K.G.F. Chapter 1

Before we can proceed ahead for the review, I have just one question, "Why do you watch a movie?" Give it a thought and let me know.

I am sure you have your answer. This is that type of movie which may leave you inspired, emotional and enthralled.

The movie is originally a Kannada production with it being released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu & Malayalam languages.

 The beginning of the movie takes you back in time to tell a story of a young boy. A young boy who wants the world.

The plot of the movie is simple and short. Its the visualization of it on the big screen takes it on a whole new different level. If you thought Bhaubali was epic in the Indian film industry, then this one is going to blow your mind.

Its a visual treat to watch and is an out and out action movie. It keeps you engrossed from the start that you wont move your eyes off it. It captures the journey of the young man whose mother makes him take a promise that he will be a rich man when he dies. From being a shoe shiner he ends up becoming the most dangerous guy.

It has its moments. From the way the story is told, the mother-son bonding, the young man's desire to become rich & powerful, the play at hand... Depends which one gets your attention.

Its the direction and the screenplay of the movie which plays a pivotal role. Prashanth Neel does a great job at it. There however is a flaw in the movie which can be overlooked which would be the love angle. It could have been shown in a better way especially the connect.

The movie protagonist Raja Krishnappa Bairya alias Rocky played by Yash does his job to the core. The intensity of the eyes especially when his face is covered with his hair & beard.

Archana Jois as the mother, Anmol Vijay as young Rocky have also done a splendid work. Srinidhi Shetty had a small role. Anant Nag & Malavika Avinash were good. So was the character who plays the house keeping role and the old Muslim guy who plays as a confidante of Rocky. I am not commenting on the grey role played by others as very small role given except for Ramachandra Raju as Garuda who killed it with his ferocity.

Overall, the movie will leave you in awe. You get the same kind of feeling that one might have felt during Bhaubhali, only bigger this time.

Its a must watch movie and on the big screens. Go for it!!

Lupt

It was a holiday yesterday and decided to catch up on movies that you haven't watched for months. You check up on the movie listing and shortlist two movies both equally good. A moment of indecisiveness comes in.

You weigh the pros & cons and then make your choice. Check the movie listing timings and decide on it.

Its the D-day and you make a dash to reach the theater on time to book tickets & watch movie. However the traffic on the roads felt otherwise as you looked on the clock ticking....

The counter is filled with people in line something that never happens. You knew you were going to miss the beginning but you will wait for your turn to buy tickets. Reached the counter and tell the girl "Tumbbad, 12:20 show" You select your seats and rush inside to catch up on the movie.

As you enter the screen, the attendant stops you saying the movie has not ended and that yours starts at 12:55. You are amused thinking that they probably postponed it. Check the ticket for timings and it says 12:55.

You enter the screen hall to find it empty making you wonder it cannot be. Find your seat & take it. The movie begins and shows the title as "Lupt".  I checked my ticket again and find it written on it. 

The thought of leaving did come but I decided to stick and yes it was certainly not a wise decision....

 Lupt is supposed to be a movie based on supernatural horror genre but it fails badly to come as one.

Its a story of a family vacation turning into a nightmare. The lead character is played by Javed Jaffrey who is troubled by images which he thinks is a figment of his imagination. His psychiatrist friend recommends taking a break to unwind. 

 He ends up losing his son, wife in an unexplained manner. The question arises if he can save his daughter's life...

I am at my wits end on how can Javed Jaffrey, Vijay Raaz & Niki Walia could agree to do such movie. The script of the movie is so weak that even a kid could point out the flaws. 

The direction felt as if it was done scene by scene something one can easily notice. The writer and director of the movie are one & the same Prabhuraj. Makes me wonder why would anyone produce such a half baked movie.

This will not be recommended and I hope I have your sympathies for going through this difficult time and churning a movie review out of it.

 

Ant-Man And The Wasp

I have to admit that when Ant-Man was released, I almost did not see it. Later when I came to know that all MCU movies are inter-connected. I watched it.

It requires no guesses that when Ant-Man and the Wasp released, I made sure that I watch it so that I am able to connect the dots.

When you look at Ant-Man, he looks like the regular guy with family and ended up becoming a superhero. I think one would wonder why they should watch the movie when Ant-Man is not big of a superhero compared to Iron Man, Thor or Captain America who simply own their movies.

Everyone has a role to play in the built up of the aftermath of the use of Infinity stones and I believe Ant-Man will be playing a vital one. I think apart from Deadpool (who have no connections with the related MCU movies), Ant-Man is the other guy with a sense of humor.

Taking it from the Ant-Man movie and before the Avengers: Infinity War, Hank Pym & Hope believe that they can bring Janet back from the Quantum Realm. As Scott Lang was able to do that.

Meanwhile Scott is under house arrest for helping Captain America and is two days away to get his freedom back. Apparently when Hank & Hope do their experiment of connecting to the quantum realm, Scott end up with a vision and they realize that he is in quantum entanglement with her.

There is only one problem that apart from them, there is a ghost named Ava & Sonny Burch who are also behind it for their own reasons. 

Do they succeed in getting Janet back and saving the technology from falling in the wrong hands is what the movie is all about.

I have to say that Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd is very understated and he pulls it off very well. Apart from him, Michael Pena is the one to watch out for. He stood out in Ant-Man too and this one too. Evangeline Lilly does not shine out in this one. Michael Douglas was good with this one-liners

The pace of the movie is enough to keep you glued to the screen and not too fast to wonder what's going on.  Laurence Fishburne & Michelle Pfieffer make their presence felt in the movie albeit minuscule roles.

The plot of the movie is not that great but the direction of Peyton Reed makes sure that there is no room for boredom.

This movie is certainly worth a watch more than once. Do watch it.

P.S. Do not miss out on the post credit scene. Holds vital clue.

Deadpool 2

Deadpool 2 is out and going by the first movie of the series, the expectations are surely set high.

The movie's beginning gets your attention from the start and yeah with the witty and sarcasm, one can just fall in love with it.

A note of caution though, you need to know a whole lot more about the X men to get the references and jokes. Otherwise it will be a lost cause.

The movie plot is about protecting a boy from the villain from the future out to kill him.

I have to say when you look at the movie as a whole, it surely does disappoints. The plot not being strong enough. Might have well have to sit back and think what's going on here.

Having said that, yes there are scenes that gets you a laughing riot. The team formed to save the boy, then again it all comes down to the plot of the movie. It surely can't get it up and running.

Even Deadpool's witticism cannot save the movie. The script of the movie is not tight enough and there are moments where you feel completely bored...

Director David Leitch should have taken care of that. Ryan Reynold was at his best. Moreana Baccarain looking beautiful. Josh Brolin playing the villian, somehow could not do justice. If you look at Thanos in Avengers: Infinity  War you will understand.

Julian Dennison the kid did justice to his role. Zazie Beetz certainly gets your attention in her minuscule role.

 If you are going to watch the movie, watch it for Ryan Reynolds and you will not be disappointed.

This is going to be a one time watch movie unless you like Deadpool's witticism!!

Avengers: Infinity War

The last time the Avengers movie came out, it was in 2015 that's like 3 years ago. Isn't that a long time to wait for all the superheroes to come together again to save the world?

Thankfully MCU knows how to keep the audience busy with other superheroes movies coming out. With each movie interconnected to each other, that only kept them going with keen.

The Avengers Infinity War could not have got any bigger the way it was build up through its others movies in the past. I take it that you are an Marvel movie fan to understand what the movie is all about. In case you are not, then I suggest you either read the comics to get hold of who is who and what they are fighting for or watch every movie MCU has released from Avengers: Age of Ultron.

No spoilers will be revealed so you can certainly read the review but that also means that I cannot reveal the plot of the movie. It only makes my job difficult on how to put it across...

The first scene of movie drags you straight in the movie plot. There are many small plots that is played out in different planets and eventually leads to one dramatic showdown.

On one hand Thor has his own reasons to go after Thanos. Hulk, Iron Man & Dr. Strange come together to save Earth. Captain America, Black Widow & Falcon fight to save Infinity Stone from Thanos's Black Order.

One can also see the presence of Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Black Panther among others. There were quite a few surprises.

The movie is completely action packed from the beginning till the end. It certainly does not disappoints the way expectation has been build up.

The one thing that comes odd is the way the character of Thanos is portrayed. Bear in mind, that he is the villian but certain actions of his goes the other way. He does not fit into the generic bad guys and that makes him stand out. We will only know about it when the next Avengers will be out. Was he meant to be more than a bad guy?

In a nutshell, the movie is about Thanos vs Avengers & other superheroes trying to get their hands on the Infinity stones to save the universe.

There are however certain aspect though minute in the movie that does not make any sense. Like can humans breathe in other planets? When your body is pierced with a weapon, shouldn't one die which is not the case here. Not sure if this was done deliberately to have the next installment coming up.

When you have a movie plot which is interconnected with other MCU movies, I think its a big task for the writers to ensure that everything that is shown has its relevance. After all the fans keeps checking every detail.

The movie keeps you engrossed and that says all about the directors Russo brothers. To keep audience glued to the screen is not an easy task.

When a movie has a multiple star cast, it becomes difficult to point any single character given the footage that has been given to them. However for me, its the Thanos character played by Josh Brolin stands out.

The climax of the movie certainly evokes mixed reactions (word used since cannot reveal everything) and it depends on how one takes it.

The end credit scene certainly add further enigma which I believe is going to be revealed in 2019. Till then one has to be patient and enjoy other MCU movie releases this year hoping it provides clue...

The movie is a must watch for any MCU fan. For the non MCU fan, well you have to learn from the beginning to understand it.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

One of the problems for sequel movies is that if they don't release them in time in a span of say one or two years, people forget what the movie was all about.

This holds true for the third sequel of the Maze Runner i.e., Death Cure. The movie is being released after three years of the last movie came out of the series.

If you have not watched the earlier series movies, then you wont come to know what the movie is all about.

The plot carries on from the previous installment wherein Teresa joins back WCKD. While Minho is captured by Janson among other immune children who were being taken to the last city.

Thomas however had different plans as he leaves the camp to rescue his friend Minho. Was he able to that? Was a cure was found for the Flare virus? Was the end of WCKD near?

You will have to watch the movie to know that!

As the movie begins, it quickly gets into action from the word go. The plot keeps you intrigued until you find Thomas and his friends make an entry into the Last City. 

There does comes a moment in the movie where you wonder if what the WCKD was actually doing the right thing. Given that it was helping in saving lives of people. Then again its a question of contemplation best left to each on its own.

Its the passage to the climax that becomes to hard to digest. The way they found the cure for the disease. Again if you are watching a sci-fi theme movie, one does expects them to be backed up with facts and how its shown. This was missing here.

The climax however certainly had a different take altogether, surely may touch emotions of a few specially with Newt's note.

The film does leave you on a mix note. It could have been better had the cure of the virus was shown in a better way then what it was. It certainly had elements to be a good series of sequel movies but then lost its momentum to build the end.

The cast of the movie did justice to their part. Be it Dylan or Thomas Brodie-Sangster and others.

The screen play by T.S.Nowlin should have been tight. Taking into consideration on what is highlighted. The credit does goes to the director Wess Ball for keeping the movie on a tight leash only to be let down by the story plot.



The movie is a one time watch.

P.S.: A word of advice, do watch the earlier movies in the series to understand the plot of the movie.

Insidious: The Last Key

When the third movie came out of the Insidious series, I thought that it was the end to a beautiful series which kept on getting better and better like wine.

However two days earlier, I came to know that the fourth installment of the series is being released.  This I conclude is the end of the series.

It is about the life of Elise Rainer and how she ended up being a psychic and had her own demons to fight for closure.

It takes back her to the house where it all began. She also have her sidekicks Specs & Tucker on her side.

I have to say that one cannot compare the previous parts of the series to this one. The movie though is not that tight as its earlier parts.

It surely though makes you scream or move out of your chair with its evil presence on the screen. The comic scenes also gets you going.

There are though many flaws in the plot which was either not paid attention too or was overlooked. There was no back story to the demon who was causing so much trouble. No explanation of significance of the keys on the demon fingers.

On top of that Elise has no recollection of talking to herself as a child. I am sure one would remember that! Her mother's role and strength is another mystery.

Kind of disappointed the way victory was hailed over the demon.

Overall, the movie does gives one enough goosebumps that one might even overlook at what is mentioned over here.

Specs played by Leigh Whannell also happens to be the writer of the Insidious series and Saw. The series could have been a perfect, had they pulled the plug on the holes on this one. Yet to come across a series which gets it right on all the parts.

The actors in the movie Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Bruce Davison, Leigh Whannell, Hana Hayes & Tessa Ferrer have done their jobs well.

Director James Wan has done well with the series and this one too keep the audience glued to screen if only the plot had done justice.

Do watch it, its worth a watch.