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: **