biznizzman Reviews

Baba (2002)

Baba rating starts..3...2...1....0...-1.....-2.............-3

[2/10 · 8 July 2006]

This is without doubt Rajnikanth's worst movies ever. The first part is held in place with solid comedy from Goundamani but it progressively gets worse and worse and completely illogical. Our hero also takes a dig at Saints with the same name (Baba) through a corny and utterly lame one-liner. The first half has Rajni uttering his usual array of oneliners and style and in the second half, becomes a quasi saint after a beggar takes him through a interdimensional portal to the Himalayas where Babaji (not the famous Saints he took a dig at earlier) gives him special powers for no apparent reason (other than karma). This is really starting to get interesting now isn't it?

The rest of the movie is about him wasting his magic boons and powers and fighting off politicians and related black magic. The usual predictable crap with hilarious implementation. Oh and the black magic never worked on our hero because he just happened to have a Param Vir...er....Shakti Chakra with him. The bad guys and the usual politician villains are clichéd, overworked and in the end, completely insignificant to the plot which itself doesn't go anywhere.

But despite all the flaws, it was fun to kill time with and yell Baba related one-liners during public events. Its also fun to watch others curse about this movie. AR Rehman is said to have composed the tracks for his movie through the cell phone. Thats how important he considered it.

Rajni is very popular in Japan and he has included two characters (one of them is called Keiko...why not Samsung?) of Japanese origin in this movie just for the sake of it. But the way they are portrayed, dressed and treated is absolutely pathetic. The Japanese may stop watching Rajni movies after seeing that. This movie was probably promotional material for Rajni entering politics but the results of the movie itself would have killed off any of his political dreams.

Fun if you turn your brain off though.

Ek Chhotisi Love Story (2002)

Great potential blown off

[2/10 · 8 July 2006]

This underlying plot and story had great potential and it was really curious to see how the director would handle such a complicated situation and what kind of psychology would be involved or if the boy really gets the girl? Unfortunately nothing is done and none of the emotional pain or complications are ever explored. The boys is portrayed as nothing more than a voyeur who spies on the woman. His intents seem more sexual than anything else. The woman doesn't handle the kid in a rather expected complicated fashion but eventually ends up taking him in, overacting all the way. Yeah right. The media made a lot of noise about this movie's censorship but it doesn't have any real explicit sexual content. In the end, it seems that someone got a good idea but did'nt know how to proceed.

Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

Not Oscar material

[7/10 · 8 July 2006]

Not that the Oscars themselves are always right or always pick the best films but this movie just isn't that good. Sure cricket may be an obsession in India but that does'nt mean that a bunch of villagers can become professional cricketers overnight. That is the biggest flaw in this movie. And how the hell can they get trained in cricket by an englishwoman? How is it that the hero can become such a great and consistent batsman in such a short period? It just isn't realistic and believable enough despite the great production values. It seems that none of the characters had a shred of self respect, the way they portrayed themselves. However, there are plenty of other plus points to make this movie highly watchable for a non Indian. The British cast are excellent in this movie.

India has produced plenty of movies actually capable of winning the Oscars but this is just not one of them. Go see stuff like "Black" instead.

Mudhalvan (1999)

Brilliant

[10/10 · 8 July 2006]

One of the earlier Shankar thrillers and also one of his better ones. This movie is under-rated on IMDb. The popularity of this movie is reflected by the fact that it forms the basis for Shankar's latest movie, Anniyan, which isn't nearly as good as Mudhalvan. Not only is the movie thought provoking but also sheer fun to experience. Thats how all movies should be and thats what makes Shankar so special. Even though Raghuveran is a familiar face, he plays his role as the villain very convincingly. Manisha was however, pretty pointless and added just for the sake of having a romantic angle in the film. Arjun is the only actor whom Shankar has cast two times and this is without doubt, his best movie and performance ever besides gentleman. Each of Shankar's movies usually has a unique hero or first timer.

Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)

Stupid fun

[4/10 · 8 July 2006]

Will someone kindly explain to me and others about how DMX, who plays a thief and hitech burglar in this movie, can happily walk in and out of jail under police protection? And who included that utterly lame "faith" bit? This movies does have some entertaining moments like Tommy hitting on the security guard. That scene was hilarious. It was also interesting to see improvisations being made during the burglary. Jet Li tries too hard to throw a punch, contradicting a lot of Kungfu impressions which make soft blows give a hard punch. I guess physical fitness really does matter afterall. Maybe he needs to learn a bit of Wing Chun instead of his traditional style. This movie is polished in bits and pieces but the overall impression is nothing great. Just turn off brain and enjoy.

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

IMDb Bottom 100 : #1

[1/10 · 8 July 2006]

Okay the real rank may not reflect on the actual IMDb database but this is without doubt one of the worst and most unpopular movies ever produced. Paul Anderson takes a royal dump on the faces of all fans of both the Alien and Predator franchises. Although one cannot say that everybody's a fan of the franchise, one simply cannot deny that Alien,Aliens and Predator were some of the best movies ever made and also commercially successful. Now how would it be if Pokemon had an episode with Aliens and Predators? Probably better than this movie.

How would it feel if your company once promised you a new computer, you waited for 20 years and finally got a 486DX266? The situation is similar. People forced themselves to think that AvP may possibly end up being a good movie despite being written and directed by a complete retard who could'nt direct if the existence of humanity depended on it. When they actually forced themselves to see the movie, if not out of curiosity, but out of sheer loyalty to the franchises only to get a feeling of being urinated on, they did'nt know what to say.

So how bad could it be you ask? Far far worse than anyone or you could possibly imagine. A bunch of F grade actors set off to Antartica after a technically fact and logic devoid discovery of an ancient pyramid under a whaling station in the Antartic. The first reference to the Predator is one of the F-grade actors referring to the full moon as the hunters moon - Ooooooooooooh scary! As if you did'nt know what happens eventually? They go into the Pyramid and get trapped.

Then the Preds come, the Aliens hatch, chestburst in 5 minutes, kill preds and humans, forcing one Pred to have a romantic scene with the lead idiot actress, blowing up all aliens, summoning the CGI Alien queen, throwing the Queen into the water and ending 1.5 hrs of the worst movie ever made. There. Now you don't have to see this movie and I've saved you. If the plot was'nt bad enough, the Aliens and Predators act like total loser, pathetic lowlife stray dogs which could'nt defend themselves for nuts.

I suggest that one read all the negative reviews on this site about AvP, have a good laugh and never ever see this abomination of a movie made by the world's crappiet and most untalented director. They should get quentin Tarantino to do a new Alien or Pred movie and undo the damage done, if thats even possible.