Ready Player one is a movie I have been eagerly awaiting since I read the book and heard that Spielberg is making the movie adaptation…
Also.. it didn’t release on time and I had to go see Baaghi 2 (read up that review!)
So finally, after another week of agonizing wait I finally got to experience this movie.
This is a film, not to be just seen but experienced in Imax…
Is it the best Spielberg film? Not even close… but it is the best film he has made in decades…
Somehow I felt like I was a child again and I was seeing a film made specifically for me. I know its illogical, but the somehow this famous Hollywood director has made a film which feels like its tailored just for the geeks… (namely myself and other geeks worldwide).
It’s a treasure trove of Movies, Games and Music easter eggs. There are too many references to recount but somehow it ALL just works and flows together.
Let’s come to the Plot:
The plot and premise is same as the book, there are 3 keys hidden in a Virtual Reality world called the oasis and the first one to find them all will win the ownership of the VR world. Simple.
The characters in the movie are there just to serve up nonstop cinematic action, movie trivia and game references. I cannot imagine anyone other than Spielberg who won’t screw it up royally.

Acting & Action :
The acting is typical for an action movie, not too deep but not bad enough to pull you out of the cinema. The acting is not why anyone will go for this film…
This film has some of the best driving, war and fight action seen in recent times. The effect is like seeing the Matrix meets Wreck It Ralph…
The visual FX is good, the VR world looks very modern day game like, yet is sci-fi enough to not yet be a reality.
The music is by allan silvestri of back to the future fame and who does an good job in making the music feel like a refence to the 80s (which it is)

Direction :
The author of the book himself couldn’t believe that they had gotten Steven Spielberg to direct the film. I myself was a bit tepid about this, since the BERG has made some pretty mediocre films in the last few years, from war of the worlds to bridge of spies to the BFG (which sank without a trace)
But Spielberg is back in action and has (I repeat myself) made his BEST film in more than a decade. His direction style is old school, his shots and editing are classic and they WORK big time. The action is pretty big and epic but they don’t overdo it and kill out the plot of the film.


Rating :

This film spoke to me in way a lot of films don’t. As fan of the book and being 100% the target demographic for this film, I would love to Rate it 10 / 10.
But as a film reviewer, I do see some small niggling issues, nothing worth griping about, but it drags my score down to a 8/10. A Damn good fun at the cinema!
This is a MUST watch film in Imax 3D… this movie rocks!

Overall :
This is a film for the nerds and geeks, the hero drives a Delorean from Back to the Future. If that doesn’t make any sense to you, then you might as well stay away!
But to those who would like to see King Kong, Godzilla, MechaGodzilla, the Delorean, Iron Giant along with 100s of more such characters in one spectacular action adventure, then…

Ready, Player one ?

Blackmail is a difficult film to review… not just because I saw it at a pre-release special screening (normally we buy the tickets to ensure the review is fair and unbiased) but also because it’s difficult to gauge such a film based on certain criteria’s.
The film is about a common everyday person called Dev who one day finds out that his wife is having an affair and so begins the plot of this Blackmail.
Direction and Art:

The attention to detail by the director and art team is marvellous, the story is sort of set in navi Mumbai (being my residing city) and I could recognise the roads and streets of kharghar and vashi immediately. Followed by a close-up shot of the car’s license plate, which had a Vashi RTO number… this adds NOTHING to the story as such, but it makes the premise even more grounded and set in reality. Not too many people will pay attention to such details, but it’s nice that the director has seen fit to pepper his film with such detail, be it a misaligned gun or a water cut… Or a background hoarding which has a rather inappropriate double meaning line as a slogan…
(You will know what I am talking about when you see the movie)
Plot :

Now coming to the plot of the film, its rather well written but the pace is slightly lagging. If you liked this director’s previous outing with Delhi Belly, then the pace might disappoint you, as this isn’t a mad cap youth comedy but a more middle aged story.
Now we come to the dark humour part of the film…
This film is a DARK comedy. It gets AS DARK as possible in this setting. The director is more or less no holds barred and is only a few steps from reaching Tarantino heights of blood and gore albeit set in a much more ludicrously funny situation. Think Coen brothers but more desi…
VERY few films can make a violent death look funny, much less give the audience a nervous chuckle when a main character dies rather abruptly. This movie is not for the squeamish or the family crowd. The director has made the violence, death, blood and extremely perverse deeds of the characters appear rather humorous but not in a laugh out loud sort of way, but in a shake your head and say, ‘such people exists too’ sort of way.

Acting :

Irrfan as usual, delivers… He is flawless in the film. He doesn’t break character for a moment and he leaves behind his usual irrfan-isms and plays a very docile yet internally turbulent and a perverted office worker. His frustration is seen more in his eyes than his actions or dialog, which is damn good acting. His obsession with stealing other office worker’s wife’s photos is both perverse and yet so matter of factly done, it’s hard to say if it’s funny or just disgusting!
The rest of the cast delivers to, with really good performances all around. Omi viadya of 3 idiots is back and he is again playing chatur-ish type of a character. The cast of office workers around irrfan is given a big role in the film and they too play their roles very believably.
The character of irrfan’s wife is the only role, which has no substance or anything to it other than to deliver the films plot and act on its devices. She has no good dialog, no good scenes, nothing. I even forgot her name by the end of the film since she was so unmemorable. So when irrfans character writes her name, I had to ask someone, ‘who is that ?’

Overall :

This is not a film for everyone. Quite a few people in the audience gasped at the hyper violence unleashed at times. This is a DARK comedy, which shows how twisted everyday folk can become when the situation so calls for it…
So if you like such type of cinema, (such as… jaane bhi do yaaron , pineapple express, delhi belly, shor in the city, fargo, burn after reading, the big Lebowski) then by all means this film is for you…
If you go in expecting a ‘house full or welcome’ sort of rip roaring crass comedy, then stay away. This has Too much of good cinema for such expectations.

Rating :
I wanted to give this a solid Eight, but the ending was a bit flat and the pace was sort of slow, nothing unenjoyable, but certainly not as much fun as Delhi Belly.
While Belly was a more entertaining film, this was a much better made film in overall terms of quality, scripting and plot.
So, my final rating is 7/10.
A Good times at the cinemas for those who want something more than just pure faltu bakwass comedy and crime films.

Full disclosure, I actually saw this film YESTERDAY morning…

It took me a full 24 hours to get enough mental balance back so that I can review this film and then go back into a fetal position and start shaking all over again…
So here comes the Baaghi 2 Review…

Why even see such a film? One might ask… well I actually went to Ready Player One at Imax wadala, but that movie’s release was cancelled at the last minute and then myself and a film maker friend of mine decided to not waste the trip by seeing a super cheap priced show of Baaghi 2…

BIG mistake.

REALLY BIG Mistake.

I have seen terrible films, sometimes in theaters along with that film maker and actor. But if I had seen this film with ahmed Khan the director, I don’t know how I would have reacted.
So we come to the plot, which is a direct remake of 2016’s Telugu film Kshanam. So the first half sort of made sense in a twisted sort of way. Tiger Shroff plays an mannequin on whole they have given a army uniform to define his character. Other than that, he has absolutely ZERO character. His role is like a black hole, it absorbs everything and gives out nothing.
Disha Patani has great legs, shoulders, stomach, waist, so on and so forth. How do I know that? Because in the first half she has shown off each of those body parts, sometimes all of them together… that’s her character. She wears short clothes. That’s it. Nothing else.
Every dialog in the flashback is the same as the Telugu original, the director has sleep walked through it, which is better than what comes ahead.
INTERVAL. I already have a head ache due to looking at disha’s exposed body parts and Tiger’s gravity sucking performance. Now comes the bad part!

Post interval and a shocking TWIST, the plot moves into strange territory, none of which is helped by Tiger’s lifeless acting, but Randeep Hooda does a great job with his limited scope of playing an Drug addict police officer who looks like a hippie.
The plot SOMEHOW forces itself into Rambo 2 and also First blood. Suddenly this thriller turns into the stoopidest high octane action to EVER grace our theaters.
Rambo aka Tiger Balm Shroff is now killing without aiming hundreds of professional mercenaries all of whom have guns, but due to their index fingers being cut off, cant shoot back, so they just carry their guns and run around while Tiger ‘the roaring’ Shroff kills em off. Seriously, not one in the hundreds of people try to shoot at this guy…

Then we have some bad editing, and the main villain is seen squirming in fear. Explosions happen, headaches also (for the audience).

Leading to the reveal of this thriller mystery which had dialogs straight lifted from Rambo 1 (first blood) delivered by the biggest moron in the world Master shifuji (he was also in the first baaghi).
The hero’s black hole and the thin ass villain collide, the villain dies randomly, my head feels like it was assaulted by a Royal Bengal tiger….

Rating : MINUS 100 Out of 10. That is -100/10. This isn’t a film, it’s an experiment by Bollywood to weed out the ones who cannot stand such films, kill them by melting their brains and then the surviving morons will inherit the earth.

This movie CAN lead to mental health issues in the logical sort of people.
I am not against masala actioners like Dabaang, rowdy Rathod etc, all of which I enjoyed. This is a Moron actioner, made by a moron, acted in my a lifeless zombie and don’t even get me started about the remake of Ek Do Teen… that was like visually pouring acid into a viewers eye balls..

Conclusion : If you hate someone, please tie them to a chair and play this movie on repeat. By the 3rd or 4th repeat, that person will be dead.
Please avoid at all costs.

This is a spy thriller by one of Indian’s best director’s neeraj pandey.
Starring Manoj Bajpayee and Siddharth Malhothra and Rakul Preet singh, this is a movie about the Indian army, its covert ops and spies.
As such, the film starts out great and then has a strong first half. The music is reminiscent of BABY and is put to good use.
Both the leads are quite strong in their roles and the tale of army intelligence vs corrupt officers is well setup in the first half.
Then we come the weak portion of the film, the second half doesn’t fully deliver on the setup of the first half. The story meanders a bit, before come down to some clichés… not to mention an over long dialog scene with naseeruddin shah is SO LONG that people in the theatre got bored. Can’t fault them, in a tight thriller, there is no time for such a long dialog scene, which ultimately did not have much content.
This film is not one of the director’s best. BABY, Dhoni, Special 26, etc were better.
This is worth a one-time watch for Spy movie aficionados.
Overall :
This movie has believable technology, good eye to detail, the plot holes are more or less missing. So its logical and smart, but its not exciting in the second half.

Rating : 6/10. For a solid thriller which could have been more tense in the climax!

To the horror of the white supremists and racists everywhere, Black Panther is a movie which shows the dark skinned African as not just the best in the world, but above, way way above the average first world country.

Welcome to the new world. This film is quite an achievement. Not just in filmmaking, but also in cultural and social impact.
Black Panther follows the story of T’challa who we first met in Civil War and his ongoing fight to secure his secretive kingdom Wakanda.

The movie:

Black Panther is a slick film, its like Lion King meets James bond. It has its bond-ish villain, the gadgets and T’challa’s own sister is the wakandan version of Q. but the film goes on to be much more than just a stylish slicker and has some good message about nations and helping the people around you.
The direction:

Ryan coogler is a relatively new director with just 3 films total till date. However, he has made some good films, Fruitvale station, creed both hit the ball out of the park and this movie too is a directorial homerun. The film manages to humanize the villain, show that heroes and the past isn’t perfect and sometimes the old way of life can exist with new ways without causing conflicts. All this along with great sense of characters and timing of dialogs, comedy or seriousness, these are some of this director’s win for this film.
The movie does not come across as cheesy or campy, but it still has the tribal feel, even with new technology and superheroes.
And, That is the best part of the film…
It does not feel like a superhero film at all, it’s like we forget they are superheroes, the conflict boils down to the key issues. The use of technology and costumes is secondary. Which is how it always must be…

The Acting:

This movie is a whos who of the Black community in Hollywood. From Forest whitaker to Angela Bassett, not to mention Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya, the actors are all top notch and they bring their acting chops to the film.
Chadwick Boseman is quite effortless as T’Challa, he shows how he is a king and a warrior. He was excellent in Civil War and continues here with a powerful performance. He also has a humourous side, which he tries to hide, but sometimes comes through.
Other notable performance is the role of T’challa’s sister Shuri. She is quirky but just the right amount and can fight when she has to. I personally would love to see her interaction with Tony Stark if there is ever such a scenario.

The Music & Sounds :

This movie wouldn’t work is not for the sounds and music. The feel of the music is definitely African and for us 80’s kids, the sound track at times reminds us of the Lion King.
The songs used go well with the film and there is a very deadpool moment where Ulysses Klaue Played by the legendary Andy Serkis (last seen in Age of Ultron), shouts to his henchman to start the music, this isn’t a funeral and then the song blasts away during the action.

Overall :

The film has many goods, but it is not without its negatives.
They have done a smart thing with the film. This film is most isolated film in the new MCU as they know a LOT of new people will see this film due to its cultural relevance. Many of those who haven’t been following the Marvel Movies. Therefore, this film stands on its own and the events of Civil War is recapped (in brief) to help this movie’s plot flow better.
Now the films biggest problem, due to this same thing, nothing happens in this film, which has any impact on the larger MCU, except maybe the last post credit scene. If someone does not see this film, skips from Civil War to Infinity War, they would not miss a beat. Everything comes back to the same after the film. The movie’s plot neatly ties itself up without anything actually happening.
This makes this film, redundant.
Not to mention the film’s plot is more or less a remake of Iron Man 2 with more Africa and a much better villain.
So don’t go in expecting a Thor Ragnarok, the events of which has changed the marvel’s universe!

Rating :

7.5 / 10.

This is a damn good film, lots of fun action, surprising and non cliché moments. The VFX is stupendous and truly one of the best marvel films of phase 3, but then again unlike DC marvel REALLY knows what it is doing so far!

Add to this 7.5 score the historical and cultural relevance of this film, I give a final score of 9 / 10.

Padman….
This movie is difficult to review objectively as a film Vs a social message.
As a social message, this is a very important film in Bollywood because it fearlessly talks about issues that are taboo even in urban India.
The original events this film is based upon happened in the south of India, but this film is set in Madhya Pradesh to be more accessible to the Hindi going audience. Which is fine, nothing much is lost in that translation from south to the middle of India, taboo is taboo.

Direction :
R Balki has done a fantastic job of bringing out this social drama and it is not as preachy or annoying as Toilet ek Prem Katha and somehow shows the lead’s values in a much more subtle way. It also shows how the people in the film as well as the audience of this film might react to the subject of menstruation.

Acting :
Akshay Kumar has somehow transformed himself from the Khiladi to making DAMN good cinema, be it, BABY, Oh My God, or this one, he is truly going the extra mile to be a sensaible actor in an nonsensical industry.
His acting is as expected really really good, he deserves some awards and the audiences full attention to his character’s plight.
Sonam Kapoor is not annoying at all in this film and she shows restraint in her performance making it for a subtle yet realistic depiction of a woman entrepreneur. I don’t know if her character is based on anyone real, but she does a fantastic performance.
The rest of the cast in smaller roles does well too, they are convincing as real life characters and don’t come across as caricatures.

Overall :
This is a well made film, but I am sure this movie will make boys and men squirm in their seats if this is a topic they are not too comfortable about, and that is a good thing. Its high time such social taboos are discarded and logic prevails.

Rating : 8.5 / 10. The film is good, it lacks a bit at times of dramatic tension and problems are sometimes solved too easily. But as a social message film this movie gets 10/10 from me.

Can the Star Wars Franchise EVER leave the shadow of the Original Trilogy and become something new and amazing?

Well, it Might… but the Last Jedi is not that movie.
Don’t get me wrong, this chapter in the Star Wars franchise is pretty damn good. So let’s start with the plus points...

NO SPOILERS AHEAD. NONE. ZERO.

The movie starts out with quite a bang and other than a slight slowdown in the middle, it has a great pacing, some amazing action sequences right up front and a great second half.
The acting is a LOT more improved than the force awakens and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker has done the role of his lifetime. Daisy ridley somehow looks prettier despite her sever hair style and john boyega is consistent. Oscar Isaac as Poe is given a lot more to do and he delivers the good stuff. The Late Carrie Fisher is also REALLY good as General Leia.
BUT This film is not out of the structure of Empire Strikes back AND Return of the jedi, merged into one… that is the predictable part of this film, but it does give new twists to those old clichés.
Unlike Rogue one, this movie doesn’t fell fully fresh and original, some parts yes, some parts not so much.

I REALLY HOPE episode 9 ventures into new territories as the Original Trilogy is all tapped out…
The music is good as it is with Every Star wars film…
The VFX, Cinematography etc. are all top notch… nothing less than what is expected from a star wars films, but I as a person, DESPITE enjoying this film a LOT still miss how ORIGINAL the Prequel trilogy of episode 1-2-3 were. EACH movie was SO distinct from the previous one and they kept getting better with each new sequel.

This movie is a bit clichéd, derivative, still entertaining, good fun, lots of humor, some GREAT cameos and good surprise moments.

Rating : On Par or slightly better than The Force Awakens, I rate it a solid 7.5/10.
For series new comers this film is UNWATCHABLE and will make NO SENSE. You have to see Epsidoe 4-5-6-7 OR at least Episode 7.

Having given a rating, I just need to say, I had a lot of fun watching this film, it was Star Wars, but not the way we used to see it, its like a outsiders remake of Star wars. Fans may not like it, but I liked the film overall despite the plot points being slightly reminiscent of the older films AND the new BattleStar Galactica’s First Episode of the First Season.

Last but not the least, (SLIGHT SPOILER) a Scene towards the end of the film is SO Baahubali / Rajnikant / Telugu movie types, I had to laugh out loud, it was a cool scene, but SO OVER the TOP!

Justice League, it could have been a flawed masterpiece or a total entertainer, but with lots of upheaval at WB and DC, no one expected this to be a… MEH.
I have been waiting for JUSTICE LEAGUE since the 90’s… All these awesome characters on screen, combined they are way more famous than the Avengers… but how the tables have turned…
The plot is VERY VERY similar to Josh Whedon’s avengers (He finished this film). A portal opens and villain with a pointy weapon slaughters a bunch of people setting of the events. The villain then looks for a way to permanently open the portal / combine the boxes to create hell on earth….
This movie is like Avengers 1 and 2 combined to form some unholy monster.
But enough about the bad parts… lets come to the good bits…
The heroes are GREAT! Batman settles in his role far better… Wonder Woman keeps up her charisma, fierce good looks mixed with compassion and elegance… The Flash is good as the goofy comic relief. Aqua man and Cyborg are underdeveloped with aquaman taking on a bit more articulate Hulk / Drax the destroyed role in the team.
The Marvel influence on the film is obvious.
Last but not the least (spoilers)
Superman… His resurrection scene is the best scene in the movie. Way better than the ending fight. The scene where the Flash is running past him and his eyes follow the flash… got a LOT of cheers from the audience… somehow how STRONG superman is, made the scene so much better.
But superman comes back as a vengeful god, but the moment he sees LOIS, he cools down fast, WAY too fast without any corresponding event or action, he is then grateful to batman who he was willing to murder a few moments ago… same problem as in BvS and the Martha scene…
As for the climax of the film, its generic, not as drawn out as Avengers 2 and not as cool as Avengers 1, the climax really had only ONE family who seemed to be at peril! It was such a no show; I wonder what the original scriptwriters had imagined.
Overall :

This movie is short with a running time of 120 mins. BUT still the opening 45 mins are a HUGE drag with no anticipation or proper tense buildup… its watchable, better than suicide squad and BvS.
Due to Josh Whedon’s work, there are a LOT more jokes that work, the inter hero scenes are GOLD. The movie is worth watching solely due to those scenes. The editing IS choppy at times, BUT not as bad as BvS and overall, despite plot holes and logic gaps, the film is watchable. Some of whedon’s typical humor scenes have added a LOT to the film. It’s obvious which scenes were added later on to make the film lighter and more relatable

But HOW I wish it wasn’t just watchable, it was phenomenal… exceptional… this gave me LESS cheer than Thor Ragnarok! Imagine! A third grade rip off norse god superhero’s third film is better than Justice League!

Rating : 6.5/10. Fans will like it, non-fans might enjoy it, it’s worth watching once in theaters

the FIRST KINGSMAN in 2014 was an amazing experience for me.
The jaw dropping action scenes, the hilarious yet nefarious plot, the sort of spoof of the spy genre while being still quite edgy and yet somehow a LOT of fun.
Does this sequel, the first SEQUEL directed by Matthew Vaughn manage to re-capture that glory?

Well… ALMOST.

The opening is snappy and then somehow the movie loses it way with a very mundane and boring middle portion and then come back with a decent finale.
The direction as always is good, but somehow mr Vaughn is showing series fatigue and not able to keep up the pace of the first film. The film gets downright boring in parts. Not much of action, the drama elements are not fully realized.
Also the ending scene is pretty damn good, but nothing compared to the previous part!

Also (Maybe mild spoilers)
The Kingsman as a group is eliminated in the start of the film, the deaths of the previous film’s two best characters is needless and somehow it’s not setup right and doesn’t have the emotional moment it is meant to have.

Also this movie has WAY WAY WAY too much of Elton john in it, he gets irritating and frankly the end fight sort of crashes down when he is giving flying kicks! What the heck? Why was he in this film?

BUT all is not bad…
This movie is a solid action adventure spy thriller, with a lot of bond parody elements. From the evil person’s lair to the henchman with a metal arm, the usual bond tropes are all present.
The editing and action choreography of the fight scenes are REALLY good, they somehow have this style which no one else uses and it’s pretty amazing, they are cut well with the (I am guessing Elton john) songs going on in the soundtrack…

Also we finally get EGGSY and HARRY in both kingsman garb fight side by side which we sort of missed in the previous film!
So IF you like the previous film, this one is watchable and enjoyable in parts.

Rating : 6.5/10. Some good fight moments, great opening action sequence, loose screenplay. Series fans might want to see it just to see how eggsy’s story is progressing…

P.s: The new statesmen had like ZERO impact on me and wasn’t somehow as cool or as impressive as the Kingsman tailors. I have nothing to say about this new group except, Channing Tatum is 100% wasted in the film. His role is smaller than Elton johns. Which is a shame!

Stephen King is a great writer, but movies based on his books have been a hit or miss affair.
This year’s Dark Tower being a total miss and a proper flop…
The good news is IT is the HIT we have been missing for so long. This movie works on SO many levels.
As a horror film, IT has all the perfect elements, jump scares, creepy grungy dirty dark dank places, haunted house, kids being stalked by a monster/ghost. But it ALSO has something which Annabelle and Conjuring 2 was missing, a solid story and premise of friendship, comradery and the sense of adventure.
If you have seen Stranger Things, you will know what to expect from IT. That TV show was made by the duffer brothers who were DESPERATE to make IT for the big screen. So the similarities are numerous. Though IT is horror and stranger Things is Sci-Fi Adventure.
Coming to the Horror elements of IT, this movie had the entire audience grasping out loud is fear in some scenes. That is effective… VERY VERY effective…
The music, the atmosphere, the town of Derry (Maine) everything is setup to perfection as the events of IT unfold. The kid actors are pretty amazing and it will be sad to not see them again for the inevitable sequel.
So if you are a horror fan, this is the best horror film to come out in a LONG time. It’s better than the conjuring or insidious or any of the James wan films. It’s more fun to watch than just horror scares all the time, but the kids and their jokes do not overtake the seriousness of the film.
Rating: 8.5/10. An amazing horror adventure experience. For the fans of the books, this movie is different enough to be enticing, for the new comers to the story, nothing is lost if you haven’t read or heard of the book.
Conclusion: IT is a rare film, with a perfect blend of adventure, horror and thriller, its better seen in Imax or some big screen with Dolby ATMOS for full effect.
P.S: If you are scared of clowns like I am… you are in for a TREAT… Pennywise the clown is SCARY at times, downright insane in all the others… what a great performance, Visual FX and technique to bring this horror legend back to life in the most cinematic fashion yet…