Change Your Image
chandan0026
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Chennai Express (2013)
A super Entertainer with not so Super Climax for me, but a must watch.
This time very, more than very early entry to the City Center for the last show. But guess what? We have the only option to watch it if we sit very near to the engine of "Chennai Express"; I mean very first row of the screen3.All the 8 shows were houseful for the day. Why not? It's quite obviously; the unique combo of R Shetty and King Khan is enough to make one curious about their product and when you get Deepika Padukone as bonus.
The journey on-screen begins with Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan back with one of his favorite screen names, good thing is that this time he aged 40) on way from Mumbai to join his friends in Goa for a vacation. But at his foster grandmother's behest, he reluctantly agrees to go to Rameshwaram to immerse the ashes of his dead grandfather. He boards Chennai Express but all his plans are foiled by a Tamilian beauty in distress – the runaway Meena – daughter of Komban village's don Dugeshwara – who runs into Rahul accidentally while being chased by four of her brothers. Thing is better in the screen when she enters like SRK's all time blockbuster DDLJ and "Rahul Nam to suna hi hoga" style the journey begins. Now as the story unfolds, it is revealed that Meena's father wants her to get married against her wishes, and Rahul is supposed to be the girl's knight in shining armor. The rest of the story is a riot of hilarious, romantic and action sequences with some interesting drama peppered and pickled in.
The Tamilian don and his henchmen (with hacking knives in hand) are shown in their full glory; as are the exotic locations down South. Seriously, cinematographer Dudley has an eye for capturing the Southern landscape in its abundance, and the breathtaking locations that one would see in 'Chennai Express' are going to make nature lovers fall in love with the lower reaches of the Indian subcontinent.
Crowd puller Shah Rukh Khan, in his act throughout the film, is zany, charming and at times flinching. On the other side, Deepika's character exudes shades of rebellion, warmth and commitment. Her Hindi with Tamil accents sounds easy on the ears, convincing and humor inducing unlike I felt unpleasant in trailer. Together the pair's camaraderie on the celluloid results in funny situations and makes their chemistry more compelling.
The music of the film by composer duo Vishal-Shekhar boasts of a couple of good tracks like 'Titli' and '1 2 3 4 Get On The Dance Floor' SRK with Priyamani will force you to dance. The backgrounds number 'Chennai Express' also ups the excitement level. But songs like 'Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari' could have been skipped. But anyway may be they are having a serenity idea of harmonizing North and South of India with song.
One of the downsides of 'Chennai Express' is its predictability. As the story moves forward, the guessing game becomes easier, thereby revealing the climax of the movie. Second, like any of the previous Rohit Shetty's films, this one too is nothing really out-of-the box or one that can qualify for awards. It is Shah Rukh Khan's act that makes the film substantial and keeps one hooked.
But in no time you feel bore on the trip in "Chennai Express". Overall, a super Entertainer with not so Super Climax for me, but a must watch.
The Wolverine (2013)
More or less based on the series, but almost completely changed including only good climax.
One of the hardest things about reviewing movies is being objective, especially if one is familiar with and fond of original source material. For example, I love the four-issue "Wolverine" comic book mini-series written by Chris Claremont, drawn by Frank Miller and published in 1982. This is one of my all-time favorite comics. James Mangold's new movie The Wolverine is more or less based on this series, but almost completely changed. Claremont doesn't even get a "story by" credit.
Now my job is to decide whether The Wolverine is a good movie despite those changes, or even perhaps because of them. Considering the changes on their own, they start to sound pretty stupid, designed more for summer blockbuster purposes than to serve the story.
First up is the inclusion of a supervillain, Viper (played by a slinky blonde Russian with a pert nose, Svetlana Khodchenkova). What she's actually doing in the story, who she's working for and what her agenda is, are all up for interpretation. Next we have a giant robot that fights Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) during the big climax, plus a "surprise" reveal when we find out who is inside it.
Then there's a long sequence wherein Wolverine (also known as Logan) loses his super-healing ability and suffers mortal wounds, just like the rest of us. This idea was also attempted in Superman II, perhaps as a way to get the audience to "identify" with the superhero a bit more, but it really doesn't work. Plus the filmmakers seem to have forgotten that it's this healing ability that allows Wolverine to unsheathe his claws, which tear through his skin each time.
Aside from these blunders, the rest of the characters just don't seem the same. In the original comic, Wolverine has already met and fallen in love with Mariko (Tao Okamoto) and goes to Japan to rescue her from an arranged marriage, but must navigate a complex web of honor and duty in his dealings with Mariko's father Shinghen.
Now there's a whole plot about Wolverine going to Japan to meet up with Mariko's grandfather, whom he saved during the Nagasaki bombing. He doesn't even meet Mariko until he gets there. The grandfather's big plan is to steal Wolverine's healing power. When assassins try to kill Mariko during the old man's funeral (for no apparent reason), Wolvie rescues her and they go on the run together while falling in love.
In the comic, a feisty assassin called Yukio falls for Wolverine, but betrays him. She's here, too, but pretty much as window dressing (played by Rila Fukushima). She more or less tags along with him now and fights the secondary bad guys. Also, Wolverine occasionally suffers from nightmares where he speaks to Jean Grey (Famke Janssen).
The movie's opening follows the comic book's -- Wolverine stalking an injured bear -- but it, too is changed just a bit to fit Wolverine's "crisis-of-conscience." (He's not going to be violent anymore.) So whereas the comic book's opening was dramatic and suspenseful, here it becomes more of a coincidence.
Mangold has become a pretty good craftsman, especially when it comes to low-stakes genre films. He was at his best on 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and both Identity (2003) and Knight and Day (2010) had their good points. However, on The Wolverine, he appears checked out. The action sequences feel obligatory (and shaky) and the needless 3D effects don't help much. It definitely starts to slog after about an hour.
Jackman is probably the movie's high point. He was always a great casting choice for Wolverine, and he makes an appealingly tormented, tough character. It's just that he has no one remotely interesting to play off of, and a fairly uninteresting plot to wade through.
Even so, fans will be relieved that The Wolverine is better than both X- Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), even if it's not as good as the other three films in this series (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: First Class). Not exactly glowing praise, but at least I can always go back and re-read the comic book
Pacific Rim (2013)
2 hours of full entertainment of your life
Now for Pacific Rim. Yet again a late entry to the Agartala Rupasi Cinema Hall for us and maybe we missed the first entry of Giant alien like monster called "Kaiju". These aliens are into 600-foot monsters instead of mile-wide flying saucers, so they begin pumping huge beasties through the dimensional rift. Killing these monsters with conventional weapons takes days and leaves ruined cities strewn across the Pacific coast, so the only reasonable course of action is to build giant nuclear-powered robots called "Jaeger" that can take them on in mixed-martial-arts battles or you can say Mortal Kombat. And good thing is that No one person can pilot these giant robots - it takes two carefully matched people linked together in a neural interface called The Drift, they can mind-meld with their giant robots and fight with these monsters. For one of this Drift in a scene, feel very near to one of my favorite movie Inception and that's clinched my heart to stay in the hall. And better thing is that these robots are much more advance than the Iron Man or any other counterpart. I feel it's never been done this well before, and probably never will be again. The fights are clever and creative, because the giant monsters adapt to the tactics of the robots, which in turn receive weapons upgrades and redesigns. You never know what's going to happen next, and all of the battle scenes are eye-popping. Though they tries a bit research part, but unable to shift the magnetism of Jaeger or Kaiju.
Acting wise, there is nothing to say more, because there is not much space left to show the actor skills. It's more about fighting and fighting. But few mixed tiny romance and emotion will fulfill your requirement too. Charlie Hunnam and Charlie Day are as good as their character in the film. Love the way Rinko Kikuchi as beautiful and mysterious Mako Mori slowly pronounces the English in a precocious little-girl voice on each occasion she converses and her emotion with Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba). And find irresistible when Guillermo Del Toro calls his old Hell Boy star Ron Perlman for a cameo with his golden shoe.
But again some flaws are there. Interpretation in the mind of Kaiju looks very messy, less than real. While we have no choice but to accept the notion that we'll have the ability to construct 250-foot-tall robots just a few years from now—robots that can somehow be transported by eight tiny helicopters—it is never explained why chemical or biological agents, for example, were never deployed. And even question remain why they did not try any missile for these monster without disturbing the city life when they well aware their expected return. If we did not miss, there should be an explanation of original ingress of Kaiju.
But overall, a lot of middle-aged guys like me are going to feel 15 years younger while watching it, and that's not bad value for your expensive theater ticket. You will experience the 2 hours of full entertainment of your life. A must watch if you are near to a Inox or any other equivalent where you will be blessed with the movie on the screen and 3D glass on your eyes.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)
Bhag Milkha Bhag-3 hrs package of lesser biopic, more commercial and extra ordinary Farhan
Last week two films watched with a very late decision, first one Pacific Rim and second one Bhag Milkha Bhag. Love the former more than BMB. Anyways, starting with BMB-Biopic of Legendary Sprinter Padma Shri Milkha Singh.
In first impression, it looks like more commercial than a biopic for me and that's hurt a lot. Some unnecessary scenes and avoidable songs stretch the film more than 3 hrs. And you may feel bore, searching for the interval. Film turns little faster after the Sydney Olympics. But it looks ugly for a legendary, how it shows about the reason of his failure; though I don't know what was happened in his real life. It's a shame O P Mehra and screenwriter Prasoon Joshi adopts a manipulative, melodramatic approach to highlight Milkha's achievements and justify his failures.
But everything is very well managed by the genius Farhaan. It looks merely original in a scene where he slaps himself. The actor in fact, and his committed performance, is the film's biggest strength. From his convincing accent and his dialogue delivery to the sheer beast of his physical presence, Farhan is riveting as Milkha. Don't know about others, but like the appearance of Dilip Tahil as Pandit Neheru and Milkha's earliest coach, Gurudev Singh. However panoramic in scope, usually boil down to a greatest-hits collection, and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, for all its sepia-toned flashbacks and terrific training sequences is no exception. Though, hard to believe Mikha trained in Ladak by the National Coach; but nevertheless the background looks more than awesome. Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra able to recreate the same impression in a scene when two Milkha (Young & Child) run together; just the way he did in Rang De Basanti with Bhagat Singh.
Few silly slip-ups that you never expect from a movie like BMB. Divya Dutta, as Milkha's doting sister is the only character in the film, who appears to have never aged. Mikha rides in a Royal Enfield Battle Field with wearing a Titan Edge, looks more than modern. And even Air India (not Indian) flight with a Kingfisher like Air Hostess; force you to feel about the year. May be I missed the recruitment part as it was not the first show. But, if there was any scene like this, should not be edited where you have many less important than that. Feel unfortunate having a single scene for Rome Olympics. But every Indian will love the Mikha's last run in Pakistan and becomes Flying Sikh.
Overall BMB is a 3 hrs package of lesser biopic, more commercial and extra ordinary Farhan. It may not impress an average moviegoer, for it comes across as a very slow film. But it will certainly leave you with a sense of pride for having the legendary athlete as a fellow countryman. However, you can't compare it with its counterpart "Paan Sing Tomar" or "Chakde India".