Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama/Comedy/Spoof/Adventure

Starring: Mike Myers, Seth Green, Beyonce Knowles, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Mindy Sterling, Verne Troyer, Michael Caine

The James Bond with obscenely high testosterone levels is back once more to make the ladies shiver with excitement and save the world. Austin Powers (Myers) has learnt that his father has been kidnapped and is stuck back in time in the '70s. He must go and save him from the clutches of Goldmember (Myers) an obnoxious Dutch who loves Gold and loves eating his dead skin. He encounters an old acquaintance Foxy Cleopatra who is working undercover as a part of Goldmembers team. Austin meets Dr. Evil (Myers) who too has travelled back in time to take Goldmember to the future and help him destroy the world. Austin along with Foxy must prevent Dr. Evil and Goldmember from accomplishing their evil deed and save the world from ultimate doom. The movie series were famously known to spoof various spy movies, especially the James Bond movies which provide the basis for all jokes and story. Myers exceeds expectations but increasing his role from 3 to 4 by executing the character of Goldmember apart from Austin Powers, Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard. Its an insane laugh riot which might seem very similar in humour to its previous movies but is still a very fun movie to watch.

Thumbs up: Mike Myers

Thumbs down: Overdone humour in the series, lacks freshness

Rating: 6.9/10

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Flags of our Fathers (2006)

Genre: War/Action/Drama/History/Biography

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, Paul Walker, Neal McDonough, Thomas McCarthy

Can a single photograph change the course of world events? Not likely, but for US Marines Ira Hayes (Beach), Rene Gagnon (Bradford) and John Bradley (Phillepe) it certainly did. Set in WWII, USA is launching an attack on Japan and needs to capture the island of Iwo Jima. Most of the movie narrates the occurrences on the island and gradual advancement of the troops. The marines planted the US flag atop a mountain on the island and a photograph taken at the correct time reached the mainland and the press in no time. Three marines who survived from those that planted the flag were recalled back to USA to market war bonds in the effort to fund the countries war efforts. The US treasury was empty and dollar had lost any value it ever had. The country cannot borrow anymore and hence is trying to sell bonds to the citizens and hopes that the photograph along with the presence of the three marine officers would aid the sale. The movie comes from Clint Eastwood and anyone familiar with his recent movies would quickly identify the style to be very similar to its other movies. The movie is a directors delight and has a lot of appeal and insight. It smartly weaves multiple plot lines together without making a mess and keeping audience attention intact. One of the better war movies of this age and a superb watch.

Thumbs up: Phenomenal direction and acting

Thumbs down: The story lacks variation and seems to show the same thing over and over again

Rating: 7.6/10

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Agneepath (2012)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri

A remake of the 1990 blockbuster starring Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar attempts a remake of the original made by his father. Johar, more known for his melodramatic and housewife-ish movies, has created a type-casted genre for himself and its no wonder that critics received the movie with apprehension prior to its release. Loaded violence, street crime and raw aggression is the last thing that anyone would associate Johar with and he has successfully managed to live up to the original movie's reputation. I haven't personally seen the original but word has it that the remake is different in many aspects and reaping largest-ever box office collections in India is certain proof. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Roshan) was brought up by his father to be noble and wise and not give in to filth and greed of the streets. His father was wrongly framed and killed tortuously in broad daylight by Kancha (Dutt) the local gangster of the village of Mandwa. Seething with anger and vowing revenge, a young Vijay arrives at the beaches of Mumbai, ready to start a new life. He gets sucked into street crime and joins hands with Rauf Lala (Kapoor) a human-trafficker, Mumbai's largest drug lord and Kancha's enemy. Here he meets his love Kaali (Chopra) and befriends a police officer who wishes to help him take down Kancha once and for all. The movie is powerful and aggressive in every passing moment. Sure, there are up and downs but that is a part and parcel of making a commercial Bollywood movie. The unwanted dance sequences and slow, family drama is like the garnishing on food; unwanted but makes it look good. Roshan and company have put on a fabulous show and Dutt has fulfilled the role of an over-the-top villain with finesse. The movie has superbly incorporated religion, aggression, power and drama in its backdrop to make it highly entertaining and worth the 3 hours it demands. Yes loads of scenes can be simply sliced away to make it faster and better, but that's Bollywood!

Thumbs up: Performance, the character that the movie presents itself with

Thumbs down: Slow and unwanted scenes break the flow

Rating: 8.3/10

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Gunda (1998)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action

Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Verna Raj, Rana Jung Bahadur, Mohan Joshi, Shakti Kapoor, Razak Khan, Harish Patel, Mukesh Rishi

Speechless. There are these select few movies, rarely found, that manage to be so ultimately horrible that its an amazing watch. Its like the village idiot who lacks every kind of personality but is yet laughed at by all. But don't get me wrong, Gunda would never fall into that category. Its amazingly huge cult following that swear by it can not be wrong. Shankar (Chakraborty) is the common man frustrated with corrupt politicians and the harassment that every individual faces due to gangsters openly walking on the streets. He takes the law into his own hands and decides to bring an end to them once and for all. Bulla (Rishi) is a well-connected gangster that works for a politician and gets rid of his opposition. His sidekicks include Pote (Joshi), Ebu Hatela (Patel) and Bulla's bisexual brother, Chuttiya (Kapoor). Every goon has their own introductory line which they keep narrating every now and then. Bulla claims to keep everything in the open (mein rakhta hoon sab khulla), Chuttiya vows to basically make life horrible even for the best (achche achchon ki khadi karta hoon khatiya), Pote literally means grandson which he claims even your dad wont have (?) (jo tumhare baap ke bhi nahin hote) and Ebu Hatela explains his ancestry and wants you to eat his banana (!) (Maa meri chudail ke beti, baap mera shaitan ka chela, khayega kela?). If these lines crack you up, what would the first 5 minutes of the movie do to you? Google the dialogue list and you would find loads of websites where fans have listed the hilarity. Apart from these award winning dialogues, the movie is pure trash. Skip through the jargon and enjoy the essence. Its a clear case of love and hate and I must say, I'm lovin' it.

Thumbs up: The best script ever!

Thumbs down: Very typical Bollywood B-grade from the '90s

Rating: 7.0/10

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Drive (2011)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Canston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Ron Perlman

After The Transporter the Americans decided they wanted something like that too; enter Drive. Thankfully, they realised they cant make a blatant copy of the European series and hence decide to twist things up in many ways. Driver (Gosling) is a movie stunt artist who doubles as a getaway driver by night. He gets friendly with his neighbour, Irene (Mulligan) whose imprisoned husband Standard (Isaac) is due to be released. Standard owns protection money to a gang which he was to pay once he gets out. The sum has increased almost ten-fold and is unaffordable to pay back. He arranges a deal where he would help rob a pawn shop as payback and they would never shadow him again. He asks driver for his services. I personally don't agree that the acclaim the movie has garnered is justifiable. Yes its good, no its not phenomenal. The movie has an interesting plot line, performances are superb and the sheer character that the movie keeps is outstanding. It feels inspired from crime-based video games, GTA: Vice City to be precise, but that is open to debate. It has a 90's feel with a hint of film-noir hear and there which makes the approach very interesting. The complete let down is the pace and progress of the plot. One can argue that it adds a lot of character that makes the movie fantastic, but it is still something that the average movie-goer would classify as boring. A must watch for the film-lover and the critic, the rest can give it a shot and see what side of the argument do they fall on.

Thumbs up: Great feel and character, very GTAish

Thumbs down: Slow to progress and build up, needed more pace

Rating: 7.2/10

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Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladamir Mashkov

The second and third movie of this series was criticised by me for not being impossible enough as the series had initially set out to be. The fourth movie of the series attempts to bring back the character of the first movie and by heavily including a lot of impossible moments in it. Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), a discreet wing of the CIA, has to break into the Kremlin and retrieve information on Cobalt (Nyqvist) a leader of a terrorist organisation who intends to get hold of Russian nuclear missile codes and launch them against the United States of America. The Kremlin infiltration goes wrong with a bomb planted by Cobalt going off. The Russian government learns of IMF presence within the Kremlin and declares war on USA. Agent Hunt and his team members, Agent Dunn (Pegg) Agent Carter (Patton) and Analyst Brandt (Renner) must retrieve the codes from Cobalt before he could use them and bring catastrophic damage to the world. The movie is an improvement over what the audience is being served in the previous two attempts and is a far more enjoyable watch. However, the plot line is too basic and predictable and lacks the twists and complications of the previous movie. Hence, although the movie has taken giant leaps of improvement, it fell back on other vital aspects. A great action movie nonetheless.

Thumbs up: Improved from previous movies, addition of more 'impossible' tasks

Thumbs down: Story is too simple and predictable

Rating: 7.3/10

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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Genre: Crime/Action/Adventure/Thriller/Mystery

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry

'Steps on how to tarnish a brilliant piece of English literature'. Step 1, find Guy Ritchie. Step 2, give him the book. Step 3, ask him to make a movie on it. The earlier movie was widely criticised for being too far-fetched from the original Sherlock Holmes created by Arthur Conan Doyle. The sequel still suffers from the same drawback, making Holmes appear to be a James Bond of the 19th century. Detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) is investigating a series of murders and terrorist attacks to which he has found a single common link, the widely acclaimed Prof. James Moriarty (Harris). Moriarty is trying to take control of various weapons manufacturing factories and all possible war supplies. In order to fuel the demand for his products, he intends to start a world war. Dr. Watson (Law) Sherlock's close aide has taken time off to get married and enjoy a honeymoon but is rudely interrupted by Holmes and is forced back to work and prevent Moriarty from achieving his objective. The clear improvements in the movie is the aspect of mystery which was largely missing from the earlier movie. The saddest part of the movie is its overtly stretched plot. Had the movie been below a 2-hour runtime, it might have been far more enjoyable and less of a drag. Holmes appears to be an action hero and the entire plot is not derived from any of the books but conjured from thin air. The world loved the novel due to the personality of the character and the story portrayed within it, however, the movie has altered both and hence leaving no real trace of Sherlock except the name. The movie is not for those who loved the book but for those who would drool over mindless action and murder mysteries.

Thumbs up: Twists in the tale

Thumbs down: Not Sherlock in the slightest of ways

Rating: 6.7/10

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Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monoghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q

Your mission, Agent Hunt (Cruise) is to find and retrieve the Rabbit's Foot, however, we would be unable to provide you with the exact details on what the Rabbit's Foot is and might not directly reveal it to you even at the very end. A notorious criminal Owen Davian (Hoffman) would be selling the Rabbit's Foot to a middle-east buyer and the IMF has no clue on what it is and what it is capable of. Hunt's image has been tarnished after his execution of a mission was not appreciated and his loyalty to the agency became questionable. Hunt decided to take matters in his own hands by apprehending Davian and attempting to retrieve the Rabbit's Foot. The movie series was founded on the idea of a spy performing missions that are otherwise impossible. The first movie stressed on the mission being impossible, showcasing the CIA headquarters break-in. The second movie lacked some aspects of impossibility but yet held on to the core belief. The third movie is completely devoid of any kind of unachievable mission, so much so, the only impossible break-in to steal the Rabbit's Foot was never shown, leaving viewers high and dry. It's like James Bond without his Martini, Jackie Chan without his kung-fu, Austin Powers without the 70's look. The movie is good as any other spy action movie but is a huge let down for the movie series.

Thumbs up: Good action

Thumbs down: Movie doesn't live up to the series' reputation and belief

Rating: 6.7/10

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Puss in Boots (2011)

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy/Drama/Action/Fantasy/Crime

Starring (voice): Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris

The innocent, brown furred, black-eyed, Spaniard cat from Shrek gets a movie to his own name. Puss in Boots (Banderas) is an outlaw who loots and plunders, not from the innocent, but from those who deserve it, much like Robin Hood. He learns about the magic beanstalk with the Golden Goose that lives high up in the Giants castle and lays golden eggs He embarks on an adventure to find the magic beans when he crosses paths with Kitt Softpaws (Hayek) a cat much like him, out for the same objective. His adventures lead him to once again come face to face with Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) an old friend who started stealing from the innocent and hence parted ways. Humpty and Puss had a childhood ambition of growing the beanstalk and now Humpty knows how exactly to do it and needs Puss' help once more. The character of Puss was loved and applauded by all for his cute and suave Latino style. With the Shrek series coming to an end, Dreamworks' attempt at reviving old fairy tales and portraying them contrarty to our normal beliefs might have failed in this attempt. Shrek was loved for its humour and unique plot line, however, Puss in Boots fails on both those aspects with below average humour and an extremely predictable story. Targeted towards young kids, the movie needs heavy humour that the audience could associate with and not the rude, sarcastic and slightly sexual comedy that the movie banks upon. A let-down for people who expected the Shrek magic once more.

Thumbs up: Unique blend of various fairytale characters

Thumbs down: Boring  humour, hopeless attempt at being entertaining

Rating: 6.2/10

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Unknown (2011)

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Crime/Action/Mystery

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Sebastian Koch

Liam Neeson will forever be known for his contemporary spy movies and this one adds to the list. Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) is a professor in biotechnology who has come with his wife Elizabeth (Jones) for a biotechnology summit to Berlin, Germany. He accidentally leaves his briefcase, with his passport inside it. at the airport and injures his head when the taxi has an accident and falls into the river. Falling into a coma, Martin wakes up only four days later and finds his wife not around with him. Everybody he earlier knew refuse to recognise him, his identity stolen by an impostor (Quinn) and with no identity to prove himself he finds himself to be an unknown. With faint traces of his memory after arriving in Berlin, the only person he remembers in Gina (Kruger) the taxi driver who rescued him from drowning. Along with Gina he needs to find his true identity and unravel the mystery behind the 'fake' Martin Harris. The movie is very typical and the role of Martin Harris seems to tailor made for Neeson. His fabulous performance, supported by Kruger, add a lot of character to the movie and make it an interesting watch. The commendable aspect being that till the very end the movie is packing surprises for you, just when you thought you had it all figured out. The sad part, however, is that in the midst of all the twists and turns, there are multiple lose ends that the movie conveniently forgets to tie together leading to gaping visible flaws in the story. All in all, a great Neeson movie that reminded me, oddly, of Taken.

Thumbs up: Neeson and the entertaining plot

Thumbs down: Lose ends in the plot that were never answered

Rating: 7.5/10

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Minority Report (2002)

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Crime/Thriller/Drama/Mystery

Starring: Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow, Samantha Morton, Collin Farrell

How do reduce crime in the city? Prevent crime from ever happening of course. Three mutated human beings, called Precogs, gain the gift of seeing the future and detecting murder. Washington D.C. sets up a Precrime department, headed by John Anderton (Cruise), whose task is to learn of any murders predicted by the Precogs and prevent them from happening. With the high success ratio of the operation that the city experiences, Precrime is going national and a member of the Department of Justice, Danny Witwer (Farrell) is sent to evaluate the effectiveness of the department before the crucial decision is taken. Since Precrime solely relies on the vision obtained by the Precogs, the possibility of the actual murder not taking place exists and the question arises, how can you arrest someone for a crime they never did but were only forecasted to do. John staunchely believes in Precrime and its ideology but found himself on the other side of the line when a crime to be conducted by him is foretold, where he supposedly is to murder a man he has never met. John tries to prove the prediction wrong and runs against the very ideology that a crime, if predicted, will happen. The movie is layered with multiple stories that all go in the direction to fathom the dilemma that arises out of the ideology of the Precrime department. Tom Cruise has put on a fabulous performance and is not action focused as his more recent movies and comes out as a more contemporary actor who can do serious acting. The movie's storyline is unique and interesting and coming from the notable Steven Speilberg, one expects as much.

Thumbs up: Tom Cruise and the plot
Thumbs down: Repeatedly fast and slow, pace changing plot development

Rating: 7.9/10

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Dirty Harry (1971)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Action

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, John Vernon, Reni Santoni

The city of San Fransisco is facing a sadistic serial murderer calling himself Scorpio (Robinson) who would stop at nothing to extort money from the city. If he doesn't get what he demands for, a life would be lost. Faced with dilemma of fueling crime versus saving the people, the Mayor (Vernon) appoints Inspector Harry Callahan (Eastwood) the task of finding and arresting the lunatic. However, getting hold of him seems harder than what Callahan had anticipated leading to a cat and mouse chase for the rest of the movie. The movie showcases Eastwood's evergreen and fine performances that have always gripped and thrilled audiences. What the movie lacked was a unique plot development and perhaps even some twists. Unfortunately the killer and his identity were revealed early on in the movie leaving no surprises for the audience. All that ensued was Callahan chasing Scorpio and his attempts at apprehending him. The movie is raw and tries to be as practical as possible by showcasing how crime is tackled in the real world, but you wish it had something unexpected to turn up right towards the end. It's a movie after all.

Thumbs up: Clint Eastwood, raw performances

Thumbs down: A bland plot which needs some more spice

Rating: 6.9/10

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Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija

The second movie of the acclaimed Mission Impossible movie, Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) returns once again to recover the dangerous virus, Chimera and its cure, Bellerophon from the hands of former IMF Agent Sean Ambrose (Scott). Dr. Nekhorvich (Serbedzija) was forced by his employers at Biocyte to produce a monstrous virus, Chimera which can effectively kill a person within 20 hours and also create its cure which could be then sold to the world at astronomical rates. Nekhorvich is intercepted by Ambrose before he can hand over the virus and the cure to the IMF and is killed. Ambrose intends to sell the stolen drugs back to Biocyte and thus ensuring a healthy profit for himself. Hunt along with the help of a professional thief and Ambrose's ex-girlfriend, Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Newton) must recover the virus and the cure before all hell breaks lose. The concept of the first movie was to portray an impossible mission and not merely something that is difficult. The impossibility factor is lacking in the movie along with the aspect of a mystery and a strong climax. The movie also includes a romantic angle which slows the pace greatly. All that said and done, the movie packs a lot of punch and adrenaline-rushing action which makes up the flaws to an extent. Perhaps if the mission was more 'impossible' and not merely 'find and retrieve' it would have lived up to the first movie's expectations.

Thumbs up: Amazing action

Thumbs down: Mission difficult, not impossible

Rating: 6.9/10

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Mission: Impossible (1996)

Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Redgrave

The Impossible Missions Force (IMF) is a secret wing of the CIA whose agents try to execute operations that are quite impossible. Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team are preventing an American diplomat in Prague from stealing the CIA's non-official cover (NOC) list which would reveal the identities of all their agents and spies in eastern Europe. His team goes down save himself and, to his surprise, Claire Phelps (Beart). The IMF Director Kittridge (Czerny) reveals that the entire operation was a hoax to spot a mole in the IMF and the actual NOC list was safe in Langley. The IMF suspects Hunt to be the mole and is now wanted by his own boss. The movie was conceived from a famous television series where Agent Hunt was the main protagonist of the show, trying to fulfill the hardest of missions. The movie attempts at being a modern day James Bond who performs the most insane of stunts that you could ever imagine. The climax action-sequence atop the TGV is a bit too hard to imagine with choppers inside tunnels pushing things a bit too far. Overall, a great action movie which needs a more spicy storyline to make it even better

Thumbs up: Tom Cruise, the break-in scene inside the CIA headquarters

Thumbs down: A slightly bland plot with hard to imagine action sequences

Rating: 7.0/10

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Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction/Drama/Fantasy

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L.Jackson, Frank Oz (voice)

The epic inter-galactic saga comes to an end after five successful movies with the sixth movie aiming to bring a end to the entire story. The movie had garnered millions of fans from throughout the world of all ages, right from those who have seen the very first movie back in 1977 to their sons who enjoyed the prequel movies. Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) is a Jedi warrior and is in love with Padme (Portman). Senator Palpatine (McDiarmid) has been kidnapped by the enemies of the republic and Anakin along with Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) must rescue him. The Jedi council and particularly Master Yoda (Oz) had their doubts on Anakin and were not sure if the force within him was for good or for bad. Anakin breached the Jedi's regulations by submitting himself to desire and want by fathering a child with Padame. Anakin saw a vision of Padame dying during childbirth but did not know what he could do to stop it without the Jedi council knowing about it. Senator Palpatine is in reality the Sith Lord who realised that the dark side was strong within Anakin and lured him to join hands with the context of being able to save Padame. The greatest achievement of the movie is its ability to fluidly join the story lines together although the first movie began halfway through the story. Episode III and Episode IV might have been made around 30 years apart yet each and every aspect of new vs old have been cunningly brought together with adequate detailing on the finer aspects. The movie, however, failed to bring out a high climax which would have been deservedly fit for a saga of its kind. That said, it does give a good closing feature which gives you the impression that it has finally all come to an end. This movie is perhaps the most dissected and detailed movie ever, with every vehicle, army, planet and character having a name and story behind it. A worthy finishing movie with only some minor drawbacks.

Thumbs up: Good ending, highly entertaining

Thumbs down: Climax sequence is a bit weak

Rating: 7.5/10

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Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Martin Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Alexander Siddig

Recounting the heavily fictionalised tale of Balian of Ibelin (Bloom) a French blacksmith who journeys to Jerusalem after meeting his estranged father. He forgives his fathers mistakes and in return is knighted by him just before he dies. Balian arrives in Jerusalem at the court of King Baldwin IV(Norton) and serves the king just like his father would. Jerusalem being the holy city for both Muslims and Christians, it was subject to heavy war with both sides trying to gain control over it. King Baldwin does not believe in anti-Muslim killings and hence does not support the Knights Templar that kills Muslims mercilessly and hence peace prevails. The Kings sister Sybilla (Green) is married to Guy de Lusignan (Csokas) who is waiting for the leprosy stricken King to succumb and hence become king of Jerusalem and kill all the Muslims. The movie recounts the true incidents that took place during the Crusades of the 12th century and recalls the story of Balian of Ibelin although it may not be historically accurate. Coming from the stable of Ridley Scott, the very man that gave us Gladiator and American Gangster, the movie is a very big let down. There is no visible plot for quite a bit and the plot development is slow and boring. Edward Norton's performance was a waste especially since he was forever behind a mask. Orlando Bloom failed to live up to the expectations of creating an exciting movie and story in general was extremely immature and predictable. A very typical medieval heroism movie that probably should never have been made.

Thumbs up: Nothing exceptionally stands out

Thumbs down: Orlando Bloom, story and execution

Rating: 6.3/10

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Assassins (1995)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama/Thriller

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Antonia Banderas, Julianne Moore

Hit men movies are not uncommon to Hollywood and two having two assassins is not going to make things any different. Robert Rath (Stallone) is an accomplished assassin and is said to be the best in the business. His daily routine is shattered when he discovers that his targets are being stolen by another assassin, Miguel Bain (Banderas). Bain is an over-enthusiastic newcomer to the business and looks up to Rath and has made him his mentor. Rath once had a Russian friend, Nicoli, whom he killed to become the best assassin available, a technique that Bain now wishes to apply. Rath befriends a target Electra (Moore) whom he agreed to team with to defeat Bain for mutual benefit. The movie plot is quite average with predictable results and some scenes make you think, 'Wait, how did that happen again?' The things to watch out for is the entertaining action and Banderas' psychotic performance to an extent. There really is nothing in the movie for any viewer except for raw action sequences with added flavours of Stallone and Banderas fighting it out.

Thumbs up: Entertaining action, Banderas

Thumbs down: Story

Rating: 6.5/10

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Cars 2 (2011)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Animation/Comedy/Sports/Drama

Starring (voice): Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro

A sequel to the first Cars movie, British industrialist Sir Miles Axlerod (Izzard) launches a new bio fuel after realising that fossil fuels are quickly degrading the world. To launch this fuel he is holding a World Grand Prix, a race that would see the top drivers from various motor sports battle it out on three different locations to prove the reliability of the fuel. Lightning McQueen (Wilson) is on the race and this time he decides to bring Mater (Cable Guy) along for the race. Finn McMissile (Caine) James Bonds Aston Martin DB5, is a British spy who is investigating a TV camera and its hidden functionality. Along with his sidekick, Holley Shiftwell (Mortimer) they are to rendezvous with an American spy at the World Grand Prix launch party, who has further information on the case. The American gets cornered and in an act of desperation, plants the device, holding the information, on Mater. McMissile and Shitwell track the device and assume Mater to be a very well disguised spy which according to Mater becomes the adventure of his life. The movie replicates human life very interestingly on cars. It's fun to hunt for the finer details and get amused at the thought process that went behind it. The only let down in the movie was the lack of good humour and comedy. Sure the movie is enticing and would definitely grasp the attention of kids, especially if its your kid brother, but it still lacks the ability to make you roll over with laughter.

Thumbs up: Superb animation, extremely gripping

Thumbs down: Not funny enough although it is entertainment-packed

Rating: 7.0/10

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Smokin' Aces (2006)

Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Common, Alicia Keys, Andy Garcia, Taraji P. Henson, Tommy Flanagan

Narrating the story of the dirty world of Vegas, the movie depicts crime rings, mob bosses and FBI. Buddy Isreal (Piven) is a Vegas award-winning entertainer who enters the crime world and gets affiliated with mob boss Primo Sparazza. Due to differences between Sparazza and Israel, they part ways and Sparazza now wants Israel dead and not just dead, wants his beating heart in his hand. He has hired the mysterious 'Swede' as a person to carry out the operation, of whom the FBI has no record. Word gets around of the 1 million bounty and hit men, mass murderers and assassins run amok to get their hands on Israel first. FBI Deputy Director Locke (Garcia) is in talks with Israel on an immunity deal and Agent Messner (Reynolds) and Agent Carruthers (Liotta) are sent to secure Israel from the 'Swede'. The movie in a way reminds one of a Guy Ritchie movie sans the humour and sarcasm. It is a decent attempt at showing multiple hit men gunning for a common target but the movie is still off the mark and along with some additional elements it could have been made much better. Some unwanted dramatic bits but showcases Vegas crime and glamour quite aptly.

Thumbs up: A nice action and crime entertainer

Thumbs down: Lacks that 'feeling' or 'punch' before you can really start to appreciate it

Rating: 6.8/10

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The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) (3D)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Mystery/Crime/Animation

Starring (voice): Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost

When a legend is recreated, everyone is apprehensive if the legend would be made even more legendary. The Tintin comic book series by the famous Belgian, Herge has won fans around the world and has been recreated in many forms. The latest adaptation comes from Steven Speilberg and his attempt at making a movie on the adventures of the young Belgian journalist according to whom this is his take on a childrens version of Indiana Jones. Tintin (Bell) and his faithful dog Snowy spot a unique model ship known as the Unicorn and instantly falls in love with it and purchases it. Soon after, a horde of people try to buy it off him with the ship eventually going missing from his apartment. Tintin realises that something indeed must be unique to the ship if so many people are behind it and eventually discovers the secret of the Unicorn. Ivanovich Sakharine (Craig) has taken Captain Haddock's (Serkis) ship as his own and is trying to locate the treasure of the legendary pirate, Red Rackham. With Tintin holding a piece of the puzzle to the location, Sakharine must get it from him before Tintin discovers what he is up to. Don't let the movie title fool you because the movie is not entirely based on 'The Secret of the Unicorn'. In fact only the first quarter, with some heavy improvements and modifications, is based on the afore mentioned comic, the second quarter from 'The Crab With Golden Claws', the third quarter being the scriptwriters own creation and the final quarter coming from 'Red Rackhams Treasure'. The red Jeep Willy from 'Land of Black Gold' makes a special appearance too. Amalgamating so many books into a movie could have had disastrous consequences but the movie doesn't really come out too bad. The third quarter, which isn't part of any book but a creation for the movie, is probably the most disastrous part especially the over-the-top crane scene which seemed completely out of place for the era in which the movie is set. Apart from that, the fluidity in which the various books merge into each other is amazing. The animations used in the movie are extremely sharp and life-like which definitely sets the bar for modern-day graphics. Another missing element in the movie which made people love Tintin was the humour. Although Thompson (Pegg) and Thomson (Frost) were present, their presence did not carry too much humour and comedy, a missing ingredient from an otherwise fun-to-watch flick. And this comes from a die hard Tintin fan.

Thumbs up: Superb animation, great adaptation of multiple comic books

Thumbs down: More of the twin inspectors and their humour, the crane scene and the dam scene seemed out of place

Rating: 8.0/10

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