The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Review

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is one of the most awaited movies of the year and more importantly one of the most awaited sequels in a long time. Does it live up to the hype and the anticipation or will it leave you feeling that the first part was better? No need to wait till Friday, just read on!

The Good: The story picks up in 1941 in London - one year after the last movie left off. But that’s just in human years. In Narnia, that’s 1300 years. So you can safely expect a lot of changes (some for the better) this time around. For starters the four Pevensie children - Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy have grown up both chronologically and as far as their acting skills are concerned. Georgie Henley as Lucy in particular stands out from all the four children and is perhaps the only from the four who still retains a cheerful, child-like countenance in a movie which heavily emphasizes on loss of innocence.
Cinematically too, director Andrew Adamson has raised his game a couple of notches in what will be his last directorial venture in The Narnia Series. The breath taking locations in which the magical land of Narnia has been set in have been done full justice by the camera work. The special effects too are definitely a lot more realistic than last time. But fancy camera-work and special tricks aside, it’s the tone and the pacing of the movie that does the trick. If you’re expecting dancing trees and cheerful talking animals, be prepared to be disappointed. Part two of The Narnia Series is definitely darker, more serious and more mature as compared to the first part.

The Bad: Owing to the fact that The Narnia Series is not a trilogy, the sequel does not try to spectacularly set up a third part. The film-makers instead seem content in matching the standards of the first part and raising the bar a bit if needed. The story-line of the movie is on the predictable side for a movie that endeavours top garner a larger adult fan base. Another problem that Prince Caspian encounters is a common malady when it comes to epic-scale fantasy movies - too many leading characters. As a result, the four children do not get equal screen time. Edmund (Skandar Keynes) especially is reduced to a side-kick to his older brother Peter (William Moseley). The romantic angle between Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) also does not necessarily add anything to the movie. The soundtrack is a bit sombre and toned down this time around and one really does miss some heavy crunching guitar riffs especially during the spectacular fight scenes. And finally, the climax is not exactly a knock out punch, but more of a ‘tasteful ending’, which might come as a disappointment to some.

The Verdict: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is by no means a disappointing movie. It is in fact a pretty solid sequel. But at times one gets the feeling that the film-makers try to stay within the pocket and not dazzle the audiences. Maybe they’re saving the fire-works for the third part. Overall, it should be a hit with audiences who enjoyed the first part. Those who didn’t might not however be blown out of the water with this one. The movie is definitely more ‘grown up’. But it remains to be seen whether this will go down with the younger audiences who were largely responsible for the success of the first part.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

What the Ratings Mean:

0 - Terrible Beyond Imagination
1 - Mostly Pathetic
2 - Strictly OK
3 - Good
4 - Very Good
5 - Bow Down and Worship!

Jimmy Review

It’s impossible to review Jimmy by normal movie standards, because quite frankly it’s out of the ordinary. To review Jimmy, one must come at par with it’s standard . And that means descending from one’s leather recliner at the multiplex to the folding chair in the stall of a single screen. Jimmy is truly is incomplete without the tapori theater experience. So assuming you know exactly what to expect from Mithun Da’s son Mimoh’s debut movie, I now present to you the review.

Quite often in Bollywood today, the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful weak-scripted film is the budget and the publicity. Case in point, the hare-brained extravaganza Om Shanti Om which turned out to be the previous year’s biggest hit film. Now take that outrageously high budget and the hype away from OSO and there you have Jimmy, a movie with a script on par with OSOs, but on a much smaller budget.

Anybody who wants to watch some serious cinema should not be anywhere within the vicinity of a theater playing Jimmy as the movie caters to audiences who want to have a laugh riot for a couple of hours inside an air-conditioned hall without paying too much. In short, it caters to audiences who can tolerate Mithun Da movies. One need not be a rocket scientist to know that Mimoh is going to be every movie critic’s whipping boy until the next bad acting debut in Bollywood, but that does not necessarily mean that his acting career is over. Tusshar Kapoor still manages to get films, so does Ritesh Deshmukh and Aftaab Shivdasani and Dino Morea and even Uday Chopra for that matter. Mimoh’s leading lady Vivana, however may not be as lucky considering that she has no Godfather’s in Bollywood (at least none that we know of).

Coming to the story of the movie…well there isn’t much of a story. Jimmy (Mimoh) is an automobile engineer by day and a DJ by night who break dances like his feet are on fire at the drop of a hat. The only mission to his life is to pay off his late father’s business debts. His fair maiden Megha (Vivana) is a filthy rich, brat who is an extremely bad driver. The two fall in love after the third time Megha rams into Jimmy and his car, but hey, at least Jimmy didn’t use the Gayatri Mantra and a little girl with a hole in her heart like Himesh did. Jimmy soon learns that he has a brain tumor ‘in the final stage’ which leaves him with anything from a week to a couple months to live. At the same time, the bank manager comes to Jimmy and demands that his money be paid back within three months. An offer from a wealthy business Rajat Sharma acts as a window of opportunity for Jimmy. Sharma offers Jimmy Rs. 50 lakh to accept the blame for his mistress’s murder which Jimmy obviously gobbles up. But soon he realizes that there’s a bigger conspiracy and an evil villain behind it all, and that he does not indeed have a brain tumor. The rest of the movie is Jimmy running from the cops in his inimitable style.

The flow of the movie is virtually non-existent. It’s like a sketch comedy show, except for the fact that the ‘comedy’ is accidental. One will definitely lose count of the number of songs in the movie as some are played for about 30 seconds in an absolutely unrelated sequence. The fight scenes are just about the same quality as a Mithun flick from the 90’s. Ditto as far the dialogues and the dubbing goes. But then again, that’s the beauty of Jimmy. It’s mindless, non-serious, over the top, masala cinema at it’s finest. That’s not such a bad thing to be in India where movies like Sivaji make a killing at the box-office.

All in all, if one sets realistic expectations and lowers their skywards pointing noses, Jimmy is one hundred percent VFM at a single screen theater. Go get your buddies today and have a great 2 and a half hours of whistling and hooting at the screen.

By serious standards Jimmy is a train-wreck…but then again it’s Jimmy, who’s serious anyway?

RATING: 5 out of 5 if you enjoy movies like Jimmy like I do.

What the Ratings Mean:

0 - Terrible Beyond Imagination
1 - Mostly Pathetic
2 - Strictly OK
3 - Good
4 - Very Good
5 - Bow Down and Worship!

Speed Racer Review

WHY? WACHOWSKI BROTHERS WHY?

The same guys who directed one of the most successful (and cryptic) trilogies in Hollywood, The Matrix Trilogy seem to have completely lost their minds with this one. The brothers it seems, got tired of all the black and green from their Matrix days and decided to direct a color riot. Actually ‘color riot’ is an understatement,it’s more like the screen was attacked with all the colors in the Asian Paints repertoire!

The plot of the movie is a total run of the mill under dog story. Speed Racer (Yes that is his REAL NAME) played by Emile Hirsch, is a young, hot shot racer with an enormous appetite for success. He drives for his father Pops Racer’s team Racer Motors (once again, Racer Motors is to the other teams what Maruti Go-karts are to a Ferrari). Impressed with Speed’s talent, a corporate biggie, Mr. Royalton (owner of ‘Royalton Motors’) offers him a contract which will help Speed leapfrog to Grand Prix success. But keeping his sanskaars in mind, Speed does not give in to temptation and declines the offer following which Mr. Royalton shows his ugly side and swears that Speed will ‘never win a race, let alone finish the next one). But little does he know that Speed has a guardian angel…Racer X…his since-long ‘deceased’ brother (who faked his death and got a plastic surgery, and changed his voice too in true Ekta Kapoor soap fashion).

Defying the odds one after the other, Speed first ends up on the winning team of a treacherous Cross-Country race, ‘The Casa Cristo’ in which his brother Rex, a.k.a. Racer X died. And finally he realizes his dream and wins the baap of all races, The Grand Prix with the support of Pops, Mom, Spritle, Chim Chim the Chimp and his girlfriend Trixie (Cristina Ricci).

The performances are loaded with over-acting, but then again what do you expect in a Speed Racer adaptation. The $100,000,000 worth special effects are worse than the earliest versions of Need for Speed. This movie is by no means worth a multiplex ticket.

The only saving grace to this one is young Paulie Litt’s performance as Spritle. The kid will have you in splits everytime he’s on screen.

But that apart WHY? WACHOWSKI BROTHERS WHY?

RATING: 1 out of 5.

What the Ratings Mean:

0 - Terrible Beyond Imagination
1 - Mostly Pathetic
2 - Strictly OK
3 - Good
4 - Very Good
5 - Bow Down and Worship!

Iron Man Review

The success of everything from Spiderman to Hanuman, has made it clear that superhero flicks are a sure-fire way to make big bucks. Paramount Pictures have tried to continue the same trend with their special effects- extravaganza, Iron Man.

Though it may have not matched Spiderman and Batman in pre-release hype, it certainly is at par with them in all other departments, if not better. Like most ‘part ones’ the story line educates the audiences about the superhero’s origins, his subsequent evolution and ends with his first major face-off with a villain.

However, Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as the playboyish super-rich, super-genius Tony Stark definitely sets this movie apart from the others. His rendering of the role can be best described as a blend of Jack Sparrow’s eccentricity with Bruce Wayne’s slick persona.

What works for this movie (apart from the grand special effects, which in all probability will leave you open-mouthed) is the fact that Tony Stark does not lose his sense of humor after becoming Iron Man, unlike Spiderman and Batman.

Gwyneth Paltrow, playing Tony Stark’s assistant and love-interest, Pepper Potts is thoroughly wasted, yet manages to do a better job than most other leading ladies in Superhero movies. Though it must be said that Jeff Bridges as the villainous Obadiah Stone delivers a fine performance even within the limitations of his role. Ramin Djawadi’s heavy-guitars soundtrack goes nicely with the movie as well.

However, the fact that the movie has a token black character and that the Afghani terrorists for some reason converse in Hindi may offend a discerning viewer’s sensibilities.

All in all, Iron Man is slick, futuristic, action-packed and thoroughly entertaining. There’s no reason why this one shouldn’t be a box-office success.

Rating: 3½ out of 5.

What the Ratings Mean:

0 - Terrible Beyond Imagination
1 - Mostly Pathetic
2 - Strictly OK
3 - Good
4 - Very Good
5 - Bow Down and Worship!

21: The Movie Review

If you’ve ever visited a Crossword book store, you’d be familiar with the line, ‘Never judge a book by it’s movie.’ 21 however is an exception in this regard. This uber-slick adaptation of the novel Bringing Down The House, is by far one of the most brilliant movies I have seen in recent times. It captures your imagination right from the opening credits and there’s not a dull moment till the very last frame. The production values on this movie are top-notch. The players’ perspective camera shots have been rendered beautifully and maintain the breakneck speed of the movie.

I won’t give too much of the plot away. The story revolves around how 5 mathematically gifted students crack the Black Jack system with the help of their professor Mickey Rose (Kevin Spacey) and earn thousands of dollars each time at Las Vegas.

The star of the movie is young Jim Sturgess who plays the wide-eyed, geeky, boy genius Ben Campbell to perfection. Kevin Spacey too is at the top of his game as the shrewd professor who leads the ‘team’.

What makes this movie click in my opinion is the fact that it is realistically possible to employ the techniques used by the scammers in 21 unlike other other successful scam movies like Ocean’s Twelve and Catch Me If You Can.

The movie also features many a memorable dialogue like ‘Winner winner chicken dinner’ and ‘Dazzle Me!’ (which drew quite a lot of applause). This movie should be a serious contender at next year’s Oscars in my opinion. I would definitely love to watch this one again and would recommend it to each one of you. Go get dazzled today!

Rating - 5 out of 5

What the Ratings Mean:

0 - Terrible Beyond Imagination
1 - Mostly Pathetic
2 - Strictly OK
3 - Good
4 - Very Good
5 - Bow Down and Worship!