Movie review : Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of crystal skull -- Adventure at its best

Genre: Adventure
Rating: 7.5 / 10

Boy, what a ride.... Well some hero's dont grow old, some sequels dont go bad and this one surely proves that. With a team like George Lucas - Story, Harrison Ford - Hero, Cate Blanchett - the vamp and Steven Speilberg - Director , you can hardly go wrong. Throw in a pot pouri of stunts, some amazing locales, a mind bending archeological adventure and some amazing sequences of acrobatics, pure luck and comedy - and you get a sure fire entertainer.

Sure the story wuld seem to far fetched, but thats just the goal. How you get to the goal is far more important and I must say the journey is a damn good one. So , once again the Russians are after some power beyond imagination, they are in the pursuit of knowledge far greater than any other known to mankind - knowledge of the paranormal, the supernatural and the way to get this is by finding a Crystal skull and taking it to its destined place. Mr. Henry Jones urf Indiana Jones is dragged along this twisted adventure because of his peerless knowledge. On the way he runs, leaps, punches, kicks, finds his long lost girlfriend, discovers his only son and simply rocks as only he can. There are these insane scenes of pure conincidences, of jigsaw puzzle type action sequences - where everything fits just right in the end. Indiana remains as lucky as ever, and he remains as adventurous as ever. His wife says when his son asks her "whats he gonna do now?" she replies "I dont know, even he doesnt. He doesnt plan that far!!!" .. And thats how the movie unravels - one mind bending sequence after another.

Harrison Fords rules . A big bow to him. Its sad that this might be his last Indiana Jones, but I would love it if he continues on and on for years to come by, even if he is on a wheelchair. Because he brings the character -Indiana Jones - his personality and grace. His successor is Shia LaBeouf. Though he has potential, but he has mighty big shoes to fill. He is OK along with Ford, but without him I fear he might fall flat.

Then again you can always be sure of one thing. If Steven directs it and George writes it, You will love it :)... (Spielberg, Lucas and Ford) Rock on you 3 legends of Cinema ....

Movie Reviews - NARNIA and SPEED RACER

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5.5/10

This movie is just about watchable. The movie is a continuation of the hugely succesful first part, but does not live up to the expectations. This is mainly due to the insipid storyline. The creators probably should have added some masala into this film or should have cut down its lenght, because the product is mostly boring. The special effects, the graphics, the cinematograhy etc are exceptional, but then which hollywood film doesnt have amazing special efects? It cannot be the only reason to watch this film, you need something more - an intersting plot. A slow moving movie isnt automatically a boring one, but this one is both. Even children would lose patience after 2 hours I guess, coz this one goes on for approx 2:30 hours. Overall, its just about watchable, but not quiet good. For fantasy freaks, it would surely be a let down.

Rating: 6 / 10

I went to this movie for timepass and it surely passed that test. This movie is sprightly and it delights. The creators of Matrix bring to life this Japanese cartoon and keep alive the spirit aswell. For those who havent been initiated, Speed Racer is the name of a Car racer, who belongs to a Racing Maniac family. His brother was also a racer and lost his life during a race. His father is the manager, cum mechanic who comes builds the Cars in which he races. There are a whole bunch of delightful characters - but one's that stand out are his little brother and his monkey. Their antics are worth the money you spend on the ticket.

The movie deals with the influence of Corporates and Politics on Auto-Racing and how speed racer fights against this cartel. This movie has it all, comedy, suspense, drama and fast paced racing action. It will take you some time to swallow the Animated World that the Wachowski brothers have created but once you do, put on the speedbelt and hang on for the wonderful ride. The best part about this film is that, it is entertaining, has wonderful comedy and its pace keeps increasing untill it culminates into a crescendo. You would surely walk out happily out of this one. So enjoy....

The Movie Review - Tashan - The Bhayankar formula for disaster...

Genre : Couldnt decipher...

Rating: 2.5 /10 - yes - nothing can beat AAG.... + some good music

Tashan - the style , the good luck , the bhayankar formula.... booms Anil Kapoor urf Bhaiji ... You wonder, what style? whos good luck? apna toh bad luck hai! and bhayankar formula for what? Disaster.... Thats the only explanation I could phathom. The coaching manuals of "The DONT'S of making a film - could be written from this film alone"..The movie starts in a very Tarentino'ish style and then goes on to dizzying heights of stupidity... The only thing I liked in bits was the screenplay... After watching this movie, I didnt know how to express my feelings, so instead I interviewed the man behind the story, the screenplay, the dialogues and the direction - Mr. Vijay Krishna Acharya i.e. VKA. ( This grossly multi-un-talented person is the KARTA-DHARTA of this film - any public bashings, any dressing downs, any brickbats or any abuses should be hurled and directed solely to this man and no one else)

Me: Why did you make this film? Why oh why? And are you satisfied with it?

VKA: The movie was the culmination of years of research , hard work and perseverense and I love it as much as a father loves his child...

( For the next 5 minutes, I didnt know what to say! Urgh what an ugly baby! Years of hardwork? This guy certainly needs help. He, in the meanwhile, was thinking of his next project, which hopefully would also require years and years of research. atleast 50. Please god please...)

Me: Why do you think people are comparing this movie to the disgrace of the century - AAG?

VKA: I dont mind actually ( yeah right - mind is something , u lack buddy) In a way they are comparing me to a director who has made amazing films like SATYA, SARKAR, RANGEELA.. I am honoured... ( he surely is a beautiful mind , what optimism- ignorance and dumbness surely are bliss!!!)

Me: So how did you come up with the mind numbing storyline, the inane Dialogues, the preposterous action sequences?

VKA: Oh, thanks for the compliments ( Mind Numbing, Inane and Preposterous, were too complex for his brain to decode) But, I do have to thank a lot of people for helping me out in my dream project. I actually saw it in my dream ! ( Nightmare would be more appropriate!!) Then through my research I met some people from UP and came up with the dialogues which have the bhojpuri flavour and the credit for the action sequences lies with Peter Hein ( Jis jiske haath main khujli ho rahi ho - here's another guy you could target )

Me: How did you manage to get this amazing starcast, for this ludicrous movie?

VKA: Ludi-what?? Oh thanks again, I know you mean amazing. (Phew!!) See, Kareena was doing a diet. I told her that we were low on budget, so anyways we wont supply food to our stars, that way you would be forced to starve and have that amazing body. She jumped to the opportunity. Ofcourse Saif came like a buy one get one free offer. Then I told Akshay about hiring Peter Hein and that this was his opportunity to go back to his roots - action + Kareena wasnt charging much (just wanted diet food) and Saif was just happy having same dressing room as Kareena, so I could give Akshay their share of the money aswell... Anil kapoor was the most difficult to hire.. But I told him that his name would come before Akshay Kumar , unlike Welcome... He grabbed on this opportunity with both hands, his legs and his mouth... (Suddenly, I could see some talent... A person who can pull out this coup for such a script has to be given some credit.. )

Me: What were your intentions while making this film? Does it have any message?

VKA: Intentions? ( I told him its the motive - the reason for making the film) Oh Ok... Well, see the idea was simple, but deep. I wanted to show people the condition in the states of Bihar and UP, The lack of education - hence the terrible Hinglish, the presence of gangsters , mafia here.. Most of the people are really suffering because of this. ( You surely were succefuly in making us feel their suffering dude.. We went through a lifetime of misery in your film..)

And in that answer, I thought to myself. How wrong had I been in judging this person. He had achieved exactly what he set out to achieve... I take back my words... This guy should be given an OSCAR..... A must watch for the nobility of its intentions... Torturous but effective!!!

Movie Review - Forbidden Kingdom - Timepass fare

Genre: Fantasy/Kungfu

Rating: 5.5/10

Some films are made for timepass, and this one's ideal for that. Jackie Chan completely rocks it and manages to keep you in splits with his drunken antics. This movie is basically a fantasy flick which is extremely cliched and is like the recipe Love stories of SRK, predictable. But for the inclusion of Jackie, this would have probably gone down the drain. He makes it enjoyable.

So its about this American Guy, who is obsessed with Kung-Fu flicks and eats, sleeps and dreams about Kung-Fu. He gets teleported to this Forbidden Kingdom when he comes across an Enchanted Shaft belonging to the Monkey King. He becomes the messenger, the prophecy who is destined to give ot back to the Monkey King. But its not that simple. First he does not know Chinese - but thats easily overcome, because mysteriously in this magical place in China, everyone can speak english! Then there is the Evil General who has this brutal dictatorship over the land and he does not want the prophecy to be fulfilled. The american guy has legions and legions of soldiers to combat in order to give the shaft back. In this task he is helped by 2 monks. One - a drunken master - Jackie Chan and a diligent monk - Jet Lee. These 2 not only teach him Kung-Fu but also help him in his expedition.

What works for the movie is Jackie Chan's comedy and some amazing Kung-fu combat scenes - specially the one between Jackie and Jet Lee. But do not expect anything great from the movie. It's a simple fantasy flick with all the Masala used over the ages for such a flick. So, go over in this vacation time and enjoy, simply.....

Iron Man - A decent start

Genre : Super Hero
Rating : 6/10

I went to this movie with inflated expectations, bouyed by the rave reviews everywhere. Yes, I also go through some stuff sometimes...

First the good stuff... The strongest part of this film, is the cutting edge technology. To even think of such advanced technology is extraordinary. You cannot get sci-fi more realistic than this. Hollywood has almost perfected their use of some mind boggling graphics and it completely keeps u mesmerised. What makes it really unbelievable is thats its so believable!!! Also, Robert Downey Jr. has come up with a really strong performance. His potrayal of a brash, super intelligent scientist, who turns into a savior is one of the plus points for this film. One more plus point is that IRON MAN is no freak of nature, he is just a scientist who through his inventions becomes the superhero.

But apart from this, I thought it was just an ALRITE superhero movie. This is the first movie of this extremely promising series, hence some time has been spent on the build up. So it takes some time to get started. But even when it is flowing there are really no big surprises as far as the story is concerned. Its extremely predictable. Its caught somewhere between Batman Begins and Spiderman. Batman begins comes closest to this movie, but Batman had a very strong story to back up the technological gimmickry. It tries the emotional touch of Spiderman, but fails there aswell... It doesnt falter as much as a SPIDERMAN returns, but it has its drawbacks. The villian track is really weak and it takes AFGHAN covert terrorist groups to be utter nitwits. It even makes all the scientists in the US, apart from the hero look like utter idiots.. You have to see the movie to believe me, because I dont want to give away the story. The love interest track with Gwyneth Paltrow is also boring.

OK, as just a timepass , comic book superhero caper, this is above average. So I sure think you should go ahead and watch it... For the amazing display of cutting edge technology, if nothing else.... This movie lifts the expectations for the next few IRON MAN movies, but if I have to judge this film alone, I would say I have seen much better superhero films..