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: ***