Sunday, July 26, 2015

Movie Review: Ant-man..not that big a deal



When I first heard of a movie titled Ant-man, I hoped it was some sort of metaphorical title and that it wasn’t meant literally. If you’ve seen the trailers by now, you know otherwise. Unfortunately, if you’ve seen the trailers you’ve also seen most of the interesting stuff and pretty much know the story – because beyond that the movie doesn’t offer all that much.

If you must watch Ant-man go with low expectations, to watch a movie that on the face of it doesn’t ask to be taken too seriously and has more than a healthy dose of humor. Those are the best reasons to watch Ant-man. Sure they’ve done a lot of talking trying to establish depth and meaning to its characters and storyline but it all seems superficial and one doesn’t really build connect.Those are not the reasons to watch this one.

On the bright side, the special effects are right up there. They had to be – else it would’ve been one dizzying ride with the camera zooming in every now and then. The action, for the most part, runs at a speed where you are able to follow what’s happening and that’s good because plenty of it actually happens at a scale that would otherwise be too hard to notice. On the downside though, the 3D is practically non-existent and I think that’s a missed opportunity – especially given the context of this particular superhero.

The ant support, as it were, is a good idea but with ants being the main subject, it makes a for a very creepy crawly affair. What this movie desperately misses is those moments of disbelief when you say - No..that didn’t just happen. Unfortunately, that never happens. To make matters worse, the storyline of this movie is predictable to a fault and there is nothing that surprises you..ever.

The joke on its own Avengers is a brave move and comes off really well – adding to the many laugh out loud moments the movie manages. The acting is decent as well, though to be fair, the kind of characters the movie has – it didn’t require really great acts to begin with – and veterans like Michael Douglas can now probably do this stuff in their sleep.

Ant-man then is a predictable bite sized adventure that does all it can despite its weak foundation. While it may not be a great addition to the franchise, in its own right it still gives you a fun ride and plenty of laughs. Go for a fun time but don’t expect to be blown away.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Movie Review: Masaan..burns a little too slow



Much like its funeral pyres which are strewn liberally across this movie, Masaan (which is literally another word for shamshaan) takes a long time to burn through what it intends to portray and by the time it is ashes, you’re sure to have lost interest. There are a few embers here and there, but plot-wise its mostly just smoke. The movie is technically sound so that may explain where some of its awards are coming from, but if you are thinking this is path breaking cinema with a definitive plotline – clearly you’ve been misled

Having seen a slew of such films now, I am beginning to have a grudge of sorts, against this ‘realism for the sake of realism’ genre that is increasingly permeating our silver screen today. The realism part is good, and the right direction, but devoid of a solid plot one wonders what is the intent of such portrayals in the first place. I am just gonna rip off the band-aid in one go – Masaan has no storyline whatsoever unless of course, following the lives of two random people is now a plotline

That really is the curse of this otherwise well made movie. That and the excruciating pace it slows down to extinguishing any spark of interest. The movie has an interesting, even unique, context. There are precisely two points, story wise that can be said to have some impact. However, with no structure to prop them in place, they too become meaningless in the larger scheme of things. Instead, you are forced to sit through scenes, where the director should’ve ideally yelled ‘cut’ 15 minutes ago and sadly this happens over and over again

What you can watch Masaan for is the good cinematography with some great shots of the ghats, the Ganges and the rising and setting sun. The performances are also quite good – The newbies more than do justice especially Vicky Kaushal who puts in a very natural act and the chemistry between him and Shweta Tripathi create some of the most innocent and fine moments in the film. Richa Chadha puts in a good restrained performance but her character lacks critical depth and Sanjay Mishra is particularly impressive as the pandit father.

There is one powerful message this movie has about the stark reality that is life, though I am not sure if the director particularly intended to pass that on, since its never mentioned through the roughly 2 hour presentation.

Masaan had potential to be ground breaking. If it would’ve had a good plot and storyline that burned brightly all through, even at the cost of bringing a touch of the poetic and dreamy, it could well have been worth it. Such as it is, I wouldn’t go far as to say that if you still want to go – its your funeral, but prepare for a pretty dull time in the hall.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Movie Review: Minions..a million disappointments



Ever since a dear friend of mine forced me into watching the beautiful Finding Nemo and introduced me to this beloved genre, I don’t think I’ve had occasion to say that I saw a bad animation movie. Having seen Minions today, sadly I can’t say that any longer.

Despicable Me had offered a glimpse of what the minions could do. Much like the Penguins of Madagascar they became the center of attraction even though they were just a side act. They were smart, funny, goofy, adorable and unpredictable all at the same time and you wished there was more of them. However, that was when they were intelligently written, within a smart plot context and had some meaning in what they portrayed. When you replace the same with a bad sense of humor, lazy writing, unnecessary screen time and just a blatant disregard for the audience, you end up with this ‘despicably bad’ second act of Minions.

These Minions are not remotely funny. They are slapstick, rely on their unintelligible language and obsession with banana to bring the laughs and spin a by the minute even cornier yarn to tell what can’t even be called a story. Its supposed to be a prequel but apart from the start and the end – there’s no hint of any story as such. Seriously, except for the quality of animation itself, everything is to blame here. You cringe, groan inwardly in desperation, plead for it to end and then when all is lost, even shout out loud in frustration. The first 10 minutes and maybe some of the final act is practically the most you’ll laugh in the entire runtime.

It pains me to write such a scathing review for what I thought was one of the smartest character franchises brought forward by animation in recent times. Complete with their own language and countless intelligent memes doing the rounds, Minions should’ve truly been a force to reckon with. Nobody expected a deep, moving and touching story. All you hoped for was intelligent humor, situational comedy – minions doing what they supposedly do best. Instead, these minions (and there are only 3 of them for the most part) are tired, boring and simply unacceptable. If anything, it’s the cultural references to the 60s New York, England and related events that catch your attention.

A truly great villain not unlike Gru himself could’ve really spiced things up – but however great Sandra Bullock is as an actress – Scarlet Overkill is exactly that – overkill. She doesn’t make sense most of the time and her character itself goes all over the place. Even the end-credits don’t provide any respite and there are no laughs to be had – no point sticking around for them

I still think the Minions franchise has potential. Only, the next one needs to be given deep thought, be truly funny and show the Minions in better light – they definitely deserve better

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Movie Review: Terminator Genisys…about time this program got terminated



I am sure I have upset a huge fan following of this popular franchise by making such a statement – but let’s face it, Terminator has had its day in the sun. This is not the time to hit the reset button. Instead, like the T-800 realized it was time to go, in Judgment Day , so too must the franchise now willingly melt down into its own extinction. But – I don’t make them – so we have yet another version of it to sit through

Except, that Genisys isn’t exactly a remake. Somehow the creative teams of all these popular franchises seem to believe, that those who did it earlier, didn’t tell the story well enough or take it in the right direction. So now, we have reboots that tell alternate storylines.

Despite being a simple enough premise, the storyline for the Terminator series has gotten more and more convoluted. In the initial part, this ‘reboot’ gets it somewhat right – paying homage to the first two movies on multiple occasions, owning up to the fact that they’ve made it all too complicated and then just like the unpredictable programming of the terminators themselves, it goes completely off track and introduce new angles that add to the confusion as well as the frustration.

Genisys isn’t sure what it wants to focus on – how the story could’ve been different or the relationship between man and machine or the quality of special effects that make for such engaging action – so it ends up giving a bit to everything and as a result leads you nowhere. The movie starts off on the right note and the action and effects all appear in sync. But one bizarre twist after another and you soon wonder what really you are meant to appreciate.

If it was all mindless action, I guess there are still the masses it would appeal to but with so much dialogue and explanation crammed in, it isolates even that section of its audience. Emily Clarke is a very unconvincing Sarah Connors especially after what we’ve seen in T1 and T2. While she plays the tough act, she looks too dainty and delicate to be convincing, despite her  best attempts. If she had dragons at her command (she plays Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons in Game of Thrones in case you’ve’ been living under a rock) she could still appear menacing but with only her doing the pump action shotgun routine – it doesn’t cut it. Arnold Schwarzenegger, on the other hand seems completely at ease, playing the mechanised machine he is now so accustomed to, especially since he admittedly plays an older version of it.

While Arnold’s character repeatedly claims in the movie that he may be old, but he is not obsolete, I think its about time we took a hard look at this franchise. At the very least it needs new characters, a fresh storyline – this terminator has been thrashed around too many times and has lost its core – physical as well as emotional – its time it was shutdown for good.
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