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Abhishek_R
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The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Quite an ending..!!!
Careful as I have been over the past few days to avoid all contact with outside world, should someone/thing reveal plot points in the movie and spoil the experience, I still ended up looking at a few news articles that mentioned that "critics" found the movie as an "epic letdown". Well, I've now seen the movie and I just don't see what those guys are talking about. The movie's awesome, more so when you watch it in IMAX. The story, locales, the special effects, background score, dialogues, acting - everything comes together perfectly and the almost-3-hours go past in a whiz. We get to see more of Bruce Wayne than Batman (though not as much as in "Batman Begins") and Christian Bale does give a nice performance. Same goes for the others too (though as charming as Anne Hathaway appeared in all her scenes, I'd have preferred seeing the gorgeous self of Selina Kyle in non-black-dresses too).
One sore point was Bane's voice. The garbled-speech pattern in his "voice" was little unsettling and at times the background score would drown his dialogues out. Just like Batman's voice in "The Dark Knight", this was disappointing. The dialogues, at certain times, would appear a little contrived and not "fit" the scene. In all honesty, the movie wasn't as good as TDK, but it was close. And a part of the reason behind it is that in TDKR, the villain is not as enigmatic as The Joker. Tom Hardy does give a good performance as Bane, but there is only so much you can act with just your eyes and half your face in a mask.
Many have felt that the ending could've been better. I, on the contrary, felt that the ending was the most appropriate end that the trilogy could've had. All said and done, there is no doubt that the movie is right up there with the rest of Chris Nolan's movies and he continues to dazzle the viewers with his brilliance.
Enthiran (2010)
Not your typical Rajini Movie
From the very first scene of the movie, director Shankar makes it clear that this movie is not going to be the usual Rajini movie that his fans have come to expect and sets the expectation that it will be the director's movie. Fans expecting "Punch Dialogues" and dashing entry of their "thalaivar" are going to be disappointed. Rajini looks good, with all the trim suits, nice wigs, cool shades and flashy beard. And I'm not going to get tired of saying this - Aishwarya looks drop-dead gorgeous. In some frames, she's looks mesmerizing, the effects amplified by the costumes, locations and lighting; so much so that one doesn't even realize that Rajini's there too - and that's saying something.
On performances, not surprisingly, Rajini plays the role of Dr. Vaseegaran with ease. It is in the role of the android that he has a blast. And one really gets to see few really well conceptualized and enacted scenes involving the robot. The scene at the hospital where Chitti is kissed by Sana and then begins to feel differently towards her is one scene that stands out. Aishwarya as Sana does well. And she looks stunning.
There are quite a few aspects about the movie that do irk though. The overall length of the movie. Absence of comedy for most parts (Santhanam and Karunas have been wasted). Danny has been wasted in a thankless role. Seeing that the lip-synch was not good either and there wasn't really much scope to perform for the Prof. Bhora's character, I do not understand the reason they went for Danny. With a southern actor, at least the dialogues could have been delivered more convincingly. A.R. Rahman's music is certainly not his best and most songs seem to have similar techno music. The BGM doesn't impress either. And it doesn't help that few of the songs were shot lazily. The first song and the Kilimanjaro song (which is probably the only hummable song in the movie) were shot at breathtaking location (yes, singular, just one location). You see the lead stars running around the same location throughout the length of the songs, with just the costumes changing. Coming from someone who made one song across the seven wonders of the world in 'Jeans', this was a letdown. Aishwarya has been given some ridiculous costumes in the Kilimanjaro song, but manages to look ravishing in every song.
It can be safely said that this movie has gone few notches more than any other Indian movie ever has in the technical department. The makers have made good use of the much-hyped budget of the movie. I'd go as far to say that the effects were better than what I saw in a few Hollywood movies, which are typically made with thrice the budget of Enthiran. The greatest plus for the movie is definitely the special effects. And then there is the lovely Aishwarya Rai.
It is clear that Shankar wanted the emotional turmoil within the Robot to be the driving force of this movie. But somehow, that fails to transpire on the screen, despite the best effort from the director and the actor Rajini. What you get finally is roller-coaster ride of excellent special effects. Coming to think of it, why would the makers want Rajini for this movie anyway. Rajini's major strength is his demi-god status and his fan-base. It goes without saying that Rajini is talented too and is not all about style, and he has proved it time and again. However, this movie neither plays to his fans (something that K.S. Ravikumar's 'Padaiyappa' did), nor does it have the scope for a power-packed performance from Rajini (something that we had seen in Mani Ratnam's 'Thalapathi'). So, one really thinks if Rajini was needed in this movie after all and whether this would have been equally engaging (to whatever level it is) if someone else had played the role that Rajini did.
In all, this is not your typical Rajini movie. You can enjoy it if you're not the front-row Rajini fan. And watch it for the beautiful Aishwarya Rai.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
The most over-rated movie of 2008
Over the past few months, I've been hearing a lot of praises for this movie. And the Oscar achievement added more to that. Congratulations to everyone associated with the movie. But I seriously feel its 'much ado about nothing'.
I agree that the concept of the movie - the basic plot - is a fantastic one. But all said and done, the movie still doesn't work (at least for me it didn't). Its the screenplay that has been a let-down.
I haven't read the actual book. But the movie-plot is full of holes. The major one is the language. I feel the makers were forced to use English as a medium of dialogue, obviously because this was a Hollywood movie. The so-called 'Slumdog' Mumbai kids talking in English is something I cannot digest. It was quite good at the beginning when the kids conversed in a dialect of Hindi which was very similar to the actual one used in slums of Mumbai (including the swear words). But then we find the teenage Jamal, Salim and Latika conversing in fluent English. That's simply unrealistic, especially after what they had gone through in their lives. The villain Mamman too switches over to English while talking to the teenage Jamal and Salim, while he was talking to them in Hindi a few years ago.
The way in which the events in Jamal's life were connected to the answers to the questions, failed to impress. Most reeked of poor research. Almost all of them were unrealistic and unbelievable. Trust me, I can guarantee this, no boy from slums would call a revolver a 'Colt'. And how does a blind kid looking for alms know about Benjamin Franklin? The communal riots sequence could have been good connection, but how does a boy disguised like lord Rama turn up in an area of total chaos, and is just standing there absolutely relaxed.
At the end, watching Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto dance in the railway station to the tune of Jai-Ho made me roll-over laughing. It was hilarious. The dance moves seems totally disconnected to the lyrics of the song. And Dev Patel's two left feet were not much help either. In fact, it would have been better if there was no dance at all. But hey, after all, its a Bollywood movie, and every western director who wishes to direct an Indian movie always wants to direct a song-and-dance sequence. But this one here has beat many Hindi movies in terms of the ridiculousness of a song.
About the performances, the kids did an absolutely marvellous job. Anil Kapoor, Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto did a nice job too. Irfan Khan has been wasted in a forgettable role. AR Rehman rocks as usual, but Jai-ho is certainly not his best.
Overall, I think this movie was a loose interpretation of the Mumbai slums, the people there and their lives. Its a confused movie, which just stops somewhere in middle of making a feel-good movie suited to the sensibilities of the western audience, and going for a total 'indianization' of a Hollywood movie. It should have rather sided one end.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Delta...Cain...Charlie...Carlos.. Why did they do this...
'The Bourne Identity' happens to be my favourite spy novel. Robert Ludlum takes us on an exhilarating ride through a plot full of unexpected twists. I chose not to watch this movie when it was released, primarily because I hadn't read all the Bourne novels. I finally saw this movie, six years after it was released, and I was surprised and shocked, and not pleasantly may I add.
Though its understandable that the entire novel can't be brought to life on-screen, comparisons to the novel are inevitable. The movie adaptation took away an entire character, one whose importance in the plot was next only to Bourne. And this deprived the movie of some of the best sequences, most importantly the titanic climax of the novel.
I found the movie to be very ordinary. Though the action scenes have been very well done, the suspense just wasn't there. Clive Owen has been wasted in a forgettable role. Can't say that Matt Damon's portrayal of Jason Bourne was what I had imagined, but he does an earnest job nevertheless.
Overall, I don't see the fans of the novel liking this movie.
Ajooba (1990)
One word - Embarrassing
If there's one word I can associate to this movie, its 'embarrassment'. It must be embarrassing to everyone associated with the movie, to actually watch it in a theatre. Everything - the script, screenplay, dialogues, song lyrics, direction - shoddy, lousy.
Saw this movie when I was a kid. Liked it then, mainly because it was a fantasy, a superhero-movie. Its a not-so-explored genre in Hindi cinema. The attempt deserves credit, but that's all there is to it. Sashi Kapoor seems to have been in a great hurry in making the movie. Can't understand the reason behind casting foreigners as Hindi-speaking characters, who can't even get the sync right (nothing to say about the dubbing). The screenplay is terrible. The editing even more. If one follows the dialogues closely, one can detect grammatically-wrong sentences (which completely alter the intended meaning). Nothing special about the music.
The biggest embarrassment must be for the Censor board. There are a couple of nip-slip scenes in the movie, one of which is absolutely clear (so much so that I can't even think of a metaphor). The director missed them. The editing team missed it. And the censor board missed it too. So much for the no-indecent-exposure-on screen motto. The officials probably fell asleep while watching the movie.
Can't think of why Amitabh went with the role. It might be because he was a good friend of the Kapoors. But the role hardly has anything for him. With wonderful roles in Hum and Agneepath behind him, he couldn't have followed it up with a worse one. There are a couple of heroic scenes, really worthy ones. But otherwise, they're embarrassingly unbelievable (arrow-catching for instance.. it probably could've been better with CGI, but it was '91..).
Dimple and Sonam do not exactly set the screen on fire. Shammi Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor give an inspired performance, but their scope is limited. Amrish Puri is his usual self in the role of a fairy-tale villain (letting out the villainous laugh every now and then).
On the whole, an interesting concept. Could have been a lot more better.
Sivaji (2007)
Sivaji
Sivaji cannot be labelled as an out and out Rajini movie. It does have the characteristic stamp of Shankar, but the talented director seems to have given in to the typical requirements of a Rajini movie, unbelievable stunt sequences and 'punch dialogues', though the latter is kept at a bare minimum, with the superstar mouthing the 'adhuruthu illai' line just a few times.
Rajini's entry this time isn't foot-tapping, which was the case in most Rajini movies in the past decade, except Chandramukhi - which had a 'foot-kicking' entry. This time around its a very toned-down entry for Rajini, behind bars. The movie then goes off to the past, and and for the rest of the first half, we get to view Rajini with a wig that resembles the hair-style he sported during the 70's. The first half is full of comedies. To spice it up, there are song sequences with the scantily-clad heroine. Add to this a cleverly shot action sequence with musical instruments and CGI-delivered fair Rajini, and you have a fun-packed first half, though it does feel a bit dragging. It has its moments of seriousness, with the scene just before the interval setting tone for an action-packed second half.
The second half begins with a bang. Rajini's back to the usual hair style, and from there on, its Rajini all the way. How he gets the bad guys to part away from their 'black-money' and how he uses it to fulfill his dreams forms the rest of the story. The final part has him giving the villain his due, sporting his third hair-style of the movie, only this time there's no hair.
The movie is well directed. The song sequences feature exquisite sets, beautiful foreign locales and lavish costumes. What struck me though was the way the heroines were dressed in the song sequences. Be it Nayanthara and Shreya, for every song, their costumes are bent on exposing their assets, which are either the thunder thighs or the gym-toned midriffs or both (Nayanthara, who was criticized for putting on weight in her previous movies, gets a chance to 'prove it to the critics' as to how good a shape she is in). Though none of the songs sequences were vulgar, I thought it was a little out-of-place in a Shankar movie. The choreography for the songs is average, nothing much to say about it. A R Rehmaan's music actually disappoints. By the standards that his past compositions have set, in my opinion the ones in Sivaji are pretty average.
Rajini looks healthier, though a paunch is visible in certain scenes. Shreya looks stunning. Her eyes are very expressive and she makes good use of them. On the acting front, she scores. Rajini is his usual self.
The stunt sequences are well done too, especially the Matrix-styled one towards the end. But seeing every sequence delivering a little more of the unbelievable stunts than the previous one, one tends to get a bit bored. Dialogues are cleverly written with references to previous Rajini movies, notably Chandramukhi, at many points during the movie. Understandably, Rajini, Shreya, the villain Suman and Vivek have the bulk of the screen-time. Livingston, Saloman Papaiyya, Raghuvaran appear in cameos. Mayilsamy, Chinni Jayanth and Dhamu appear in delightful guest-appearances.
The movie scores on comedy aspect, most of which is attributed to Vivek, though Rajini complements him equally well. The dubbing part suffers a little with the lip-movements of both Suman and Shreya not in-sync with the lines at times. Should have put more effort on that. Kudos to Shankar for having delivered a good movie, which is quite significant considering the pressure that comes with making a Rajini movie, thanks to the expectations of the fans.
Overall, the movie is pretty good, and for hardcore Rajini fans, its a block-buster.