Night in Armour

A familiar cast – a new location – a notable new addition. Larry (Ben Stiller), the night watchman at the Museum of Natural History, along with the familiar cast of Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Jedediah (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Akhmenrah (Rami Malek) and Attila (Patrick Gallagher) find themselves at the British Museum in London, to salvage the spell under the tablet of Akhmenrah, that would save all of the above cast, and more, from not waking up at all. In the bargain, they wake up Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens) and find themselves in complicated situations with the latter's adventurous pretensions getting in the way. Quite entertaining, the newest edition – Night at The Museum – Secret of the Tomb – is faithful to the franchise even as it ostensibly wraps it up in a dash of Brit flavor

12.5/20

Walter out there

A quiet man – Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) sees off the last issue in print of “Life” magazine, sees the first whiff of adventure by flying to Greenland, and then to Iceland, in the footsteps of his photographer. Cast into adventure, and something akin to love, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty captures the poignancy of things that shall pass, and how we are remembered

12/20

Circus of Follies

 

How little it takes to con our very own children! I absolutely detest reviewing low-quality movies – the effort of penning a few lines just does not seem to be worth it! With a mishmash of unattractive characters that form a circus cast winding their way across European cities, chased by gendarmes, and finding their bearings at long last, Madagascar 3 – Europe’s Most Wanted, is strictly children’s fare. And, by that, I mean fare for they-who-will-not-discern-poor-quality rather than a comment on well-produced children’s content. Off with the head of the producers of this one!

 8.5/20

Tower of Righteous Actions

When investment manager and scamster Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda)’s Ponzi scheme goes down, so do the life’s savings of all the staff at his residential tower. Determined to get back what is rightfully owed to them, building manager Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) forms a team with a mission to steal back what is rightfully owed to them, in a Tower Heist. Given their complete lack of criminal experience, the team also hires one out-on-bail Slide (Eddie Murphy). An elaborately planned heist unearths unexpected findings, but not before some improvisation and brushes with danger. In the end all ends well, in a regular light entertainer that does not disappoint nor overly succeed either

12.5/20

Mega Skirmishes

Evil Megamind (Will Ferrell) and the city’s superhero Metro Man (Brad Pitt) battle for control over Metro City. While the latter seems to invariably have the upper hand, in one final skirmish, Megamind destroys (?) Metroman. Unexpectedly, the same is just the beginning of Megamind’s life sinking into purposelessness, even as Metro Man’s former flame Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) first falls for him and then falls out. Megamind needs a hero to match his evil – and proceeds to create one – with markedly unexpected consequences. Well, all is well that ends well, and some of the moral leanings of the cast are somewhat altered in the end. While a decent watch, the quality of animation – especially the emoting or lack of it, and the poor soundtrack, make Megamind pale to the releases from the Pixar and even the DreamWorks stable (How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar Series, Kung Fu Panda series) of late

12/20

Museum of Horrors

After the first edition, one could at the very lest expect that Night at The Museum II - Battle of the Smithsonian would only build upon the excitement of museum exhibits coming alive. After all, could the theme of a museum – with untold possibilities in terms of exhibits – possibly go wrong? Yes it can. It is possible to go overboard with too many characters, completely misplace characters (a pathetically funny Kamun-ra who is neither menacing nor amusing), a Capone who has nothing to do in the movie to speak of, an Amelia Earhart who seems to have confused irrepressible flirting with a sense of adventure, and, in the middle of it all, a Ben Stiller – why he is posited as a millionaire entrepreneur in the overall context of the movie is the only mystery that lingers in my mind after this movie. One movie that I will forget overnight, not in days

7/20