Punched Down

If I interpret Sucker Punch as the generally mindless action entertainment genre, full of innuendo and game-like action sequences, the movie is a pretty solid achievement. On the other hand, if the movie was meant to be an insight into the overly imaginative workings of a girl’s mind, who is the victim of just about all the abuse and mis-accusations that a human can bear, this movie makes a mockery of Baby Doll’s (Emily Browning’s) condition. So, staying on middle ground, if the movie is simply an uncomplicated meshing of erotic action genre meets loosely scripted morality tale, this movie is a reasonably entertaining watch. Babydoll is institutionalized by her stepfather, in a mental institution. While in real life she mesmerizes audiences with a particularly erotic dance routine, behind the scenes she and a small band of fellow inmates plot an escape. Every stage of the execution of the plan is depicted as a clichéd action sequence played out in Babydoll’s overly active imagination. Zack Snyder unfortunately does not quite pull off this one into 300 and Watchmen-class exceptional category 12/20

The Long Watch

To do justice to a critically acclaimed movie like Watchmen one should have done one’s homework – i.e. have read the cult 12 part graphic novel series. Perhaps that in itself explains the movie’s principal failure. Throught the movie, the viewer does not for a moment doubt that he is watching a remarkable visual spectacle and possibly the most intricate character portraits of superheroes since The Dark Knight. The additional challenge being that unlike The Dark Knight and its likes, Watchmen profiles several different characters at a difficult time for America, juxtaposing their individual moral ambiguities against the tribulations facing a nation. The failing is the attempt to try to condense a 12-part series into a single movie. It is a surfeit of emotions and animation, and the viewer would find it difficult to absorb any train of thought before the movie moves on. This is not a movie to be watched over a 2 hour popcorn munching session. This is incursion into serious moral territory and at the least one should have read the related novels and braced oneself for a 3 hour

10/20

End of Days

De Niro and Pacino come together after more than a decade (Heat) for the movie Righteous Kill. It is poignant to see the passing of two great stars – the dialogue does not quite carry the punch of yesteryears, and the ending is quite predictable and not much of a twist. Having said the above, the movie is still worth a watch – there is still fire in those old bones, and a good supporting cast make up for some of the ageing in the star attractions. Watch this for its own sake, but comparing it to the likes of Heat and other sundry classics could be disturbing.