Half past Dead

Deadpool has a decibel of trash talk that most Indian viewers will not empathize with. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is the average Joe, falls in love with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and very soon after the idyllic existence is shattered – he has terminal cancer and must undergo a transmogrification to superhero to justify his existence. And that leads to a face-off with the evil scientist Francis aka Ajax (Ed Skrein) – entertaining, and the hackneyed action interspersed with the dark humor is definitely a shade badass, but not quite a stuff-of-legends-franchise-creator for me

13.5/20

Race It

Wanted fugitives Dominic (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) get a new lease of life as they are asked by Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to take out a criminal organization led by Owen (Luke Evans) in exchange for clearing their criminal records. Its time for showdown in (mainly) London – with fast cars and a bevy of beauties – including Mia (Jordana Brwester), an estranged Letty (Michelle Rodriguez – permanent female Hispanic lead action fixture), Gisele (Gal Gadot) and the turncoat Riley (Gina Carano). Spellbinding (though logically and scientifically inexplicable) action sequences and engaging car chase scenes – watched this one in a paid preview – yes, was on fast forward, much like everything else in Fast & Furious 6. Not to forget, the movie ends with a cameo by Jason Statham (no less) in Tokyo – the promise of much more to come

13.5/20

Lady Fighter

Beauty and.. er.. brawn mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano gets her first break into big-ticket Hollywood with Haywire. In a movie that is rather understated even as it carries the weight of an all-star cast and pans global locales, Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) recounts a mission where ex-boyfriend Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) sends her off to Barcelona, on a mission directed by US Government agent Coblenz (Michael Douglas) and his Spanish contact Rodrigo (Antonio Banderas) to rescue a man in Barcelona. The mission is not quite what it seems – and nor is Mallory's subsequent assignment to pose as the wife of MI6 agent Paul (Michael Fassbender) in Dublin. Mallory has to rely on her own wits and do her own fact-finding in a setup laden with multiple traps. And with the audience on her side, one hopes that she get the better of the nexus in the end. A well-paced introduction to a new action heroine, who will sharpen her thespian skills even as she can clearly hold centre-stage in a tightly scripted Steven Soderbergh thriller

14/20