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Reviews
Ottu (2022)
Definitely worth a watch!
The suspense in the story line did manage to keep the movie engaging throughout although it is a very simple plot. The phenomenal seasoned lead actors definitely helped keep the movie entertaining. The action sequences were quite good to be honest, although advice from a weapons expert could've made gun fights a little more realistic, I mean no one shoots sideways and aiming and stabilizing a gun before firing is missing in some scenes(Also,a John Woo fan so I wouldn't even mention anything about the two handed gun fights :P). VFX could've had a slight improvement when it came to gunshot wounds, but compared to disappointments in big budget features for VFX this year, this one's much more forgivable. Was nice to see Jackie on screen in a Malayalam feature, but I really wished he gave his own voice, I mean half the mans persona is his amazing voice. Overall a fun watch.
Ponniyin Selvan: Part One (2022)
Could've been so much more
Being a fan of Mani Ratnam and his unique approach to filmmaking, I'm actually disappointed. Reasons, well lets start with the story telling, a lot of things happening, a lot of characters, establishing a narrative took a lot of time that I wanted to leave the theatre before the interval out of annoyance and boredom. I don't think there was a solid setup to the story. Things got a little better in the second half with a little bit of action and progress in the story. But still didn't have a reason to care for the characters.
The visual effects and edit appeared very unfinished. I mean films made for youtube by upcoming artists have vfx more realistic than this one made with a feature film budget. Jittery smoke, poor texturing etc aren't something one can consider passable in 2022. Some scenes I presume were shot in a lower frame rate like 24 were edited to be a little slower which lead to jittery frames, that's very clearly visible and I'm surprised no one pointed it out to the makers. All those really took out the immersiveness of the film
Even the cinematography had much to be desired. There were quite a few shaky shots that were just plain disturbing. They appeared like someone shot the scenes using a tele lens handheld. It wasn't done tastefully and had no creative purpose. No extreme wide shots one would expect from a grand epic either.
The background scores felt forced at many instances trying hard to make a very mediocre scene appear cool or exciting. It didn't manage to do those either.
Well the saddest part is that the film has an almost all star cast. They have been under utilized and the scenes didn't do them justice or allow them to bring out their true potential.
If you're expecting an epic film, you may be disappointed. I'm a fan of epic films, I'm a fan of the director and I like most of the actors on the film....yet I'm disappointed. This isn't a biased review, this is just a disappointed viewer.