a bit of a rebel and quite the adrenaline-junkie, a trait she and her boyfriend surprisingly shared, Sasha was quite the tomboy.

Originally she had wanted to go bowling tonight but Kevin had urged her to let them go see the new movie.

Eventually, after persuading her the day before, she had agreed.

Really, she had hoped the movie would be worth her time and she would really enjoy it because, she too, just like her boyfriend found most action movies incapable of evoking any sort of fun or thrilling sensation in her.

As the two lovebirds made their way into the theatre though, another set of people, two girlfriends, were discussing their choices;

“Seriously. You don’t even like action movies! You only want to see the movie because of a shirtless Kyle scene!” Valerie exasperatedly said to her friend.

“Duh! Doesn’t everyone?” Lucy shamelessly replied.

She had been the lady constantly asking for Kyle to take off his shirt at the GrooveFest concert.

“And don’t pretend as if you’re any better Val. Aren’t also planning to go see that Austin Wilde guy? At least I’m honest about my plans.” she added with a smug expression.

“We’ll see each other once the movies are over.” Valerie gave up on her friend’s case and began to head over to [Bohemian Days] ticket booth, feeling like Lucy had hit the bullseye with her words.

“Toodles~.” Lucy simply gestured with her fingers and made her way to her own ticket booth.

Another friend group of four high-school bros too, were arguing over which movie to watch.

“C’mon guys! [Bohemian Days]! Skylar Young! If anything at all, I wanna see that sexy woman on the big screen again!” Todd gestured to his buddies with spread arms.

“Someone get a load of this simp!” one of the friends, Reggie, scoffed and motioned to their friend with a pointed thumb.

“I say we go see [Epoch One].” Casey, the third friend, agreed with Reggie, his arms folded across his chest.

“I mean, do we really wanna see another action movie? We watched one just last month and it was bland. I feel like we should have some varie-” Will, the last friend, abruptly stopped talking when he noticed a peculiar lady, walking with a hunk of a guy into the line that sold the tickets to [Bohemian Days].

“That bitch!” he suddenly muttered, causing his friends to look in the direction he was glaring at.

Upon seeing the pretty lady smooching with Lacrosse, the captain of their football team, they all sighed in resignation.

“Yeah sorry man. Told you she wasn’t worth the chase but ya wouldn’t listen.” Reggie casually said and the other guys nodded in agreement.

Apparently, Will had asked the lady out for a date to the cinema earlier today, with her telling him she was too busy to go.

Turns out, she was right.

She was too busy to go after all…

Too busy to go with him because she had plans with someone else!

Why then was she playing games with him and leading him on?!

Why didn’t she just tell him that instead of beating about the bush?!

“Fuck it guys! Let’s go see [Epoch One]!” Will suddenly declared, his mind made up.

He knew he was actually being very petty right now but he sure as hell couldn’t stand being in the same room as those two.

“Yeah. That’s more like it!” Reggie cuffed his arms around his buddy’s neck while Casey chipped in;

“Attaboy Will!”

“But guys! Skylar Young!” Todd pleaded as all three moved towards the line for [Epoch One].

“Three in favor of the action movie Todd! You can’t win this so just come along!” Casey loudly spoke as their backs receded.

Suppressing an annoyed groan, Todd rolled his eyes and reluctantly joined in.

Soon, all four, along with others who wanted to watch [Epoch One], soon found themselves comfortably seated in the cinema, popcorns and soda in hands as they waited for the movie to begin.

And boy was it a rollercoaster for them because from the first few minutes of the movie, the sudden explosion that killed Pierce, caught them all off guard.

“What a way to start a movie…” Reggie couldn’t help but mutter as he grabbed a handful of popcorn, his interest piqued.

Already invested in the movie, they all watched on.

And good lord did they find the action scenes thrilling as heck!

‘Damn. Now that’s superb directing and cinematography…’ Kevin grinned from ear to ear the moment he saw the first fight scene of the movie.

It was one of Sam fighting with a few agents in a stuck elevator after he had gone rogue.

‘So crisp and clear. No shaky cameras or cuts too!’ he couldn’t help but feel excited that he could accurately follow all of the fight scenes so easily.

And although so many other people in the cinema couldn’t grasp the technicality of it like he did, they also felt the exact same way.

‘That’s insane! Swinging from a crane to escape pursuers is so risky! I like it!’ Sasha’s eyes were alit with excitement as she watched the next few scenes.

Gradually, as the movie went on, already forty-five minutes in, still with Sam unable to find a solid lead he could employ to stop the bombings, the audience was kept on the edge of their seats.

‘Man I hope he finds a lead soon…’ Todd munched on another handful of popcorn, completely forgetting that he was so interested in [Bohemian Days] about an hour back.

‘The movie’s been great but Kyle’s nowh-‘ Lucy halted her thoughts the moment the score of the movie changed and a new character, probably the one that had been given Sam a hard time, was introduced to the audience.

‘Speak of the devil…’ she muttered a few minutes later after Alex had been introduced.

The moment he was though, she, along with everyone else in the cinema, had to say that Alex was quite the interesting character from the onset.

Roguish, overconfident, humorous, and yet, surprisingly, just as terrifying.

‘Damn! He’s just as brutal as Sam! Will they end up having a confrontation?’ Will couldn’t help but feel his blood pumping as the bar fight scene played out.

And sure enough, a few minutes later into the movie, they did end up fighting and truly, everyone was on the edge of their seats as they wondered who would come out on top.

As they watched Alex pull out his tactical knife, his movements, mesmerizingly stylish yet viciously brutal, some people in the audience couldn’t help but let out a few gasps of awe and disbelief as the fight scene continued on.

Watching as Alex removed his jacket and flexed his well-defined, muscular arms, in an effort to prep himself to beat the shit out of Sam after he had disarmed him, a small whistle subconsciously escaped Lucy’s mouth.

No one in the cinema seemed to complain though as the intensity of the scene and Alex’s gaze himself, had them completely hooked and invested in who would come out on top in the fight.

Soon came the reveal after, which was then followed by the shirtless scene where Alex and Sam were having their conversation.

Lucy, instead of focusing on the convo in the scene, had her eyes glued to Kyle’s ripped body, her gaze scrutinizing and relishing every inch of his torso with immense joy.

A lady sitting a few seats from her also gulped as the scene went on and Lucy couldn’t help but understand where the lady was coming from.

‘Truly. Those abs are divine… Exquisite even…’ she couldn’t help but think to herself.

And like that, the movie went on for another thirty minutes with the rest of the scenes keeping the audience on their toes.

The final fight scenes after the small twist of Abraham being the main instigator of it all, were so frenetic and intense, everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen.

Hearing Alex also speak fluent Russian, completely caught a good chunk of the audience off guard again.

But, thinking back to his backstory, most of them understood why that must’ve been.

Since he had a major in International Relations, it definitely fit the narrative of the story for him to know more than one language.

The scenes with The Spider and Alex duking it out till it ended in the eventual demise of the man, also left the audience feeling so victorious, just as Alex had felt too.

And the same happened when Sam finally apprehended Abraham.

Some people even gasped when they saw him dropkick Abraham by shattering through the windscreen of his oncoming car.

Following all that, when the movie’s credit finally rolled, with the audience left wondering if Alex did accept Sam’s offer, most of them couldn’t help but feel like they had gone through a truly fun and thrilling experience.

There was a sort of immense satisfaction in watching a no-hold bars action movie and it seemed like [Epoch One] had given them that peculiar feeling of satisfaction.

…

…

…

“There’s goosebumps all over my body babe! You were right! The movie was awesome! Woo!” Sasha pumped her fists up into the air as everyone slowly made their way out of the cinema.

“I know right! Wanna come along again tomorrow night?!” Kevin returned her energy and enthusiasm.

“You bet!” she jumped onto his back with an excited gaze.

This was one of the best action movie they had both watched in a really long while.

People who had watched the movie alongside them, felt the exact same way and judging by the animated discussion most were having as they exited the theatre, it was obvious that they had a good time.

“Yo yo yo! Anyone know the name of the guy who played Alex Hunt?!” Todd asked his buddies, a strong hint of admiration in his voice.

“Over Skylar Young already?!” Reggie burst into laughter.

“Skylar Young is overrated man! I’m a simp no longer! Alex Hunt has shown me the way!” Todd raised his arms up to the sky, an enlightened expression on his face.

“His name’s Kyle Kestis. Sang that popular song, [Strange Canvas]? Have you been living under a rock man?” Casey asked his buddy.

“Oh so it’s him! I’ve never seen a picture of him so I wouldn’t know! But damn! Alex and Sam were fucking tanks throughout the movie! But somehow, it was still very believable because they weren’t just easily bulldozing their way through everything! They got hurt too! Very badly and yet, still friggin’ won! All that aside though, Alex’s humor especially, was top notch! What a freakin’ badass!” Todd spoke with such vigor, the guys wondered if someone had mixed something into his soda.

“You know what guys! This is some good shit! Let’s watch it again tomorrow!” Will declared and the others nodded in agreement.

Sure they were broke-ass, high-school students… but, even that, was not going to stop them from experiencing the blood-pumping, thrilling adrenaline surge the movie gave them again.

In contrast to the excitement the people who had watched [Epoch One] felt though, the people who went to watch [Bohemian Days], had a pretty disappointed expression on their features as they came out of the cinema.

“Val, Kyle’s abs were sculpted by the Gods themselves! Divine and exquisite! Mwah!” Lucy did a chef’s kiss gesture the moment she found her friend.

“And I’m guessing the movie wasn’t so good huh…” she then arched an eyebrow when she noticed the expression of her friend and every other person whom had gone to watch [Bohemian Days].

“Austin sucked ass…” Valerie muttered, a deep frown etched on her face.

This caused Lucy to suppress a small chuckle that had already escaped, one her friend didn’t take kindly to.

“Stop trying to rub it in!” she declared with an even deeper frown as Lucy burst into full-on laughter, completely disregarding her Valerie’s wishes.

Ruby, the lady whom had gone with Lacrosse on the other hand, felt like she shouldn’t have gone out with him at all as no sooner had he entered the cinema, his girlfriend whom he had been two-timing on her with, caught them both in the act, causing a bit of drama before the movie itself.

Eventually, Ruby had ended up having to see the movie alone as the security dragged both Lacrosse and his girlfriend out of the cinema because their noise was getting too much.

Hoping that the movie would at least, help get her mind off all of the embarrassment she had to deal with, it had instead done the opposite.

It was such a boring movie.

One that had tried to make multiple casts of character feel believable but somehow fell flat on its face in its execution.

It also didn’t help that the characters weren’t well-fleshed out and there was one particularly poor actor amidst all the star-studded cast that stood out.

Glancing over and noticing Will though, the guy whom had asked her out to the movies laughing with his friends as they animatedly discussed about something, Ruby pouted and sulked in dissatisfaction.

‘Maybe I should’ve gone out with him after all…’ she thought to herself with a regretful sigh.