Amazon Party

Resplendent with colour, catchy music, and a storyline that is somewhat touching in parts, Rio 2 is a winner. Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) head out to the Amazon to find the last of the Spix's macaws. The search results in success, but not without much adventure. Where Rio 2 is exceptional is its continuous ability to induct freshness through an all-new cast of cameo characters – sloths, mosquitoes, and turtles included

14/20

House Down Part Deux

What were the odds of two near-adjacent posts on this blog, both based on movies about the White House going down? This time it is the disgruntled weapons lobby, led by the US President Sawyer’s (Jamie Foxx) former head of security detail – Martin Walker (James Woods) – and a team of mercenaries – that take over the White House over a series of bombings, gunfights, and hostage-takings. Once again it is up to an underdog – out-of-favour Cale (Channing Tatum), out on an ostensibly harmless White House tour with daughter Emily (Joey King), to save the White House and by implication the world. White House Down is a tad more believable than Olympus Has Fallen, with a lot more detail, and never a dull moment

13/20

How Horrible

Nick (Jason Bateman) has a psychotic boss in Dave Harley (Kevin Spacey) – the latter promotes himself into a post that he has been holding up to his subordinate as a carrot all the while. Dental assistant (!) Dale (Charlie Day) has a man-eater of a boss in dentist Julia (Jennifer Aniston) who is out to “deflower” him and end his relationship. Lastly, Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) has an unworthy inheritor in Bobby (Colin Farrell) for a boss, who is all out to run Kurt and the business to the ground. All the three, in a fit of frustration, decide to kill their bosses. But our protagonists here are hardly the experts when it comes to crime. So while they roll out their grand plans, beginning with surveillance and moving on to actual execution, almost everything that can go wrong does. The outcome, however, is reasonably logical, while surprising. With an all-star cast (of bosses), Horrible Bosses is a lighthearted take at the all-too-familiar reality of utterly intolerable workplaces

13/20

Birds Beasts and Beastly People

The eponymous Rio plays out the story of Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), two Spix’s Macaws, the former a pampered pet from Minnesota, the latter a wild bird kept in captivity, in the city of the same name. The two are the last of their species and have been brought together to (hopefully) mate. Stolen by smugglers, the duo manage to escape into the rainforest, but are constantly constrained by the fact that Blu cannot fly, and also that the two are chained to each other. With the help of Rafael (George Lopez), the two birds get to Luiz (Tracy Morgan), but danger is not far behind, and the owners Linda and Tulio are also hot on the trail in their search for the missing birds. A riot of colour – an outstanding visual spectacle, and an entertaining children’s adventure. In the inevitable comparison, Rio does not capture the wry humour of Rango, but nor does it seek to – it is intended for a simpler audience, child or adult

13/20

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