Movie Review: The Man Who Knew Infinity…celebrates a beautiful mind

The Man Who Knew Infinity is a sincere attempt to immortalize a genius who we, quite frankly, should know so much more about. For that reason alone, I would encourage you to watch this movie. It is a source of immense pride as well as a touch of sadness that such a legend existed in India and yet we know so little of him (or at least me, at any rate).

I would like to say that the movie itself is magical in its own way, celebrating the wonders of that brilliant mind, unfolding a universe with patterns that created a symphony of their own in the most magnified of views and holds you in awe of this beautiful mind that was capable of so much more than us mere mortals could even conceive. That, however, would be stating what this legend deserved and not exactly what the movie itself offers.

One of the chief problems with this movie, is it isn’t clear what it wants to dwell on – the genius of the Indian mathematician, his personal life, his devotion to religion, a unique equation across a strong bond that was beautiful in its own way – so it ends up giving us a smattering of each of them – never really delving deep enough for us to get engaged and enraptured in anything particular. Pacing is the other challenge. While it moves through time fairly quickly, the pacing is uneven and there isn’t a sense of build-up that you would hope for. The near absence of humor doesn’t make things much better.

On the bright side though, some of the writing is exemplary and there are a lot of subtleties here and there. These do not try to explain themselves but being a celebration of the intellect, expect the audience to catch them on their own. The cinematography is good too, with the shots of Cambridge and its interiors being particularly awe-inspiring.

There are some moments of brilliance – despite the complicated subject of advanced mathematics, the movie smartly explains what the protagonist is trying to achieve and why it is so wondrous. The fact that this is a true story finally has the maximum appeal and the engagement is largely driven by wanting to know the fate and achievements of the protagonist.

With a strong protagonist, the Man Who Knew Infinity could truly have scaled larger heights and counted higher, but as things stand, Dev Patel, much as he tries, simply is too ordinary in his portrayal. Perhaps his character (being the protagonist) could also have been written better. Instead, the focus and much of the limelight goes to Hardy, played by Jeremy Irons, with a wonderful performance that actually gets you to feel some connect, albeit for the wrong person. All others are hardly of note as the film revolves majorly around these two. The side arcs are frankly a distraction.

With a better choice than Dev Patel and better plot structure, The Man Who Knew Infinity could’ve truly got the commemoration he deserves. Though its reverence for his feats are obvious, the movie succeeds only in parts. Still it is a credible and honest attempt at telling the life and times of the great genius and for that alone, it is worth a study.

Movie Review: Jungle Book..a classy re-imagining of the classic

Right from the old world Disney title entry that serves as the opening credits for the new age Jungle Book you get the feeling that you are in for something special..and that feeling stays with you long after you’ve left the theaters.

When I first saw the trailers of the new Jungle Book it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my jaw dropped. The creativity and thought process itself was astounding. Sure, they’ve been live adaptations of other classic stories like Cinderella but this was a whole different ball game – it features only animals and one kid!! How do you bring that to life without using any actual animals? However much I explain, it won’t suffice. But one look at this movie and you’ll realize the exciting vision of Jon Favreau which quite simply is brought to glorious life.

None of this is real. Its all CGI. Much as you repeat this to yourself, equally you are bound to shake your head in disbelief. Surely this tree, that sunlight, that elephant, Bagheera, Baloo – some of this stuff has to be real. That’s how true to life this movie is and hats off to the director for making this one the way he has.

One of the main reasons this Jungle book is the astounding success it is, apart from its visuals is its frame perfect voice acting – especially Bill Murray as Baloo (who puts energy and life into the shots) and Ben Kingsley as the wise Bagheera. Lupita’s Raksha evokes quite the emotion and Idris Elba’s Sharekhan brings out dread. While a lot of people (reviewers) have picked a bone with Scarlett Johansson’s Kaa, I thought she did a pretty good job for the rather short role she had. Instead, I was more disappointed by Christopher Walken’s King Louie, but that was more to do with his appearance, the song and dance routine and his character, rather than his performance. Neel Sethi puts in a credible performance and his innocent, vulnerable Mowgli is a joy to watch.

If I was to crib (and I am really keen not to so I’ll keep it short) the 3D is not all that much there and after the crowning success of Life of Pi, one feels that was a missed opportunity. Still the visuals are simply gorgeous and while you will come out of the jungle in 2 hours, it’ll stay with you till long after

Despite being a children’s classic, am not sure if this one is for kids though. Some characters can look quite sinister and the perfect background score adds to the dread. Over and above that the atmospheric visuals can paint a pretty scary landscape for a kid.

There is a surprising amount of sub-text and nuance in the storyline with many social causes and lessons being implied.Its not all like the children’s classic and there are fair departures on how the story proceeds. Its still all very predictable of course, but it takes a different turn from the many lighter moments of the original cartoon.

Whether you’ve seen and loved the original Jungle Book or not, this is one Jungle you have to visit. So alluring is its ‘natural’ beauty and charming are its 'occupants' that you would be hypnotized in its spell and tempted to join the pack yourself. Jungle Book just became timeless in a new way, all over again.

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 3..almost delivers a skadoosh

While Kung Fu Panda will always get points for originality, it is Kung Fu Panda 2 that really raised the stakes for this franchise. The quality of it all – moving to the 3D arena, picking up where the story left off, giving such a natural progression to the story line and a formidable villain with superb animation – it gave us hope and belief, that this series would not aim low to just be a money spinner but instead be one of those rare gems that takes time, effort and polish to make it look just right. Resultantly, expectations were high from Kung Fu Panda 3..will it do the impossible and go one better yet again?…

I would have liked nothing better than to say that, in its own way, it does but that would not be stating the whole truth. For a large part of its runtime, it does exactly that but just as it begins to fill you with hope, the movie loses its natural flow and abruptly cuts to a less than thrilling and rather rushed climax. This is really a pity because the movie does so many things right, one wonders what went so wrong for it to make the finale the way it did. It almost felt like that there was another, more measured storyline planned, but it couldn’t be executed due to some constraints and they had to end up going with this one. That’s how out of place the climax feels.

Kung Fu Panda 3 has a beautiful soul. The storyline progresses to its next natural step from the last installment as well. The Furious Five are in great form and even though, Kai is nowhere close to Shen the Peacock, he does just about enough to keep you interested. The animation quality is stellar and yet again the franchise finds new ways of painting the same canvas in creative ways – some as flashbacks to familiar times, others to tell a new unfamiliar history. The action is fast and engaging. The voice acting is top notch as well and the entire cast, led from the front, by Jack Black as Po is in top form.

The jokes, even though some are repeats, never get old and there is plenty that will have you chuckling every now and then. There are some good lessons as well, but they either seem rushed and forced or too subtle to leave an impact. The coming of age of Po that was the highlight of its sequel, doesn’t seem nearly as convincing in his third outing even though the attempt is made again.

But for its climax, the third installment virtually delivers a skadoosh. There is no denying, despite the disappointment of the climax, this is a trilogy that has delivered at a high bar all throughout and Po and this franchise will go down in history, truly as the dragon warrior they always deserved to be. On the bright side, though, I have heard some talk of this saga originally having 6 chapters and not just 3 so there may be hope after all. For now, though, it brings closure and if you’ve loved part 1 and 2, there’s no reason you should miss this third and seemingly, final installment