Dystopia for real people

Greenland left me rattled. There is no access that the nondescript suburban family of John (Gerard Butler), Allison (Morena Baccarin) and kid Nathan have to privileged information or outlandish efforts to save the Earth. They simply protect their own, run from natural perils and predatory people, lose each other and find each other again... Scary detachments and psychotic people and a controlled rhythm of natural calamities that look unnervingly real. This movie will freak you out

16/20

More Dragon

Here’s to finding a parent, dragon-care in the family and beyond, and having a good old bare-knuckles good-vs-evil fight with alpha dragons and some not-so-beta-dragons. While How to Train your Dragon 2 is quite entertaining, perhaps the grown-up watcher will notice the lame effort for a storyline. Or, perhaps not. My kid loved it, is enacting sequences at home right now. Mission accomplished, Hollywood for Kids..

12/20

Another Falling

Out-of-favour Presidential security guard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) finds himself pitted against a veritable army from North Korea, that somehow manages to mobilize an inconceivably large quantity of people, arms and ammunition, and lays siege to the White House. Full of as many inexplicable moments as there are gun battles (President's son rescued, yet President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) meekly hands over the Cereberus code; the Cereberus code and their failsafes are located in the same physical location - and would  instantly set off the entire US nuclear arsenal when called upon (!!!); the strange and incongruous motivation of Forbes to side with... er... North Koreans), and with a more than decent cast and screenplay trying to rescue an impossible-to-justify storyline, Olympus has Fallen singularly fails to make sense, let alone impress

10.5/20

The Arsonist

Here is a modern day top morality play, starring the yet-again wronged-in-respect-of-family Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler). But Law Abiding Citizen is over the top poetic justice! The two men who kill his family – and one of whom strikes a deal with the prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) to do in his partner, do not reckon with a “spy” having plotted and schemed their demises ten years later. After ensuring that the death row inmate does not die a painless death, he takes out the partner, with slowness and cruelty. The rampage continues, Philadelphia is brought to a halt, when will the cleansing of the system end and the rage subside? There are limitations to the extent to which this story has been carried, and even Gerard Butler appears unconvinced in parts about the extent of his actions. All part of the plot – or not?

10/20

Game On

Never never never underestimate Gerard Butler. In terms of the most recent “good to great” finds of Hollywood that need to replace a galaxy of stars that are past their fifties, Gerard Butler does himself little discredit and delivers another great action performance. Not a great character actor in the mold of say Christian Bale, this actor is a perfect compromise between the latter and say an all out action hero like Jason Statham. The plot of Gamer is hackneyed – death row inmates in a live television fight to the finish, a certain (and impossible) number of wins for a pardon. The protagonist does not fail to realize that he is not getting out the easy way, that there is too much at stake if he does. So he gets out the hard way, and with the help of some counter-culturists, gets back his family and ends the TV regime of the aptly named Slayers. Have fun, till the next meaningful Gerard Butler movie

13.0/20