On a day like today

Yesterday Delhi hit 52.3 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded in India. And yesterday I saw Mad Max Furiosa - the origin story. Anya Taylor Joy is Viking and fearsome with a ruthlessness that is a generation above Charlize Theron and her Marine style crew cut purposefulness. The casting is impeccable - Immortan Joe, Praetorian Jack, and the Jack Sparrow vibes Dr Dementus. Furiosa is stolen from the crib, brought up with marauders, hustles her way to being a dogman at the Citadel and finally with the mentorship of Praetorian Jack finds her shot at the Green Place. The Fury Road run is a class apart 

16.5/20

Fear the Water

In the Heart of the Sea had all the ingredients for an epic spectacle. Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) is listening to a first person account of the sinking of the Essex in 1820 (itself an adaptation from Nathaniel Philbrick's 1920 novel). Owen Chase (Chris Helmsworth), First Mate, has many ruboffs against Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) of the great Pollard seafaring family, but none can doubt the former's seafaring talent and navigational skills, in leading the crew of the Essex. Driven further and further into the Pacific in search of whaling grounds, the Essex finally meets in match in a feared sea-dweller - the legendary Moby Dick. So what doesnt work in all of this? The heroism does not click. The fearsomeness of the whale does not click. It seems that the sum total of the cinematography of Hollywood is no match for the evocative prose of Melville. Or maybe the cruel killing of whales just draws a different kind of empathy in our time

13/20

The Journey is Everything

Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms), the eponymous family man who does not quite feel the love back from his family, takes wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and two sons on a long drive to amusement park Walley World. Along the way, evidence of Debbie's wild college ways, old crushes - notably Stone Crandall (Chris Helmsworth), disastrous swims and rafting expeditions, midnight liaisons that turn into exercises in hilarity - make for an entertaining time. Will the family bond together in spite of all the rough encounters, and finally discover who they really are? Vacation is an interesting watch that is quite hilarious in parts

13.5/20

Dark mediocrity

Thor (Chris Helmsworth) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) re-unite to fight the forces of the dark world. The latter are the forces released on a once-in-a-millenium planetary alignment that opens up a portal somewhere in London. Thor: The Dark World Pure entertainment, largely mindless and unmemorable, reminiscent of Star Wars more than Norse fable, and set for much commercial success

11.5/20

Chris Helmsworth

Natalie Portman

Tom Hiddleston

Anthony Hopkins

Christopher Eccleston

Jaimie Alexander

Rene Russo

Stellan Skarsgard

Death Race

Rush captures the 1976 formula season - a headlong battle between the flamboyant Brit James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth)  and the ultra-disciplined Nikki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). Well developed characters, pretty vivid depictions of the tensions on the track. Yet another resounding success from Ron Howard (of Apollo 13, the da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind) fame

15.5/20

Action Unlimited

Do we really need to get into the script here? The irrepressible Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) with his equally irrepressible one-liners. Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) shoulder to shoulder in their fight against evil – well, at least till and when the Hulk is is one of his moods. The irrepressible Thor (Chris Helmsworth) and the gorgeous Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) round off the superhero set. The mission – to stop Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in his tracks as he hunts for the Tesseract – a source of great and dangerous power. Never a dull moment (would have been a travesty with this cast), and an all-out commercial entertainer, The Avengers, needless to say, was a resounding success of 2012

13/20

Norse Gods – An Approachable Bunch

Scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), assistant Darcy (Kat Dennings) and mentor Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) are confronted with a strange weather phenomenon – an unexpectedly intense storm - and crash their vehicle into a man in its midst. The man turns out to be the god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – banished from Asgard by father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) on account of needlessly waging war upon the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Thor needs to confront his scheming brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), get back to his ailing father and end his banishment, and deal with his growing fondness for Jane. While the movie begins with much promise, it concludes squarely as light entertainment. The casual banter of Thor and the gods with humans, and the easy transformation of Thor from arrogance to an empathetic self, are but a few pointers to the fact that this movie will be one of the really light interpretations of the Norse Gods and totally in line with the Marvel Comics character. Worth noting in passing that even the Gods seem to fall in love with Natalie Portman these days

11.5/20