Sunday, March 12, 2017

Movie Review: Badrinath ki Dulhania…loses its direction at the altar



Story and direction are crucial elements of a film – lead them astray and you end up with a bewildered, irritated and sometimes enraged audience. That’s the best way to describe what happens with this second outing of Dulhania after the underwhelming spoof on DDLJ that was Humpty Sharma.

Till about the the interval stage – the movie is quite a breeze. Some parts even shine, particularly the hilarious exchange between the main duo on a bus. Scenes like that remind you of the hilarity that a movie like Raanjhanaa offered in its first half – though the laughs were more consistent in that one. However, a key difference is that while Raanjhanaa chose a very brave direction to its plotline and maintained its grip on the audience, Badrinath goes completely awry.

The plot direction just doesn’t make any sense, especially when you consider there are two heart patients in the mix and the character who does the act is shown to be level headed and mature. While there a slew of issues that the movie attempts to tackle, or at least portray, it doesn’t really go beyond the stereotype and the rhetoric. Frankfinn Institute possibly gets its worst advertisement as a training academy as does the job of an air hostess but I get ahead of myself.

If there’s any reason that keeps you still interested, it’s the main pair that give it their best – particularly Varun Dhawan who even overshadows Alia in a couple of scenes. He overdoes it a tad too much with the comedy but his anguish is quite visible in the sadder moments. In the circumstances, the climax is particularly well done after all the dragging and waiting for the inevitable that is the second half of this movie.

The songs are few and due to the already slow narrative, still a challenge to sit through. The writing is good in parts – some exchanges will make you guffaw while others make you cringe – nothing to write home about.

Humpty Sharma borrowed heavily from DDLJ and hence had a coherent plotline. While Badrinath attempts to tell a good new story and also address a serious topic it completely loses the plot at the interval stage and doesn’t manage to recover from it at all.


As to the review title? Well that’s a bit of a paradox – you’ll have to see the movie to fully get it and I wouldn’t recommend an outing for this one.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Movie Review: Logan..sinks its claws into Wolverine



Its rare that I am particularly proud of the review title that I manage to come up with – this is one of those instances. Why? Because while the title literally indicates that Logan is those one in ten movies that actually gets to the soul of Wolverine, his character and his place amongst the X-men, there is also a figurative connotation. Logan is not about showing Wolverine in his superhero avatar that we are all too familiar with. No, this Logan is more about the human who hides the claws, his flaws and how he contemplates life with his gift (his curse) and all that has happened to him because of it.

At the outset, I am not going to rave about the movie and compare it to the iconic Dark Knight and other such stuff. Logan is the swan song that Wolverine deserved, beyond doubt. But let’s not get carried away here. Over its 2 hours runtime there are a fair number of occasions that the narrative slows to a near halt.

From its outset, Logan gives the impression of a movie where the director knows what he is doing. He is in no hurry to impress you. The scenes build slowly and palpably. Some stuff gets explained, most of it is not. However, its with its action that the movie and grasp of the soul of its protagonist that the movie truly shines. While there aren’t explosive set pieces – in fact, most of it is about close quarters combat, the quality of action is really good, especially the way it is directed.

One thing this movie misses, unlike its other ilk in the Marvel universe – is generous doses of humor. While there is a bit of wry humor here and there – the laughs are pretty few and far between here. This one focuses on being gritty and dark instead. In  terms of the acting, I am sure Hugh Jackman himself would feel that he is half wolverine at this point. To do a ‘Logan’ at this point, would’ve been a challenge, but if it was – it doesn’t show. Hugh Jackman is in great form as is our older and much depleted Charles Xavier that Patrick Stewart faithfully reprises.


While Logan does a lot for Wolverine, there was scope to explain and do a lot more. While by no means a bad watch, it misses greatness by just that bit. How much you’ll enjoy Logan is driven largely by how well you understand him – his anguish at what has happened to his world and in part, also if you’ve been dismayed at how banal some of the earlier attempts were to show him in the right light. If you feel Logan’s pain, this one will sink its claws quite deeply into you. If you are new to the franchise itself however, this being Logan’s last bow, it may not quite resonate with you as much.
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