Somewhat Expendable

The Expendables 3, while adding to the star cast of the traditional expendables (Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson) also brings forth a new kind of “expendable” – Kellan Lutz of Hercules fame, or Ronda Rousey of MMA fame, in particular. The storyline remains superficial, and actions continue to speak louder – much louder – than words. Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) puts together an all-new crew to take out friend-turned-foe Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). With much killing in myriad forms, as expected, The Expendables 3 does nothing to detract from the possibility of a fourth edition

12.5/20

Lady Fighter

Beauty and.. er.. brawn mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano gets her first break into big-ticket Hollywood with Haywire. In a movie that is rather understated even as it carries the weight of an all-star cast and pans global locales, Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) recounts a mission where ex-boyfriend Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) sends her off to Barcelona, on a mission directed by US Government agent Coblenz (Michael Douglas) and his Spanish contact Rodrigo (Antonio Banderas) to rescue a man in Barcelona. The mission is not quite what it seems – and nor is Mallory's subsequent assignment to pose as the wife of MI6 agent Paul (Michael Fassbender) in Dublin. Mallory has to rely on her own wits and do her own fact-finding in a setup laden with multiple traps. And with the audience on her side, one hopes that she get the better of the nexus in the end. A well-paced introduction to a new action heroine, who will sharpen her thespian skills even as she can clearly hold centre-stage in a tightly scripted Steven Soderbergh thriller

14/20

Men without Women

Peter (Liam Neeson) has the perfect – or not quite so perfect – marriage with Lisa (Laura Linney) and Lisa is dying. All of a sudden, Peter has to contend with the trauma of the revealation that his wife’s various business trips were cover up for a raging 10-year long affair. Investigations lead to Ralph (Antonio Banderas) and what follows is a cat-and-mouse game where Peter tries to draw in his quarry to the final confession. It takes the eventual demise of Laura and subsequent vignettes, to uncover the fact that The Other Man was no other man at all. Intense exchanges between Neeson and Banderas – watch this movie if for no other reason than a study in the emoting ability of two great stars

12.5/20