Movie Review: Dabanng 2

When the first movie ended, Chulbul Pandey(Salman Khan) had avenged his mother's death and ended with loving and caring family. In the sequel, Chulbul gets tranferred to Kanpur in order to achieve greater things in his professional career. According to him, Kanpur being a bigger city has much more to offer in terms of challenging work. As we know Chulbul, challenging work has to do with bigger and more ruthless thugs. In Kanpur, he meets Bachcha bhaiyya(Prakash Raj) and his brothers. When not locking horns with the gang of villains, Chulbul finds time to romance his wife(Sonakshi Sinha) and play pranks on his father(Vinod Khanna) and his brother(Arbaaz Khan).

The first time director Arbaaz Khan launches us straight into the action with the stylish opening credits which is built on the still photographs from the first part. This put us into the right mood for watching the sequel. After an interesting 25 minutes which relies on funny one-liners, beautifully choreographed yet unbelievable stunts and Salman Khan, the movie loses steam because of a fundamental flaw. The story telling in terms of script lacks flow and is devoid of any twists.

The movie tries every trick to cater to the fans. There are songs for the sake of songs, intended-to-be-funny scenes abruptly to show off camaraderie in the Pandey family and lack of a diabolical villain. You will also find the shirt coming off in the final action sequence. If there is any consistency in this enterprise, then it is only in one factor, namely bad acting. All of them are in a race to outdo the others in bad acting. Even the normally entertaining Prakash Raj puts in one of his worst performances. To add to the woes, the voice used doesn't suit him.

Skip it. If you end up watching this, make sure you are out of the theater after the initial 25 minutes.

Language: Hindi

Genre: Action

Rating: *

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Movie Review: Argo

When the American embassy is attacked in 1978 following the Iranian revolution and subsequent escape of the Shah, six embassy officials manage to escape the furious mob by walking into the streets and ending up in the Canadian Ambassador's house. Later, CIA manages to get them out of the country by constructing a story of Hollywood crew on location scouting. Ben Affleck bases his latest directorial venture on this true story to bring out an interesting and gripping drama on the screen.

Tony Mendez(Ben Affleck) is part of the operation which is trying to rescue the six American embassy officials taking refuge in the Candaian Ambassador's house. CIA has no concrete plans for the rescue. The only plausible plan is the one in which the embassy officials can pose as a crew on a location hunt for a movie. In order to make this plan work, Tony has to recruit help from Hollywood in the form of John Chambers(John Goodman) a makeup artist and Lester Siegel(Alan Arkin) a movie producer.

Ben Affleck quickly sets the action in place after providing a primer on the whole confict using voice overs. He keeps the viewer engaged with the fast paced drama on the screen. He has also an excellent supporting cast. Ben uses not only photography techniques reminiscent of the era but also the famous TV clips from the same era. The tension is captured brillianty during the US Embassy seige in the initial reels. However, the drama during the escape from Iran seems to be far fetched and also a bit forced for the thrills.

Performance wise, the movie belongs to Ben Affleck's Tony Mendez and Alan Arkin's Siegel. Ben Affleck effectively underplays his role making it more enjoyable to watch. Alan Arkin gets the best lines and provides the best humorous scenes in the movie.

Go for it. Although it tells only the American angle, it is still good to watch for foming our own opinion about the crisis.

Language: English

Genre: Drama

Rating: ***

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Movie Review: Thuppakki

An army man on vacation takes on a terrorist leader planning massive attacks in Mumbai. That is the story in a nutshell. So you have Jagadish(Vijay) who is in Mumbai for vacation, meets a girl(Kajal Aggarwal) on his parent's insistence, rejects her on various grounds, repents the decision soon, courts her shamelessly and spends all his idle time with his inspector friend(Sathyan). While doing all these, he accidentally uncovers a terrorist sleeper cell. Now he has to thwart their plans. He succeeds the first attempt. Then the sleeper cell leader(Vidyut Jamwal) is irked.

This time, A R Murgadoss addresses the issue of terrorism in this movie with an Indian army man as the resourceful protagonist trying to stand up on his own, never complaining about lack of anything. I like heroes who complains less and accomplishes a lot with less. There are a few of them from Indian cinema of late. But there are issues with this movie in spite of the interesting theme. The main problem with the movie is the first half where nothing happens and an interesting second half. If you analyze the first half, the best scenes are already shown in the trailer. In order to fill in the first half, unnecessary comic scenes with Sathyan, Jayaram(in the silliest role he has every played in his career) and Kajal Aggarwal (less said the better). The visuals looks stunning thanks to Santosh Sivan. The script by A R Murugadoss doesn't leave any scope for the editor Sreekar Prasad to make the proceeding racier. Harris Jayaraj's music is nice but the placement of the songs is not good for the narrative.

Vijay performs well as the army man often underplaying his weaknesses. Even though he doesn't get to sport army uniform, he gets to do many other things. The wardrobe has undergone an ocean of change. He also does what he has not done in most of the movies. He gets to mouth English and Hindi dialogues. Forget the diction. This is a good sign because Tamil actors(or read stars) are finally willing to change according to the script. Vidyut Jamwal gets to show off his mean side as the terrorist leader. Unlike Billa 2 where he had disappointing role despite a terrific screen presence, Vidyut is able to perform in this role. The biggest drawback of his performance is the voice over (sometimes in Tamil and sometimes in English), a mechanism used instead of subtitling, backfires and takes the steam off his performance. Then, that is the director's fault.

The movie is a cat-and-mouse game between the good and the bad. But the thrills are lacking. It is like a cracker in a cycle of cracks-fizzes-cracks. I recommend to wait for the DVD. Using this option, you can still get some work done while watching the interesting parts alone.

Language: Tamil

Genre: Thriller

Rating: **

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Movie Review: Bachelorette

A wedding event that might turn out to be a disaster because of dysfunctional friends. There are twists and turns till all is well that ends well. Haven't we seen this many times on screen? Yes, we have. Bachelorette directed by Leslye Headland based on her own play is the latest addition to this genre. It is told from the girl's point of view and it does raise a few laughs.

So, you have three friends Regan(Kirsten Dunst), Gena(Lizzy Caplan) and Katie(Isla Fisher) who are in NY to attend Becky's(Rebel Wilson) wedding. The foursome were great friends from their high school years. They have seen ups and downs. The upcoming wedding is another up and down at the same time. It is a moment to rejoice for Becky while the rest of the three are not very happy about Becky being the first one in the foursome to settle down.

Leslye Headland's movie starts with jealousy. It then then traces the lives of the three friends through conversations and funny incidents. It peaks to a meltdown when egos clashes and secrets tumble out of the closet. At the end, everyone finds peace and happiness in their lives by correcting their past mistakes. Although there are funny moments, there isn't much to write about this movie. As for the performances, Kirsten Dunst stands out and Isla Fisher brings out smiles although she is playing the stereotypical superficial woman.

Watch it on DVD if you have nothing else to choose.

Language: English

Genre: Comedy

Rating: **

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Movie Review: Skyfall

The latest installment of Bond can't get any more British than this. You have "the" Lord Voldemort in the star cast. Yes, I am referring to Ralph Fiennes. If that isn't enought, you have a British director Sam Mendes, who has found recognition from directing intense drama based on American lives, at the helm. I understand the decision on Ralph. But I couldn't say the same about the director. What is a director who specializes in drama doing in a thriller which ideally should have diluted sensibilities?

The opening reels of Skyfall casts all the doubts away even though subsequent reels are a different matter. You see James Bond(Daniel Craig) chasing a bad guy to retrieve a disk. If the previous movie used the Bourne techniques to give an edgy look for the action sequences, here it outdoes the Bourne. Bourne may be running over the rooftops fighting villains and jumping from across the building. Bond prefers to chase the villain over the rooftops of Istanbul on a bike wearing a suit. How cool can it get? Then both continue their stunt on top of a train. That is where Bond's companion Eve(Naomie Harris) takes a shot at the villain at the command of M(Judi Dench) and ends up hitting Bond.

Now, Bond is presumed killed. MI6 and M are under political scrutiny by the newly appointed Gareth Mallory(Ralph Fiennes). If that isn't enough, MI6 networks are hacked by an unknown organization and the headquarters bombed. It is time for Bond to come out of hibernation. Did you really think he was killed in Istanbul? The non-action if you discount the ones with the local exotic girls, drinks and age is catching up on Bond. He has to pass the medical examination before embarking on the next mission. The next mission takes him to Shanghai, Macau, London and finally to Scotland. Somewhere in between all the globetrotting, Bond meets the mastermind behind all this, Raoul Silva(Javier Bardem).

When you choose Sam Mendes to direct a movie on the 50th anniversary of the Bond, it raises your expectations. For once, we have a Bond with very vulnerable looks. He is more athletic than any of his predecessors. What you need in the series is a bit of drama. That is what one hope Sam Mendes will provide. He does it but in excess. That is the problem with this movie. When there is too much drama, the series loses the meaning. So you see a icon struggling with his past, his mentors and his capabilities. Deja vu if you have seen another caped crusader doing the same a few months back.

The main problem lies in the plot. The plot is reminiscent of the past Bonds, at least some sequences. The die-hard fans, including myself, love it when there are references to the past successful movies in the franchise. The first action sequence is the best and wastes no time to get the viewer in the middle of the action. Then there are action sequences which is over before it even starts. The villain's entry is late, presents himself as a diabolical figure and ends up as a madman hellbent on revenge. Where are the plain old villains with sinister hideouts and a sole intention of global domination? Please bring them back.

The poorly written villain damages one of the best performances of the movie, Javier's Silva. Not a conventional villain, when Javier makes the first appearance walking carefully towards a captured Bond, you are hooked. Javier delivers. During the long stride to meet Bond, Silva begins his monologue, flirting with audience in guessing his sexuality. In that sequence alone, he is able to bring multiple emotions in the viewer, some of them outrageously funny. After this scene, there is nothing much for Javier to do.

The plot is designed to showcase the exit of one character, entry of another character and parental feelings in Bond. At the end of the day, it is a Bond during the initial reels, a Batman Rises in the middle and a Western in the end. Usually, I like to end the reviews with a simple but definite verdict. For this one, I leave it up to you. What the hell? It is a Bond. Are you really going to listen to what I have to say?

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

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Movie Review: The Paperboy

A woman is in love with a condemned man on a death row. Two investigators are busy following up a story that might set this condemned man free. The three people are connected by a young man who helps in their investigation by doing odd jobs. In the process, he become jealous of the increasing distance between him and his brother, who is also one of the investigations. He also falls in love with the woman.

Lee Daniels directs this drama which tells the story of coming-off age from the perspective of Jack Jansen(Zac Effron). Nicole Kidman plays Charlotte Bless who is in love with the condemned man while the investigators Ward Jansen and Yardley Acheman are played by Matthew McConaughey and Danny Oyelowo respectively. The condemned man Hillary Van Wetter is enacted by John Cusack.

This is primarily a director's movie. Hence the storytelling overshadows the performance. The performances are good with each of the main character getting away from their comfort zone and acting in a very different role than we had seen them in earlier movies. Though a director's movie, Lee Daniels fails to keep us interested in the proceeding because of a predictable story involving discrimination, coming-off age and violence. The narrative employed by the author fails to hold our attention or keep the movie gripping. As a result, the movie meanders through interesting moments but fails to leave an impression as whole. The story is told by the household maid Anita(Macy Gray) of the Jensens.

When you run out all options for a drama, you may choose this.

Language: English

Genre: Drama

Rating: **

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Movie Review: Maattrraan

K V Anand's movie about conjoined twins tries to be many things except an entertainer. He tells the story of conjoined twins, Vimalan and Akhilan, with Suriya playing both the roles. The two are different like chalk and cheese. The makeup makes them looks different. The actor makes them feel different. Finally, the computer graphics makes the same actor looks conjoined. The CG is tacky. Fifteen minutes into the movie, you tend to overlook this factor. But the trouble with the movie is not any of the above.

It is a terribly long movie with nothing much happening in the first half and a lot of things crammed into the second half. So you see the birth of the twins, their mother refusing to sacrifice one of them and their father struggling to get a foothold to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the first few minutes. This happens in a breeze. Then you see one of the twins flirting with everything that moves and also helping his other shy half to find a suitable girl. At this point, the movie is actually in a standstill till the interval. From the interval, the movie moves from being drama to a mystery.

An uninteresting script and excessive length of the movie kills the joy of watching Suriya on screen. What could be told interesting in a matter of two hours have been stretched beyond that. The action sequence of conjoined twins is the trickiest. When the action is focused only on the conjoined twins, it is an interesting watch. But when the action is focused on the thugs and the conjoined twins together, it becomes confusing. The music by Harris Jayaraj is good. But the songs acts as a speed breaker.

Performance wise, Suriya stands out. He is a good actor. But there is nothing he can do to salvage this movie. Tara as the mother and Sachin Khedekar as the dad acts their part well. As the leading lady, Kajal Aggarwal has to look good. But she miserably fails to do so.

There is nothing in this movie. As the second half is based in Ukraine, you might think of watching this for the foreign locales. I say, No. You are better off with the pictures on the internet and videos on Youtube.

Language: Tamil

Genre: Drama

Rating: *

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Movie Review: Taken 2

Bryan Mills(Liam Neeson) might have saved his daughter Kim(Maggie Grace) from the hands of Albanian slave traders. But the death trail he leaves behind causes anguish and desire for revenge in the mind of Murad Krasniqi(Rade Serbedzija), father of the person who was responsible for abducting Kim. Meanwhile, Bryan is trying to spend as much time with Kim trying to make up for the lost time. When Lennie(Famke Janssen), Bryan's ex-wife, breaks up with her husband, the trio gets a chance to spend the vacation in Istanbul. To complicate matters, Murad is able to successfully track Bryan down to Istanbul.

Directed by Olivier Megaton, this movie is one of the action movies that Luc Besson's production company has been churning out at intervals. Of late, all such movies are becoming more and more predictable. There is a thin plot line filled with action sequences; Columbiana and Lockout being some of the recent ones. The purpose of the movie is to take the viewer from one action sequence to another. The good thing about this is the action lovers has something to watch every six months. The flip side is the entertainment quotient goes down with every movie. This movie only helps in hitting a new low.

In all fairness, I haven't seen the first part, Taken. I have seen bits and pieces of it, mainly the action sequences. From what I saw, it wasn't a surprise that the movie redefined the image of Liam Neeson; an aging actor becomes an action hero all of a sudden. In the sequel, the director fails to invoke the same feeling as the first part in the audience for multiple reasons. The action sequences are very few in numbers. Hence it becomes a tedious watch. The movie is set in Istanbul. Except for a few sequences set on the rooftops, everything else is shot inside rundown buildings giving a poor look which may be due to a tight budget. All the action sequences are of close combat types where opponents are close to each other, the movements restricted but fast and lethal. The shaky camera and fast editing employed during these sequences gives the impression of actors being too slow or too old for this type of action.

An action movie should have cheesy and also corny moments. Although there aren't enough of it in this movie, the scene that gets the maximum laugh is how a captive Bryan finds out his location with the help of his daughter.

This isn't worth your time. Stay away.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: *

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Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy

Can you imagine the Bourne series without Matt Damon? Although the first one in the series was more focused on action, everything changed with the arrival of Paul Greengrass. The series became edgier while conveying the pathos of Jason Bourne without getting overly dramatic. So when the new one was announced, I was skeptical. Jeremy Renner is a rising star and also can emote. But is he a good choice? Luckily for all us, he is not enacting Jason Bourne. That is a relief and it is the only relief.

Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross. Aaron Cross resembles Jason Bourne in many ways. He is also part of the government's efforts in building super soldiers. But when Jason Bourne creates havoc in Moscow and arrives in USA, CIA officials are in a panic. In order to control the damage, Eric Byer(Edward Norton) steps in. His solution is simple. Remove all traces of the existing programs as the necessary know-how of these programs are secure. The government agencies can restart these programs with little efforts at a later date. But an unexpecting Aaron Cross narrowly escapes the assassination attempt. He is on the run now. In order to escape from his enemies, Aaron saves and enlists the help of a geneticist Dr Marta Shearing(Rachel Weisz).

Tony Gilroy directs the latest installment of the Bourne series. Tony has a big shoes to fill as Paul Greengrass redefined the Bourne series with shaky camera and never-ending action sequences. Unfortunately, Tony leaves doesn't match up to his predecessor. As a result, we end up squirming in the seat for either the story to take off or exciting action sequences. The movie contains a few good action pieces. But when it appears on screen, you are already bored to death with monotony of the movie. Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz tries to infuse enthusiasm into this doomed enterprise. But with an insipid script and a very slow pace, there is nothing anyone can do to salvage this movie.

Stay away from this.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: *

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Movie Review: The Expendables 2

Towards the end of the movie, when Church(Bruce Willis) presents a new aircraft for Barney(Sylvester Stallone), the latter scorns and remarks about it being a museum piece. On hearing this, Trench(Arnold Schwarzenegger) philosophically says, "We all belong there!". This statement is not only true about the trio but also about the other three major actors featured in the movie namely Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lungdren. Despite this fact, they bravely come out to do a movie without any pretense of their glory days. In this process, they seem to enjoy every bit in kicking ass and also poking fun at each other, and also themselves. These two factors makes this movie an immensely pleasurable watch.

In the sequel to The Expendables directed by Simon West, Barney is still with his old team comprising of Christmas(Jason Statham), Yang(Jet Li), Caesar(Terry Crews) and Toll(Randy Couture). They also have a new member in the team, Billy the Kid(Liam Hemsworth). When one of their team is killed during a mission by Jean Vilain(Jean-Claude Van Damme), the rest decides to avenge the death. With this basic premise, Simon West successfully manages to entertain us by staging spectacular action scenes while at the same time never ever trying to make us believe this is not a farce. The job is relatively easy. Simon takes the story forward by slowly introducing and re-introducing most of his star cast for the action sequences. This keeps the viewer hooked on although we can second guess what is next. The action sequences are all inspired by the respective performer's past successful movies. But then, that is why we love most of the actors featured in this movie. As the technology has advanced, the movie also has become very violent with exploding heads, decapitated bodies and blood spillage thereby making this a perfect outing for an action junkie. As for the performance, all of them are known as bad actors. So, there is nothing much to write about. What comes out elegantly on the screen is the camaraderie between the various performers. They seem to have a lot of fun doing this. This makes us enjoy what we see on the screen.

If you grew up watching the Hollywood action movies of the late 80's and early 90's, this is a must see for you. Gulp down your favorite choice of poison which make this ride much more enjoyable. Also be ready to clap and whistle. Some of the lines are self deprecating and outright funny. Other lines are the corny and the cheesy ones we heard while growing up.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: ***

Movie Review: Ek Tha Tiger

The basic theme of the movie is a spy, who is fearless,  on the run from two spy agencies namely RAW and ISI. The spy is named Tiger(Salman Khan). But as I sit through the movie, there are only two things which greatly disappoints me. The first is we cannot produce an engaging thriller despite the potential of reaping the returns with a star like Salman Khan. The second is more disconcerting. What is a love story doing in the middle of a spy thriller? Can't we write a decent spy story without an element of love?

When Tiger is sent on a reconnaissance mission to observe a nuclear scientist(Roshan Seth), his life changes as soon as he sees Zoya(Katrina Kaif). I honestly don't understand why his life has to change. He is constantly traveling to exotic places in the world, jumping across rooftops and firing guns while in any state of motion. The only thing he lacks is the martini, oh yeah the shaken one, and the gorgeous girls in the bikini. Then, the movies work in mysterious ways and hence the need for him to change. That is where the chase begins.

Kabir Khan has two successes under his belt. In both the previous movies, emotion played a strong role. In the second one, he created a greater canvas with a lot of CG wizardry. In this movie, he goes beyond with CG and stunts choreographed by an international crew. But an international crew is no a sure-fire way to create adrenaline-pumping action sequences with dollops of suspension of disbelief. For this, you need experience and also planning. This is one area where Kabir fails. The action is shown from various angles which break the rhythm of choreography. Instead of camera swooping all across the scenes to instill thrill, the action scenes looks like as if it was shot in multiple angles using a static camera. This is the biggest drawback of the movie. This is also the place where planning makes a big difference. Even the background score fails in these sequences. The second is the lack of courage to do away with a love-angle in a movie. In order to do this, you really need to work on the plot.

No doubt this one of the big release of the year. I do not expect to see Oscar winning performances in this especially with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead. The most interesting part is the chase. Unfortunately, the chase starts off in the second part. Then the tempo is broken by the songs. The perfromances is uninspired. Even Girish Karnad and Ranvir Shorey are not able to infuse any form of enthusiasm into this enterprise. Roshan Seth is wasted in a inconsequential role.

Strictly for Salman fans. If you really want to check out the action sequences, I urge you to wait for the DVD.

Language: Hindi

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Preposterous! It was my sentiment when I heard about Abraham Lincoln being portrayed as a vampire hunter. With Timor Berkmambetov as the director, there wasn't much to think about this enterprise. With a movies like Wanted under his belt, you pretty well know this movie is all about stylized and unbelievable action sequences with cringeworthy dialogues. After seeing the movie, nothing has happened to change the notion. It is still preposterous with a lot of stylized action edited and shot cleverly to suspend disbelief. The suspension of disbelief never happens. You pretty well know you are taken for a ride.

Based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, Abraham Lincoln(Benjamin Walker) thirsts for revenge after his parents are killed by Jack Barts. While putting his plan for revenge in action, Abe comes to know Barts is a vampire. Luckily for him, help arrives in the form of John Sturgess(Dominic Cooper) who trains him to be a vampire slayer. Life goes on as we have known or read about Abe where he meets all the important people in his life like Mary Todd(Mary Elizabeth Winstead),William Johnson(Anthony Mackie), Joshua Speed(Jimmi Simpson) -, the difference being except all events are centered around vampire hunting. Years later, during the civil war, the decisive battle of Gettyberg is also painted as a battle between humans and vampires where the latter group is led by a vampire named Adam(Rufus Sewell).

Despite the ridiculous premise, Timor manages to hold our interest at places. The first is the choice of Benjamin Walker to play the lead role and his transformation into Abraham Lincoln. Though he posses a great similarity to the historic figure, it is the transformation as aged Lincoln that is noteworthy. Then there are two action pieces which are commendable. One is the fight between Lincoln and Barts where the latter flees using a herd of cattle to fight stealthily with his assailant. The cattle is running. They are both climbing, riding and jumping on the back of cattle as if there were stationary objects. The second action piece is the climactic fight on the train. It is interesting. On the flip side, there is too much blood and decapitation in the movie.

The action scenes are watchable. But I will only recommend watching those on the DVD.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Movie Review: A Few Best Men

When two cultures collide, there is always comedy. The comedy is primarily based on misunderstandings in which one culture may seem insensitive to the other based on their limited knowledge of each other. So, Stephen Elliot takes this premise and creates a marriage between an Englishman and an Australian woman. In order to make things a bit more interesting, he puts in a very short courting period in a strange land, a group of immature friends who are the best men, a unknown territory for the groom and friends along with a lot of frivolity. Unfortunately, the concoction doesn't turn out to be as interesting as it sounds.

A comedy works on outrageous situations backed by hilarious dialogues. It is not enough that the movie is full of gag-worthy moments. It should also make the audience laugh. That is precisely where this movie falls flat. When David(Xavier Samuel) hops on a plane to Australia with his friends, Tom(Kris Marshall), Graham(Kevin Bishop) and Luke(Tim Draxl), for his wedding with Mia(Laura Brent), he is unaware of his fiancee's family. When her family turns out to be politically powerful and insanely rich with her dad Jim(Jonathan Biggins) a senator, her mom Barbara(Olivia Newton-John) a trophy wife and her sister Daphne a lesbian, the stage is all set for you to roll out on the floor laughing. To add to the melee, there is a drug dealer and a prized ram. But things do not progress beyond this point. The only saving grace of show is Olivia Newton-John. But then, we have to wait till the wedding is on way and after she has snorted cocaine.

Stay away from this. Avoidable in all formats.

Language: English

Genre: Comedy

Rating: *

Movie Review: 360

Life undergoes a 360 degree turn which forms the basis of the movie. What forces the life to take a 360 degree turn is sex. With a main theme and a sub theme, the director Fernando Meirelles follows the lives of  protagonists living in Vienna, Paris, London and Colorado in an episodic format. Like the other films using this format, the various lives are interconnected in a way. The actions of one influences the life of another even though the propagator of the action is not aware of it's implication. As a viewer, we derive pleasure in watching the cause and effect unraveling in front of us on the screen.

The movie stands out for the photography techniques used and performances. The camera becomes a voyeur forcefully trying to poke into the life of various people. There are too many characters played by a truly international cast. Because of too many characters, the screen time devoted to various protagonists is short and hence it keeps the viewer engaged. In an episodic movie, the stamp of director and the editor are more prominent than the performances. Yet, there are two performers who stand out - Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster. The former is a fun to watch especially when he goes into the Alcoholic Anonymous meeting and recounts his experiences. Ben Foster has a tougher role to play as a sex offender. When he is released from the prison, he struggles with his condition. The struggle is poignantly enacted by him. The rest of the cast comprising of Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Jamal Debbouze and a variety of international names are fun to watch.

The sub theme is sex. So there are explicit scenes. So, this is not suitable to watch with kids. However, you can go for it if you want to watch something engaging and yet you want to forget it as soon as you step out of the cinema hall.

Language: English

Genre: Drama

Rating: ***

Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

Eight years after Harvey Dent's death, Batman is a villain for the residents of Gotham City while Harvey Dent is a celebrated hero. Bruce Wayne(Christian Bale) is in a self-imposed exile mourning Rachel's death, wandering the inner sanctums of Wayne Manor with the help of a walking stick. Commissioner Gordon(Gary Oldman) torn by the lie he is living out and the truth about Batman. Alfred(Michael Caine) and Fox(Morgan Freeman) is unhappy with the way Wayne is treating himself. To add to all this, Wayne Enterprises have been losing money. As you can see, when Christopher Nolan opens up the concluding part of the trilogy, Gotham City is safer than it was in the recent years but our favorite characters are all in despair. But the status quo isn't permanent because of four people; Bane(Tom Hardy), an excommunicated member of League of Shadows, Selina Kyle(Anne Hathaway) the cat burglar who has no permanent allegiance to anyone, Miranda Tate(Marion Cotillard) an investor on quest for clean energy for the world and John Blake(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a cop who believes in Batman.

Unfortunately, the third installment in the trilogy pales in comparison with the second part but is similar in many ways to the first part. Like the first part, Bruce learns the necessary skills for being the caped crusader. The interesting part of the movie should have been how Bruce learns all the skills second time around in order to defeat the villain Bane. As this process happens over a period of 5 months while Bruce is held captive and his city in a state of siege, the joy of viewing is watered down to boredom. Moreover, Bane is all brawn and no brains which translates to Batman learning to endure the ordeal instead of matching the villain with intelligence. For a concluding part, there are homages and re-appearance of characters from previous versions namely Ra's Al Gul(Liam Neeson) and Jonathan Crane(Cillian Murphy). However, this writing is not so interesting to create drama. Thankfully, Joker does not appear on screen anywhere in the movie. Any tampering with that character would have been equivalent to sacrilege. Ironically, this movie lacks a strong villain like Joker. 

With a bigger canvas and a larger cast, Christopher Nolan succeeds only at two points in the movie - The entry of Batman although painfully late and the ending of the movie. For the entry of Batman in full gear, Nolan chooses a chase sequence in a busy freeway. Cops are chasing Bane and gang in their getaway motorcycles which carries hostages strapped to it. Suddenly, the lights goes off. The light comes back. We hear the sound of the Badpod. The hostage is freed. The villain crashes the bike. You see Batman riding the Batpod with the camera following behind him. The cape is dancing in the air. The music climbs up. This entire scene is visually beautiful and exciting while it connects the franchise lovers immediately to the scenes of the second part. The ending is Nolan-esque. He makes the viewers wonder if it is an end or a new beginning. As a bonus, he throws in a neat surprise just during the climactic fight. After the grand entry of Batman, nothing much happening. Even the fight sequences between Bane and Batman are uninspired. While the previous movies used fast cuts to force the viewer to think quick and fast action, this time around Nolan uses traditional techniques. This makes Batman's action sequences seem clumsy.

Performance wise, there are only two people who makes their presence felt despite the weak script. Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle not only looks good in the catsuit but also shows the conflicted emotions very well. She has dual personality; selfish and caring. Anne is a pleasure to watch both during action scene and also during emoting. And yes, she can ride the Bikepod! Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox continues to give an endearing performance. He is the only one who can tease Bruce. Watch out for the glee in his eyes and the dialogue delivery during his meeting with Bruce where he invites the latter to check out the R&D part of the building. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake acts well. but fails to make a definite impact. He is the person with no conflicts and also represents hope. It is sad that this character fails to invoke empathy.

Strictly for Batman fans.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Movie Review: Gangs of Wasseypur Part I

Releasing a movie in multiple parts is advantageous to the film maker. If the story is conceived in a certain pace with a lot of events, then it ends up longer. At this point,  it is left to the discretion of the editor to chop the excess. This could lead to undesirable outcome. By choosing two parts, the film maker is able to entertain and also garner more revenue than a single part. Although Anurag Kashyap qualifies to be one of the movie makers in India who can do this feat considering his contributions to Indian cinema. But his latest offering Gangs of Wasseypur is not the right movie to try this technique. Gangs of Wasseyput Part I is all about Sardar Khan(Manoj Bajpai). It tells the story from a few years before Sardar was born when Sardar's dad impersonates a dreaded dacoit to loot the trains passing through Wasseypur. As a result of this, Sardar's father is driven out of the village by Qureshi muslims. Before long, Sardar's father is killed by an industrialist Ramadhir Singh(Tigmanshu Dhulia). These events instills hatred in the mind of Sardar towards both Qureshis and Ramadhir which in turn affects the way he leads life and also the kind of life he adopts.

Anurag Kashyap's movie details a story of revenge and survival in rural India set against a political backdrop. Even with technical finesse and excellent cast, the movie falls short because of many reasons. The political backdrop of the events are described using an voice over; the voice of Farhan(Piyush Mishra) who is also the caretaker of Sardar in all sense. But the narration is fast on the various political events that propels the growth of many of the characters. This is confusing. Moreover, the political impacts on the story's progression is treated superficially. Rather devoting time on the political backdrop, more length has been devoted to sexual appetite of Sardar especially the wooing of Durga(Reemma Sen) and also romantic interlude of Sardar's son Faizal(Nawazuddin Siddiqui). These are hilarious sequences and captivating scenes. When compared to the main theme of the movie, these are actually distractions. Also, DI techniques could have been better used to denote the different eras. The tough life in rural India is brilliantly portrayed despite the shortcomings. This is a male dominated theme. It is the brilliance of Anurag that such a male dominated theme shows strong women, be it Sardar's first wife Nagma(Richa Chadda), Sardar's second wife Durga or Faizal's lover Mohsina(Huma Qureshi).

Performance wise, the movie belongs two people, Manoj Bajpai as Sardar Khan and Richa Chadda as Nagma. Manoj successfully portrays Sardar who doesn't get angry and adopts violence without guilt. He displays his versatility by portraying an energetic younger days to a restrained older man. The scenes where he lusts and woos Durga are hilarious. At the same time, the scenes where he interacts with his older son after latter's marriage is heart-warming. Richa Chadda, the relatively new face, has a bigger responsibility for Nagma is no ordinary woman. A pregnant Nagma has a showdown with her sex-addicted husband in a local brothel. She has to resist the sexual advances of her husband during pregnancy. Finally she comes to terms with his adulterous habits. When her husband leaves her temporarily, she takes care of her family providing the most essential mental strength to the other members of her family. That is a tall order. But she delivers and her portrayal remains in your mind.

If you are an Anurag Kashyap fan, wait for the DVD. The others can give it a skip. If you still want to go for it, keep in mind it is violent. The violence is depicted by blood and rest is in your imagination. This actually is more disturbing.

Language: Hindi

Genre: Drama

Rating: **

Movie Review: Billa 2

Prefixed with 2, this is not a sequel but a prequel to the updated version of Billa released in 2007. In the prequel, you find out the origins of David Billa(Ajith Kumar) who lands in India as a refugee after taking part in the struggles in his motherland. Despite being a refugee, Billa climbs up the hierarchy of the underworld largely due to his bravado and risk-taking behaviour. He goes from doing petty crimes to controlling drugs and arms trade.

Chakri Toleti is the director of the prequel. He also makes this a watchable fare even though they are many shortcomings. First and foremost, Chakri doesn't waste the viewers mostly (except for an unwanted song towards the end of the movie) by a structured screen play and clever editing. For instance, when the cops arrests Billa, the very next scene shows a tortured Billa  chopping away the unwanted and done-to-death scenes of police brutality. Chakri understands the limitations of his lead actor clearly and underplays it brilliantly. So there are no difficult scenes  for Ajithkumar. Instead there are more scenes where he had to look good onscreen. Finally, Chakri gets the essence of a prequel. That is why you get a fleeting glimpse of Rahman who is featured in the first part in a significant role and a gradual yet prominent change of the background score to synch with the background score of the first part.

David Billa is a criminal. So the movie features violence; a whole lot of it to be precise. But more than the violence, it is the special effects and badly executed action scenes that let you down. There are two sequences reminiscent of Hollywood movies namely Scarface and Godfather. Although the similarity to Godfather can be forgiven, more thought could have gone into the Scarface-like scene.

Ajith Kumar has to look dashing and act cold blooded. This is the easiest thing for him to do. Luckily for him, he has an apt nemesis in Vidyut Jamwal as the Russian arms dealer Dmitry. In fact, Vidyut is also the one who looks cool in the action sequences. Sadly, there aren't as many action scenes on him as much as we would love to have. Parvathy Omanakuttan ends up as a plain Jane when pitted against Bruna Abdullah and the role is both badly written and badly acted at the same time.

Although the movie is tailor made for Ajithkumar fans, it is still watchable for non-fans too because of the director's ease with the medium. If you can't stomach violence, stay away from this. Otherwise, this is a good option in the multiplex when you don't have any options and only care for escapist fare.

Language: Tamil

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Movie Review: Haywire

A spy seeks answers when she is hunted by her former employers. This forms the basis of the film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Mallory Kane is an independent contractor who is assigned to espionage activities by US government. But when a successful hostage rescue operation turns the table on her, she uses her skills to survive while pitted against unknown enemies and also her former colleagues.

Steven Soderbergh is known for erratic style of storytelling with fresh perspective told through brilliant photographic techniques. Like his previous ventures, this one too has brilliant photography and innovative editing. But both these exemplary techniques fail to save the day because of a predictable script and inconsistent pace. The movie has an incredible cast comprising of famous faces and a relatively fresh face  famous in MMA field heading the cast. Both of this work but unfortunately not to the extent it can salvage the movie.

The initial part of the movie stands out because of the violent stunts and smart editing. The stunts take you by surprise. The stunts are also violent to make you squirm in your seat feeling both rage and pain of the characters. On the flip side, the pace of the stunts are uneven throughout the movie which doesn't thrill the viewer despite the acrobatic skills of the lead protagonist. Also the editing, in which flashbacks interspersed in another flashback in order to gradually reveal the puzzle, is interesting. But this is used sparingly to sustain  interest. 

Eventually, it is a movie about a girl trapped in a man's world. The girl is represented by Gina Carano and the men represented by ensemble cast of Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Mathieu Kassovitz. It does sound like an interesting premise. But this does not translate into pleasant viewing.

If you are an action junkie, then save this for the DVD. Otherwise, skip it.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Movie Review: The Amazing Spiderman

I never understood the reason for rebooting a series within 5 years after the previous one ended. Most of the superhero comics have many villains that a movie based on a comic is never going to run out of antagonists. For a successful movie, it is not the only antagonist that matters but also on how the story is narrated. Peter Parker's life was changed by two events - the spider bite and uncle Ben's violent death. There is not much you can do to change the beginnings.

In the reboot, there is Peter Parker(Andrew Garfield) growing up with Uncle Ben(Martin Sheen) and Aunt May(Sally Field). While wondering up about the sudden disappearance of his parents when he was really young, he grows up to be a shy young man who is good with camera and stays away from trouble. Ironically, staying away also means refraining from expressing his love to Gwen Stacy(Emma Stone). One day, he ventures into OsCorp to meet his dad's colleague Dr Curt Connors(Rhys Ifans). There, he gets bitten by a spider changing his life forever. A new life also means losing Uncle Ben immediately after an outburst and also putting him in confrontational mode with Captain George Stacy(Denis Leary), Gwen's dad. When a new villain emerges in the form of The Lizard, Spiderman is put to test.

Marc Webb, who is at the helm of this reboot, fails to give us anything more than what was offered in the first installment of Tobey Maguire-Sam Raimi edition. Like I mentioned earlier, there is very little to that can be done while narrating the genesis of Spiderman. As he has cast veterans in the supporting roles, Marc is able to sustain our interest intermittently. Apart from this, what stands out in the movie is the high school romance and the stunts. The high school romance brings out the best moments and many funny one-liners between Peter Paker and Gwen Stacy. The stunts stand out because CG has evolved many fold over the years and use of stunt doubles instead of reverting to full blown CG for a swinging Spiderman. Unfortunately, these factors aren't enough to sustain our interests.

The lead pair looks good together. They act well too. But the script is reminiscent of the earlier ones, you drift into boredom too soon to notice either their histrionic capabilities or the onscreen chemistry. The veterans make you sit back and notice them for we haven't seen them in a long while.

Skip this. If you loved Tobey Maguire-Sam Raimi version, don't even look for this on DVD. Instead wait for the sequels. I am pretty sure there will be sequels and I seriously hope they are much better than the first part.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Movie Review: Teri Meri Kahaani

Directed by Kunal Kohli, this movie tells the story of two people falling in love in three different eras. You could say they fall in love in over a period of time. But, then you would be wrong because the eras are separated by at least 100 years and it is difficult for a couple to live that long. So, the lead pair looks the same but have different names and different backgrounds. There is Govind(Shahid Kapoor)-Rukhsar(Priyanka Chopra) in the 1960, Krish-Radha in 2010 and Javed-Aradhana in 1910.

The movie ultimately is watchable due to the glamour-quotient, a few interesting performances and some of the interesting scenarios. At the same time, the movie is also plagued with problems. The movie is an anthology of three stories. When the same lead pair is featured in all short stories, you expect a connection between these three stories. But there is no strong connection. The only explanation offered makes you guffaw. Eventually, this becomes an anthology where the ending of each story is withheld from the viewer until the last few minutes of the movie. Kunal Kohli tries to give different styles to three stories. The 1960 story is narrated in a Chaplinesque style, the 2010 story using flash-cuts and 1910 in a bland style. The good intention is lost in the childish execution. The different eras have been painstakingly recreated. In order to accomplish this, the green screen has been employed for CG. Sadly, the CG work has rendered blurry images of the actors occupying the foreground in many of the scenes.

It is the performances that makes us forget the flaws of the movie. Shahid Kapoor effortlessly transforms himself into the three characters. He tries to differentiate between these characters by employing different looks and body language. Govind and Krish are good while Javed isn't. Ironically, his co-star Priyanka Chopra puts in a rather bland performance as Rukhsar and Radha while her Aradhana is excellent. It is as Aradhana that Priyanka uses her smile and eyes perfectly to her rapidly disintegrating resistance to poetry-quoting womanizer Javed. While the lead pair has excellent chemistry, they end up impressing us in different segments and never in the same segment. Prachi Desai and Neha Sharma stands in their roles in spite of the limited footage. This is because they portray the most interesting characters - strong willed and opinionated.

The rangoli on screen, the music, the jokes and the running time makes this watchable. So if you have nothing else to do in the multipex, this provides a good diversion.

Language: Hindi

Genre: Drama

Rating: **

Movie Review: Safe

A dejected man, who is contemplating suicide, finds himself as a guardian of a young girl escaping from a bunch of hoodlums. The man is Luke Wright(Jason Statham), a ex-cage fighter who had a run-in with the russian mafia. The young girl is Mei(Catherine Chan) from China, handpicked by the chinese mafia because of her unique ability with numbers. This is the premise of this film directed by Boaz Yakin.

Boaz Yakin succeeds in delivering an engaging movie because of three reasons - the lead actor Jason Statham, interesting photography and slick editing. With Jason Statham as the hero, you expect a lot of action. Now that we are familiar with Jason's signature move, how do you make it interesting? That is where the photography and editing plays a major role. With innovative placing of the camera and cutting it quickly to different positions, the action sequences are a pleasure to watch. As for the plot, it is predictable. Still, there are a couple of pleasant surprises that catches you unawares. On a similar line, when three groups are looking for the girl and how Statham's character uses these three groups to save the girl is amusing. Boaz starts the movie from the subway where the two protagonists meet. Then he moves back to a year back showing the parallel lives of the protagonists. This part is slightly slower in pace than the rest of the movie. Luckily when the action starts, we forget this aberration.

If you are Jason Statham fan, this one is for you. If you are action fan, you too can try it. Beware, there is a lot of Chinese and Russian used in the movie where subtitles are the only mode of knowing what the characters are talking about. So, if you are in a country like France where subtitles are always in French, it is not very easy to decipher the meaning from subtitles. In such cases, you have to rely on the facial expressions of the actors.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: ***

Movie Review: Men In Black 3

Don't we all love to travel to the past, correct our mistakes and also see what our close are doing at that point of time? Well, that forms the basis of the latest instalment of Men In Black. In this movie, Agent J (Will Smith) travels to the past to prevent the annihilation of the world by a set of aliens and also rescue his friend/partner Agent K(Tommy Lee Jones) from death. When he reaches the past, he has a lot of things to accomplish in a short time by teaming by with an younger Agent K(Josh Brolin).

Barry Sonnenfeld is also at helm of the movie as the director just like the previous two. I never liked the series for the grotesque aliens and the abundance of slime on-screen. Add lack of an interesting plot to the recipe. This time around, the movie is watchable primarily because the script though predictable takes the viewers from one event to the next without boring them too much. Also, the odd couple, the fast talking Will Smith and nearly expressionless Josh Brolin, keeps the proceedings interesting.

Barring these plus points, there isn't much to write about. So if you are at the movies to kill time and is undecided, you can opt for this one. Otherwise, wait for it on DVD.

Language: English

Genre: Action

Rating: **

Movie Review: The Cold Light of Day

A young man arrives in Spain in order to spend a week of vacation with his family and soon thrown into an unfamiliar world of spies & espionage when his family is held hostage. Henry Cavill acts as the reluctant young man Will Shaw while Bruce Willis acts the Will's father, the primary reason for the predicament faced by Will. The movie is directed by Mabrouk El Mechri.

Mabrouk's movie is laudable for his efforts in portraying a normal man caught in a unfamiliar settings without going over the board. Clearly, Will is not suitable for the world of intrigue. He uses his instinct, common sense and stamina to dodge his persecutors. This is the good point of the movie. On the flip side, there are very few thrills and uninspired photography. The photography neither captures the beautiful setting not enhances the thrills.

Always on the run, Henry Cavill do not have to emote a lot. The veterans, Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver, are wasted. Bruce Willis has a miniscule role as Will's father and Sigourney Weaver has a poorly written role as the colleague of Will's father. Sigourney is choosing predictable roles of late where you know the shade of the character as soon as she appears on the screen.

This is a watchable movie but on the big screen. Wait for the DVD and save it as a distraction between your normal kind of movies.

The movie is released as "Sans Issue" in France.

Language: English

Genre: Thriller

Rating: **