GI makeover

The all-American franchise quickly dumps Duke (Channing Tatum) in the wild wastes of Pakistan, and the Rock takes over from there. In their biggest challenge yet, surviving Joes Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson), Flint (DJ Cotrona) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) team up with Snake Eyes (Ray Park), Jinx (Elodie Yung) and unexpectedly Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), to take out the threat of Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey) and an impostor US President (Jonathan Pryce), bent on doling out annihilation – nuclear or otherwise. The Nuclear Summit involving all key heads of state becomes the battleground for the final showdown between good and evil, with much noise and fanfare and pump-up music. Oh, and an honorable mention to General Joseph Colton (Bruce Willis), apparently the founding father of the Joes. Watch GI Joe: Retaliation for nothing in particular besides well-executed action sequences

12/20

Witch of Them is It?

Small-time Kansas conjurer Oz (James Franco) finds himself whisked off to the land of Oz – where three beautiful women – Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams) – play a veritable whodunit in terms of who among them is the Wicked Witch. Suffice to say that while Oz – The Great and Powerful – does not do disservice to L Frank Baum’s original, it is markedly different – in particular, invoking the great Thomas Alva Edison and a different kind of magic in 20^th century science. Well taken, and contemporary enough overall to be relevant

13.5/20

Full of Beans

With a few smartly crafted twists and turns, Jack the Giant Slayer is the story of Jack (Nicholas Hoult), a spunky if somewhat distracted farm-boy, his muse the Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson), and a few knights of the realm of Cloister – notable among them the honorable Elmont (Ewan Mc Gregor) and the nefarious Roderick (Stanley Tucci). When a small escapade leads Jack to possess certain beans, and his paths cross with that of a princess bent on escaping the confines of her castle, the two embark on an unlikely adventure that faces up to the Kingdom of Giants, the stuff of fables brought to a grim reality. Quite the children’s entertainer, and never a dull moment - mostly

11.5/20

Rising, hopefully

What drew me to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight was their indisputable clarity - the clean fine execution and character sketches in taut plots. And that is precisely where I lost it with The Dark Knight Rises. The sheer clutter of a "decommissioned" Batman, the wiles of a Cat-woman, the inevitable comparisons of Bane (Tom Hardy) to the inimitable Joker (Heath Ledger) in the preceding edition - all of it, for the non-diehard Batman fan, was really a smorgasbord of events and characters that left anything but an indelible impression. What a mishmash to end one of the best series of all time. Expectedly, the movie drew praise from viewers and critics alike - the perils of a cult fan following that is all too willing to live the moment and forgive all

10.5/20

Birth of a Nation

Lincoln is, quite simply, one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. In Lincoln, Daniel Day Lewis does not play Abraham Lincoln, he is Abraham Lincoln, living, breathing, taking decisions, running a family. The leadership qualities of Lincoln come to the fore as he balances ending a war and abolishing slavery, with a few decisions that err towards choosing the greater good and associated realpolitik. This is a movie for posterity, and one for your collection. Suffice to say that I cannot remember a movie in memory that moved me quite as much, Steven Spielberg dramatic effect notwithstanding

17.5/20

Robber, Robbed

Master of heists Will Montgomery (Nicholas Cage) does what he needs to do and injures fellow partner in crime Vincent (Josh Lucas) in an attempt to flee a crime scene without any collateral damage. Will however does not make it far, and, after eight years of incarceration, looks forward to being re-united with daughter Alison (Sami Gayle). Vincent has other plans, however, and a highly skeptical FBI led by Tim Harlend (Danny Huston) does not help either. With a little help from ex-con-woman Riley (Malin Akerman), Will races against time and the ghosts from his past. Stolen is your average unmemorable entertainer that is easy on the eye and your time, without even remotely aspiring towards the spectacular

11.5/20

Non Sleazy Sex Line

 

 

What happens when two single women in New York need to pool their resources, post layoffs breakups and other assorted tragedies, and find themselves a place to live. Simple – they start a sex chat line to start paying the bills. Well, on that front, Katie Steele (Ari Graynor) is the original entrepreneur, and Lauren (Lauren Miller) is the initially reluctant but eventually highly successful partner. The line of business, expectedly, does not sit well with parents and sundry others, and fights ensue between the partners as well. For a Good Time Call is a light take on using unconventional means to get by, and on friendship. And while not an outstanding movie by any means, it is definitely not titillating as the suggestive title would imply

 

11.5/20

 

 

Flagging Race

Race 2 moves fast, entices, glitters with Jacqueline Fernandez and Deepika Padukone glam, but does not captivate. Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is on a  revenge trip against Turkish don Armaan Malik (John Abraham), but whether Armaan’s girlfriend Omisha (Jacqueline Fernandez) and sister Elena (Deepika Padukone) are friend or foe, are to be determined over the course of the movie’s many twists and turns. In the end, Race 2 is an entertainer that does not quite live up to its hype

11/20

Power in Grey

In the power plays in an ad agency, ad maven Rahul (Arjun Rampal) and protégé Maya (Chitrangda Singh) turn competitors and lovers. Even as they get into daily workplace skirmishes, the tension between them manifests itself in an ugly sexual harassment lawsuit. Inkaar is not about taking sides in the “sexual harassment in the workplace” debate. Rather, it is about two individuals, drawn by mutual attraction and shared levels of ambition, yet pitted against each other in the typical Darwinian workplace. Some pretty demanding character acting sets this one apart – though in the end the movie trails off rather inconclusively. Inkaar has been generally poorly received, a fact that does not do justice to the rather intense performances by the two not-so-seasoned leads

12/20

Rise of Innocence

 

Do you believe in Jack Frost? How about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Rabbit, and Sandman? It is when the innocence of children believe in these, that they come to pass. Else, they disappear. And what of Pitch, aka the Boogeyman? Again, the belief of children alone makes it come to pass, or otherwise. Together, the Guardians must defeat Pitch, who is out to basically steal from children the very essence of childhood – the sense of wonder. What stands out in Rise of the Guardians is the truly exceptional visual effects. The quality of production herein is truly outstanding, which keeps it from becoming just a children’s fable at the theater and keeps the adults – well, believing. A must watch for children that parents will enjoy as well

14/20

Chulbule II

The irrepressible Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan), now hitched to wife Rajjo (Sonakshi Sinha) is now posted in Kanpur, where he continues his streak of doing the right acts for the wrong reasons. Replete with item numbers and catchy one-liners, Dabangg 2 however does not quite pack the element of surprise that was Dabangg. Nevertheless, it has been quite successful, commercially (expectedly) and is apparently leading to a prequel that explores the origins of Chulbul Pandey

11/20 

More ghosts of Bengal

Close on the heels of Bhooter Bhobishyot, a fairly successful spook movie in Bengali, comes Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy, a bouquet of three ghost stories directed by none other than Sandip Ray. A seasoned spook-watcher hits the trail in North Bengal on an overnight stakeout. An avid reader reaches out to a friend for spending a day in an erstwhile English mansion, where a rumoured ghost called Simon does the haunts. An author in search of solace and inspiration comes across a ghost with an agenda, and much treasure instead. Simple and unpretentious, reasonably original, and good for a single viewing

12/20

 

Fixed Gear, Steel Frame, No Brakes

 

 

It is hard to come up with a genuinely interesting and never-a-dull-moment script centered around the all-too-familiar New York, and car chases. So, Director David Koepp changed the game – and speeded up things by making them slower – on bicycle, in fact. Profiling the best-in-class NY bicycle messenger Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), on a Premium Rush – a high-priority dispatch – with a little help from girlfriend Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) and arch rival Marco (Sean Kennedy), Wilee outruns everything in sight – cars, people, other bicycles, and even stationary objects – as he helps one Chinese student Nima (Jamie Chung) re-unite with her daughter. Get ready for an unexpected rush from this under-rated movie

13/20

Brave Daughters and Bears

Mothers wish the best for their daughters, and the road to alienating children is almost always paved with good intentions. And thus it was with Elinor (Emma Thompson), mother of Merida (Kelly McDonald) of the Clan DunBrock, in the matter of a suitor for Merida. Little does Elinor know that Merida is a girl of her own mind, and the latter promptly rendezvous-es with a witch who gives Merida the means to transform her mother into a large black bear. The rest of the movie is a hilarious race against time to reverse the spell linor before the second sunrise (at which time the said spell becomes permanent), even while several clans - none too fond of bears - hunt the mother of the clan, in a glorious misunderstanding. Brave is one for the children from the inimitable Pixar, while not too juvenile to not have appeal for the parents

13/20

Wild Child

Rose (Emily Blunt) and her charming, thieving ways, tame the redoubtable Viktor (Bill Nighy), hired assassin with many scalps to his credit. When Rose pulls off a sale of a fake painting to one Ferguson (Rupert Everett), the latter hires Viktor to take her out – the assassin way, of course. Hilarious escapades with an ensemble cast in tow ensue, and the ending is not quite what the hired hitman’s doting mother Louisa (Eileen Atkins) might have liked. Quite amusing, the Wild Target and pursuer herein are fairly evenly matched

11.5/20

The Hopping Prince

 

 

 

“See something you like?”, asks the captive Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) coyly, as she hides the dagger that can reverse time, from our protagonist, the adoptive Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal). Very spunky and a little flirty, Tamina however does not steal the show from Prince Dastan, who pulls off the near-impossible – exposes a great treachery wrought upon his adoptive father King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup), defeats the king’s treacherous sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), and becomes the new regent of the kingdom. With no little help from the eponymous acrobatic skills of the Prince of Persia (The Sands of Time) and a little timely intervention from the dagger than can reverse time. Quite entertaining, and never a dull moment, this one went by almost unnoticed

 

12/20

Far Above the Misty Mountains Cold

 

Today, after a decade and then some some, a troop of all-too-familiar dwarves entered my house. Led by a wizard, of course. With them, I left the comforts of the Shire, and embarked on an adventure. Where, every turn of the page, in years bygone, had brought new experiences to cherish. We headed out, saw off trolls that had strayed afar, got much-needed albeit much despised help in Rivendell. We headed out from there, to repossess our Kingdom from Smaug. Again we saw off goblins and orcs, with a little help this time from the Eagles. And thus, with The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey – we are on our way. To a trilogy that is – however strangely – lagging LOTR – but so far, and as one has grown to expect, equally fascinating, overwhelming, and quite peerless in the world of movies. The unlikely combination of JRR Tolkein and Peter Jackson have created an alternate reality for me, something that I cannot quite put in the words of a bland little movie review

17.5/20

Recall, Run

Post World War III, the great oppressor of history – the United Federation of Britain (UFB) lords it over the Colony (loosely, today’s Australia) – and the latter send a daily retinue of workers to the former through a subterranean transport system referred to as the Fall. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), a nondescript worker from the Colony with an inexplicably stunning wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale), decides to go deeper into his mind to find an escape from daily monotony and a distraction from disturbing dreams that could well be memories. Quaid enters virtual reality – through Total Recall – as a secret agent. And here is where Quaid’s life blurs between fiction and reality – and even love interest Melina (Jessica Biel) and access to none other than Matthias (Bill Nighy) – the kingpin of the Resistance – could well be elements in a very elaborate virtual reality experience. Unlike its predecessor 22 years ago, this edition Total Recall leaves the viewer in some doubt as to fiction and reality, even as the action is as immersive as it could possibly be

13.5/20

Sick, telling

The one word that leaps to mind while thinking of Criminal Minds (TV Series) is “disturbing”. And you need look no further than just a couple of episodes of this successful TV Series to figure out why. Perhaps the written word will not suffice, but here is my take. Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), with second-in-command David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) leads a highly qualified team constituting profilers with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia, to solve crimes involving serial killings – usually of a violent, degenerate, and large-scale nature – in locations all over USA. Aiding them is the wonder woman Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), a genius at drawing associations between seemingly unconnected events, with the aid of a little technology. Executed with thoroughness, that does not flag between episodes – and I saw dozens – Criminal Minds is a must-watch – if, of course, you want to stomach it

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