We are screwing up the planet and Mother Nature is teaching us a lesson the hard way. This is what M.N.Shyamalan’s latest offering ‘THE HAPPENING’ says with the help of an event happning in north eastern part of the U.S.A. We travel along with Mark Wahlberg and the blue-eyed Zooey Dascanel as they try to survive this happening event.
The movie didn’t disappoint me at all. Surprised? Me too. After all those bad reviews that I read for a week … I went to the movie thinking that the movie would be bad. No… the movie is not bad as everyone is claiming. In fact I thought it was actually good. An event is happening in which everyone acts weirdly and eventually commits violent (but innovative) suicides!!!
Mark and his wife Zooey along with their friend and his daughter Jessie, leaves Philadelphia. The event then happens in Philadelphia too and lot of other places in North eastern USA. Situations force them to form groups in the middle of no where with a bunch of other survivors, take care of Jessie and survive this happening event.
The movie has some cool scenes throughout the movie. This is M.N.Shyamalan’s first R rated flick and he has made it a real R rated movie. The movie has some violently innovative suicides scenes. They give you the necessary thrills and chills. There are scenes that startle you even though you know that it is going to happen. The movie was good for most parts.
Mark and Zooey both were not good in the opening scenes but they became better as the movie progressed. Their performances in the later part of the movie took care of the some dull moments in the movie. Mrs. Jones’ character looks unnecessary but some scenes involving her are outstanding. Jessie, the little girl was good. The relationship between the lead pair was cute. Watch out for the scene where Zooey is about to deliver the news that she’s pregnant… this is what the first part of the movie lacked. The places where performances were down… the script took care and vise-versa.
Tak Fujimoto [cinematography] was wonderful. James Newton Howard’s musical score was good. Visual effects were good and most actors performed their role very well.
This review wouldn’t be over without talking about M.N.Shyamalan. The writer- director once again comes up with his kind of a movie. Visually the film is outstanding. The movie has enough thrills to keep you engaged. Regarding the plot, yes it was ridiculous. Algae release toxins to kill some predators in the ocean and that concept is brought to land. MNS in all his movies takes you into a world of his own. If you go with him you’ll enjoy else you would be laughing at the plot. Innovativeness is found all around the movie whether the suicides or the chase sequences between humans and winds or Mark talking to trees.
You can see MNS’ creativeness in many places. Like the movie Unbreakable in which when Bruce Willis finds out that he is the person who is supposed to maintain our planet taking care of the scum… a bad guy walks through a door. The board saying “MAINTANENCE” found on the door is focused. Similarly in this movie… when Mark starts believing the plant theory and thinks that we screwed up the planet, we come across a board near a model home with the words “YOU DESREVE THIS”. Genius. I wonder how can someone who concentrates on such details failed to see the mic inside the frame on more than one occasion. I was disappointed with that.
On the minus side, the plot and the pace of the movie will get on your nerves if you dont give a damn about what happens in the screen. The reason given for the happening event was also weird. But they do say that there are forces beyond our understanding. so ok why shouldn’t mother nature torture us??
This movie is not The sixth sense or signs or unbreakable. But this is good in its own way. You can’t make a classic every time you make a movie. The biggest problem of MNS is that 6th sense was his first movie. That is one of the best movie that you’ll get to see hence people expect movies of the same stature from him on his every outing which is the next best thing to impossible. His career is not perishing. When some one makes his own way and is stuck up on originality he is bound to have some ups and downs in his career.
THIS MOVIE IS DEFINTELY NOT A PART OF THE DOWNS OF HIS CAREER.
RATING : 7/10
P.S: The movie ends with the event beginning to happen in some other country. May be he should make a sequel called ‘the happening after the first happening happened’. The title may not make any sense but hey I am just trying to use the various forms of the word HAPPEN as much as possible in this review!!!
- V
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Review: The Happening
Why did I see this Movie: We all love M Night don't we????
Critique: I have always liked M Night as a director. He may be a lousy actor but let’s face it, we all loved Signs and Sixth Sense. In his new outing "The Happening" he has made his most simple film to date. The plot is non existent and whatever we can make out for one is still simpler.
Plants emit a toxin that makes people commit suicides. Violent suicides. Now that is a simple plot isn’t it? Now the first sequence set in New York is quite effective and makes you expect the rest. From that point on it proceeds in a snail pace (Not that I am complaining) until the point where they form a group in the middle of nowhere. Then on the movie moves in an even slower pace
But that’s what one expects from Manoj. None of films were fast moving or had amazing and exciting moments all along. They just come along a slow plot and here it’s still the same. The speed of the film was never a problem for me, coz I felt that it kept me interested the whole time.
Mark Wahlberg did a good job in the role of the science teacher. He was convincing most of the time in a role where there is not much to do. The leading lady Zooey has more scope to act than Mark and has done a decent job. Their relationship was cute.
There are no twists in the film that perhaps is the only twist!!!
The End: Overall I enjoyed this film, not because I like Manoj, but because this is a pretty decent film. The Suicides are chilling and gives you creeps in more than one place. The film was good and only thing missing was a cameo by M Night.
Rating: 7/10
One last thing: This may not be as good as Sixth Sense or Signs, but then again you have to understand you can’t make a masterpiece in everyone of your films. Especially, when all your work is 100% original and is not adapted or inspired.
Critique: I have always liked M Night as a director. He may be a lousy actor but let’s face it, we all loved Signs and Sixth Sense. In his new outing "The Happening" he has made his most simple film to date. The plot is non existent and whatever we can make out for one is still simpler.
Plants emit a toxin that makes people commit suicides. Violent suicides. Now that is a simple plot isn’t it? Now the first sequence set in New York is quite effective and makes you expect the rest. From that point on it proceeds in a snail pace (Not that I am complaining) until the point where they form a group in the middle of nowhere. Then on the movie moves in an even slower pace
But that’s what one expects from Manoj. None of films were fast moving or had amazing and exciting moments all along. They just come along a slow plot and here it’s still the same. The speed of the film was never a problem for me, coz I felt that it kept me interested the whole time.
Mark Wahlberg did a good job in the role of the science teacher. He was convincing most of the time in a role where there is not much to do. The leading lady Zooey has more scope to act than Mark and has done a decent job. Their relationship was cute.
There are no twists in the film that perhaps is the only twist!!!
The End: Overall I enjoyed this film, not because I like Manoj, but because this is a pretty decent film. The Suicides are chilling and gives you creeps in more than one place. The film was good and only thing missing was a cameo by M Night.
Rating: 7/10
One last thing: This may not be as good as Sixth Sense or Signs, but then again you have to understand you can’t make a masterpiece in everyone of your films. Especially, when all your work is 100% original and is not adapted or inspired.
-Kay
Saturday, June 14, 2008
REVIEW
DASAVATHARAM
Is everything that happens in this world is planned by God (a part of his design)? Or is there something called coincidence?? Dasavatharam puts forth this question and cleverly avoids answering it and asks us to make our own decision. The movie starts off in an arena where Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister of India and G.W.Bush are sitting side by side!!! Dr.Govindh starts narrating the story stating that it is important to know a lot of things to understand this story completely…
12th century. Nambi follows Lord Vishnu but the king wants everyone to follow Lord Shiva. In this battle of beliefs King wins and kills Nambi by dropping him into the ocean along with a Vishnu statue. Nambi’s wife kills herself in the temple.
2004. Govindh explains to his boss after a minor accident, the effect of the new BIO-WMD and the need to shut down the project. His boss feels otherwise and decides to sell it for a huge sum of money. Hence our hero is forced to steal it from there. What follows is his adventure in which circumstances force him to meet Andaal (Asin) and meet 8 other kamals each with thier own issues.
A lot of Chaos theory… sorry chaos ensues!!!
This entire 3 hrs is belongs to Kamal. He is there in every frame of the movie in one character or the other (except for the opening scene of 12th century… but he wrote this movie remember??!!? Hence technically he is THERE). Out of the 10 characters played by kamal, Rangarajan nambi (12th century), Govindh (hero), Fletcher (Ex-CIA), Balram Naidu (Telegu speaking Indian Intelligence officer) stands out because of characterizations. The other characters are not well written. Although they have their fair share of moments, they just fail to strike a chord. Pooragavan’s (black Kamal) character fights against soil being stolen. His make-up looks great but one could not say the same about the role. The singer Avtar (Punjabi Kamal) is there to provide drama and sentiment. Kamal as the Old lady has performed well. The Tall Muslim Kamal provides a few laughs. The Japanese Kamal does nothing in the movie except in the last sequence. Finally Kamal as George W Bush tries to depict the real character of Bush (funnily stupid).
Watch out for the scenes where Bush asks whether he could drop a nuclear bomb on the virus, or where Fletcher gives the finger to the security camera, or Nambi chanting Om Namo Narayana . These are some of the scenes that stay in your mind. The movie should’ve had more of these.
Asin looks pretty and does nothing. Mallika is there in the movie for the obvious reasons and does her job. There ain’t lot of other cast to talk about since all important characters relevant to the story are played by the same man!!
Then there is the technical aspect of the film. Cinematography is good. Music by Himesh is fine. CGI looks awkward in some places but scenes involving different kamals in same frame are done brilliantly. The tsunami scene which is of great importance in the movie looks OK. I’ve heard that creating CGI involving water is the toughest job for any graphics team. The only movie to have done a good job with water effects is The Day After Tomorrow. You can see a couple of ideas lifted directly from TDAT. The Statue of Liberty is replaced by Thiruvallur Statue and the Central library is replaced by a Mosque (Water did behave in front of Mosque exactly like it did in front of the library). There are some smart dialogues in the movie which is of typical kamal style. K.S. Ravikumar does a decent job as the director of the movie.
The film ends with the song ‘Ulaga Nayagane’. You get to see the effort and hard work the actor had to put into these characters. I cannot help but think if kamal had put half the effort he had put in the make up and acting into the script department the movie would’ve been outstanding. Now it looks like a 3 hour trailer of what kamal can do as an actor rather than as a movie!!
This film shows us what a brilliant actor Kamal Hasaan is. Kamal who has succeeded in this movie as an actor has fell way too short of expectations in the writing department. You can see this movie for Kamal the actor… but I think one has to wait for ‘Marmayogi’ to see him as a writer.
RATING: 6/10
P.S : It is quite interesting that if we rearrange the letters from GOVINDH we get my name with Initial!!!! Co-incidence?? Or Divine power?? Now I am freaked out!!!!!!
- V
Is everything that happens in this world is planned by God (a part of his design)? Or is there something called coincidence?? Dasavatharam puts forth this question and cleverly avoids answering it and asks us to make our own decision. The movie starts off in an arena where Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister of India and G.W.Bush are sitting side by side!!! Dr.Govindh starts narrating the story stating that it is important to know a lot of things to understand this story completely…
12th century. Nambi follows Lord Vishnu but the king wants everyone to follow Lord Shiva. In this battle of beliefs King wins and kills Nambi by dropping him into the ocean along with a Vishnu statue. Nambi’s wife kills herself in the temple.
2004. Govindh explains to his boss after a minor accident, the effect of the new BIO-WMD and the need to shut down the project. His boss feels otherwise and decides to sell it for a huge sum of money. Hence our hero is forced to steal it from there. What follows is his adventure in which circumstances force him to meet Andaal (Asin) and meet 8 other kamals each with thier own issues.
A lot of Chaos theory… sorry chaos ensues!!!
This entire 3 hrs is belongs to Kamal. He is there in every frame of the movie in one character or the other (except for the opening scene of 12th century… but he wrote this movie remember??!!? Hence technically he is THERE). Out of the 10 characters played by kamal, Rangarajan nambi (12th century), Govindh (hero), Fletcher (Ex-CIA), Balram Naidu (Telegu speaking Indian Intelligence officer) stands out because of characterizations. The other characters are not well written. Although they have their fair share of moments, they just fail to strike a chord. Pooragavan’s (black Kamal) character fights against soil being stolen. His make-up looks great but one could not say the same about the role. The singer Avtar (Punjabi Kamal) is there to provide drama and sentiment. Kamal as the Old lady has performed well. The Tall Muslim Kamal provides a few laughs. The Japanese Kamal does nothing in the movie except in the last sequence. Finally Kamal as George W Bush tries to depict the real character of Bush (funnily stupid).
Watch out for the scenes where Bush asks whether he could drop a nuclear bomb on the virus, or where Fletcher gives the finger to the security camera, or Nambi chanting Om Namo Narayana . These are some of the scenes that stay in your mind. The movie should’ve had more of these.
Asin looks pretty and does nothing. Mallika is there in the movie for the obvious reasons and does her job. There ain’t lot of other cast to talk about since all important characters relevant to the story are played by the same man!!
Then there is the technical aspect of the film. Cinematography is good. Music by Himesh is fine. CGI looks awkward in some places but scenes involving different kamals in same frame are done brilliantly. The tsunami scene which is of great importance in the movie looks OK. I’ve heard that creating CGI involving water is the toughest job for any graphics team. The only movie to have done a good job with water effects is The Day After Tomorrow. You can see a couple of ideas lifted directly from TDAT. The Statue of Liberty is replaced by Thiruvallur Statue and the Central library is replaced by a Mosque (Water did behave in front of Mosque exactly like it did in front of the library). There are some smart dialogues in the movie which is of typical kamal style. K.S. Ravikumar does a decent job as the director of the movie.
The film ends with the song ‘Ulaga Nayagane’. You get to see the effort and hard work the actor had to put into these characters. I cannot help but think if kamal had put half the effort he had put in the make up and acting into the script department the movie would’ve been outstanding. Now it looks like a 3 hour trailer of what kamal can do as an actor rather than as a movie!!
This film shows us what a brilliant actor Kamal Hasaan is. Kamal who has succeeded in this movie as an actor has fell way too short of expectations in the writing department. You can see this movie for Kamal the actor… but I think one has to wait for ‘Marmayogi’ to see him as a writer.
RATING: 6/10
P.S : It is quite interesting that if we rearrange the letters from GOVINDH we get my name with Initial!!!! Co-incidence?? Or Divine power?? Now I am freaked out!!!!!!
- V
Friday, June 6, 2008
Review
THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
This movie stars Jackie Chan & Jet Li together for the first time! This alone is enough to make people who have the slightest idea of who the above mentioned two are very much interested in this movie.
This movie is about a boy who turns into a man. It is about how this kung fu loving boy fights back against some bully boys in his place. What turns this boy into a hero is an adventure… The adventure where King Monkey has been turned into a statue by an evil emperor and only when a golden rod breaks the statue, The King will come back to life. As expected the person who gets that rod is our boy.
Adventure in ancient magical East Asia ensues…
Lets get to the point. I am a huge Jackie fan so I generally don’t give a lot of South Harmon Institute of Technology about the story. As long as Jackie gets enough screen time, I am ok with it. Yes… fortunately both the legends get lot screen time.
Jackie stars as this drunken Immortal guy and Jet Li as a Monk. These two give our hero some Kung fu lessons and prepare him to take the rod to the King monkey. A girl called sparrow whose parents were murdered by the evil king, joins this team to take revenge on the evil king.
This movie is all about Jackie and Jet Li and they don’t disappoint you even a bit. You also get to see an action sequence between these two, as the two legends battle each other for the rod. To see Jackie & Jet Li fight it out is enough to get your money worth!! There are enough of action sequences, humor (rain in the desert rocks!!), CG, Jackie and Jet Li for you to love this movie.
Jackie as usual is outstanding as the drunken immortal. I don’t think there’s anyone as charming and strong and funny as Mr. Chan when it comes to movies. Jet Li is amazing too… but his performance as the supposedly funny king monkey is not great. May be being funny is not Jet Li’s thing!! The chemistry between these two is great. Look out for their reaction when the boy tells them about Bruce Lee… simply outstanding. The protagonist is cool and the girl as sparrow is good. The evil team is also good. The final sequence where the boy Kung Fu s his enemies is greatly shot. Directed by Rob Minkoff(Stuart little) this movie would be great fun for kids too.
All in all not a great movie but when Jackie & Jet Li stars in the same movie… You have to see it!!!!!
RATING: 7/10
- V
This movie stars Jackie Chan & Jet Li together for the first time! This alone is enough to make people who have the slightest idea of who the above mentioned two are very much interested in this movie.
This movie is about a boy who turns into a man. It is about how this kung fu loving boy fights back against some bully boys in his place. What turns this boy into a hero is an adventure… The adventure where King Monkey has been turned into a statue by an evil emperor and only when a golden rod breaks the statue, The King will come back to life. As expected the person who gets that rod is our boy.
Adventure in ancient magical East Asia ensues…
Lets get to the point. I am a huge Jackie fan so I generally don’t give a lot of South Harmon Institute of Technology about the story. As long as Jackie gets enough screen time, I am ok with it. Yes… fortunately both the legends get lot screen time.
Jackie stars as this drunken Immortal guy and Jet Li as a Monk. These two give our hero some Kung fu lessons and prepare him to take the rod to the King monkey. A girl called sparrow whose parents were murdered by the evil king, joins this team to take revenge on the evil king.
This movie is all about Jackie and Jet Li and they don’t disappoint you even a bit. You also get to see an action sequence between these two, as the two legends battle each other for the rod. To see Jackie & Jet Li fight it out is enough to get your money worth!! There are enough of action sequences, humor (rain in the desert rocks!!), CG, Jackie and Jet Li for you to love this movie.
Jackie as usual is outstanding as the drunken immortal. I don’t think there’s anyone as charming and strong and funny as Mr. Chan when it comes to movies. Jet Li is amazing too… but his performance as the supposedly funny king monkey is not great. May be being funny is not Jet Li’s thing!! The chemistry between these two is great. Look out for their reaction when the boy tells them about Bruce Lee… simply outstanding. The protagonist is cool and the girl as sparrow is good. The evil team is also good. The final sequence where the boy Kung Fu s his enemies is greatly shot. Directed by Rob Minkoff(Stuart little) this movie would be great fun for kids too.
All in all not a great movie but when Jackie & Jet Li stars in the same movie… You have to see it!!!!!
RATING: 7/10
- V
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull
Why did I see this Movie: INDY!!!!!!!!! That’s why. I went on the first day the movie got released in India (a sad 1 week after US release). I have always loved the original 3 flicks. They were and are arguably the best adventure films ever made. One just wonders how 3 guys in 60s can come up with something of the same magnitude.
Critique: Now that’s a movie. A real action adventure movie. Many might say this is not as good as Raiders or the last crusade, but to hell with them. This is a good movie and that’s the bottom line.
I am not going to get into the storyline of this film feeling that one needs to see it himself. Much of film is just about how good Ford manages to reprise a brilliant and charming character like Indy. And the truth is he is still as charming as he was 19 years ago. He carries off this role just as always with charm and humor. One just feels anguish that this film was not made 10 years ago. Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams is doing a Sean Connery from the crusade. His relationship with Indy is absolutely hilarious to watch. Shia proves once again that he is a good actor and he as Mutt is, if not better, as good as Sean Connery as Indy’s partner.
The stunts in the movie are brilliant. The vehicle chase sequence in the Amazon is just too good. It’s absolutely amazing to watch. The sword fight was perhaps the best scene in that fight. Also the warehouse fight is real good. Real Indy.
Much has to be said about the technical aspects of the film. The production design and special effects are out of this world. Two scenes made me feel the same way I felt when Rocky knocked out his opponents; I felt the hair in my neck raise. First when Indy climbs and sees the "m" cloud after the explosion and the other is in the last scene when "The Rocks are hanging in the SKY”. They made me feel that Indy is back and is just as good as before.
The script writer David Koepp has done a good job with the script. It is just typical Indiana Jones script. Direction is top notch just as you expect him to be. Not his best film by far, but still a good one.
I had no major problems with the films. Only thing was a few scenes were a bit cheesy. Like the Tarzan stunt by Mutt.
The End: Overall this is a pretty good adventure flick. Perhaps the best since “The last crusade”. Or it may have been the Indy effect. Anyways I enjoyed the movie big time and even if you any of the old Indy movies, you will love this.
Rating: 9/10
-Kay
Critique: Now that’s a movie. A real action adventure movie. Many might say this is not as good as Raiders or the last crusade, but to hell with them. This is a good movie and that’s the bottom line.
I am not going to get into the storyline of this film feeling that one needs to see it himself. Much of film is just about how good Ford manages to reprise a brilliant and charming character like Indy. And the truth is he is still as charming as he was 19 years ago. He carries off this role just as always with charm and humor. One just feels anguish that this film was not made 10 years ago. Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams is doing a Sean Connery from the crusade. His relationship with Indy is absolutely hilarious to watch. Shia proves once again that he is a good actor and he as Mutt is, if not better, as good as Sean Connery as Indy’s partner.
The stunts in the movie are brilliant. The vehicle chase sequence in the Amazon is just too good. It’s absolutely amazing to watch. The sword fight was perhaps the best scene in that fight. Also the warehouse fight is real good. Real Indy.
Much has to be said about the technical aspects of the film. The production design and special effects are out of this world. Two scenes made me feel the same way I felt when Rocky knocked out his opponents; I felt the hair in my neck raise. First when Indy climbs and sees the "m" cloud after the explosion and the other is in the last scene when "The Rocks are hanging in the SKY”. They made me feel that Indy is back and is just as good as before.
The script writer David Koepp has done a good job with the script. It is just typical Indiana Jones script. Direction is top notch just as you expect him to be. Not his best film by far, but still a good one.
I had no major problems with the films. Only thing was a few scenes were a bit cheesy. Like the Tarzan stunt by Mutt.
The End: Overall this is a pretty good adventure flick. Perhaps the best since “The last crusade”. Or it may have been the Indy effect. Anyways I enjoyed the movie big time and even if you any of the old Indy movies, you will love this.
Rating: 9/10
-Kay
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