The A-Team (2010)

Genre: Action/War/Adventure/History

Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson

What happens if Oceans Eleven were to become a war movie? Yeah, you get my drift. Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith (Neeson) is the leader of The A-Team, which comprises of four US Army Rangers including him. Lt. Templeton 'Faceman' Pack (Cooper), Cpl. Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus (Jackson) and the mentally retarded but ace pilot Captain Murdock (Copley) complete the pack. The A-Team has successfully carried out various special operations over the years and earned a name for themselves. Now posted in Iraq, they are assigned their latest adventure by the CIA agent Lynch (Wilson). The Iraq's are duplicated US currency and The A-Team has to get hold of the stolen treasure plates which are being used to manufacture the currency. The team gets double-crossed on their assignment and faceman's ex-flame, Charisa Sosa (Biel) court-martials them for carrying out an unauthorised mission. After being sentenced to prison, Lynch offers a proposal where he would get them out of prison if they complete their previous assignment and in return promises them a clean record and full reinstatement. The team agrees, only to realise that they have got themselves in a deeper mess than before. The movie is a sure-shot watch for the pure action buffs, with mass destruction adorning the entire movie. The movie has some decent twists and turns and is not your average action movie. A decent plot and some good performances make it the perfect Sunday afternoon watch. For best results, make sure your accompanied with beer and friends.

Thumbs up: Action-packed and blasting all the way

Thumbs down: A bit more focus on plotting and planning can make it more interesting

Rating: 7.8/10

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8½ (1963)

Genre: Drama/Romance

Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimee, Sandra Milo, Rossella Falk

A famous Italian film-maker, Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni) is finding it hard to focus on his new movie. He decides to escape to a spa to open his mind but is followed there by his mistress, Carla (Milo). His producer doesn't want him to take time off and insists on working on the movie asap and decides to bring along the entire crew at Guido's spa. He is having a troubled marriage with his wife Luisa (Aimee) who complains that he doesn't have enough time for her and that he never loved her. With a shaky marriage and stress taking the better of him, Guido finds it hard to work on the film which starts making his life even worse. There are a lot of flashbacks, memories and dreams interwoven into reality to bring out a highly abstract and off-beat movie. 46 years later, the movie was re-created under the title of Nine with a musical feel attached to it. 8½ explores a directors life and the hardships that come with it. It is a contemporary movie made in a different era and is very typically European. It was made in an age where creativity, modernisation and innovation ruled which saw a whole lot of thoughts coming together to bring out the most profound ideologies. If its an enigmatic and recondite movie that you are looking for, nothing gets better than this. If its pure entertainment, the movie is a slow path to boredom.

Thumbs up: Amazing concept for a movie of its era

Thumbs down: Does not appeal to every kind of audience

Rating: 7.2/10

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The Last Airbender (3D) (2010)

Genre: Fantasy/Action/Adventure

Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Shaun Toub, Jackson Rathbone, Aasif Mandvi, Cliff Curtis

Why? Is the question that immediately pops into ones mind right after the movie gets over.Why did M. Night Shyamalan even try to create a movie on such a horrible plot? Why did Dev Patel ruin a promising career by attempting such a lame role? There existed four kingdoms on Earth, each belonging to one of the natural elements i.e. Earth, Fire, Water and Air. Each community had Benders, people with power to control their birth element. There was one supreme power, called the Avatar, who could bend all the elements and who maintained balance on Earth. The Avatar goes missing for a hundred years, leaving the Earth in jeopardy. Fire Lord Ozai (Curtis) uses his advanced technology to invade and destroy the remaining kingdoms in order to gain control over Earth. Prince Zuko (Patel) his incapable son, is sent to exile and can only be heir to the throne if he manages to find and capture the Avatar. Katara (Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Rathbone) who belong to the water tribe, find the Avatar and rescue him. The Avatar has not completed his training and must learn how to bend the other elements if he has to restore order on Earth and put an end to the Fire Lord's dominance. The movie actually doesn't have as bad a plot as it seems like, its just that the execution was bad which failed to bring out the true essence of the movie. The dialogues were outright horrible and performances were poor. 3D seemed to be a forced addition so its no worry if you watch it in 2D (if that saves some money then even better). In spite of having a known star cast of Dev Patel, Cliff Curtis and Shaun Toub, their presence failed to do any good to the movie. Pure waste.

Thumbs up: If i try very hard, some action sequences and special effects to an extent

Thumbs down: Cast, plot, dialogues, performances, what am i missing out on?

Rating: 4.9/10

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THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

Written by Jonas Frykberg

Directed by Daniel Alfredson

Starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvyst

The second installment in the adaptations of Steig Larsson’s now internationally popular literary series, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, features sex trafficking, violent murder and people being buried alive but yet somehow it is a great deal less horrifying than the first film, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.  A new writer and director came on for the second and third films and, while this caper is certainly more accessible, it is no less engaging and arguably a lot easier to enjoy and appreciate.  I guess I would take dark family secrets over brutal rapes any day.

I do think THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO will remain the most memorable of the series (I’ve not seen the third film but so far, this is what I would expect) but as the novels are being read by more and more people, the release of THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE could not be better timed and it’s “lighter” tone will ensure less squeamish fans of the books will catch it too.  It picks up a year or two after the first closed.  The girl herself, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) looks softer somehow.  The tattoo still covers her back as she gets out of bed but the dark makeup is toned down and the studded collar has been traded in for some silk sheets and a stunning Caribbean view.  Lisbeth has definitely earned this break.  Before long though, she must face the life she has been running from since she was 12.

Her family past catches up with her and before long, she is the main suspect in a triple homicide.  Her loyal cohort, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvyst) knows her to be innocent and he makes it his personal mission to clear her name.  Last time out, the two paired up to solve a decades old disappearance.  They worked together on someone else’s case and grew to care for each other in a way neither one expected.  This time, they are barely on screen together and they work alone yet in tandem on a case that involves them personally.  Some have criticized this move, claiming that it comes off as more of a convenient excuse to continue on with these characters but I find making it about them makes sense.  Lisbeth is a complicated character and it stands to reason that she would have a complicated and even more damaging past.

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE does lack the emotional resonance of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO but the shock factor couldn’t just go on forever.  We know who Lisbeth Salander is on the outside; our prejudices were challenged by her character already.  Now it is time to peel away the layers that have made her who she is.  So far, the reveals have been intriguing and compelling.  Now I definitely want to know what happens when the girl is going to go and kick the hornet’s nest.

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Garfield (2004)

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Bill Murray (voice)

The famous lazy, fat cat from the comic strip gets featured on the big screen. Garfield (Murray) is just the way as we know him. He loves getting pampered by his owner, Jon (Meyer) and more than anything, loves bullying all the other pets in the neighbourhood. Jon has a crush on the vet, Liz (Hewitt) who has known her since high school. On her request, he agrees to adopt a dog, Odie, whom Liz says would not survive if he doesn't get proper love and hospitality. Garfield gets jealous of Odie and is jealous of all the attention he is getting. He throws Odie out of the house, who gets lost in the city. A famous pet show anchor, Happy Chapman (Tobolowsky) is looking for a new fresh face for his new show. He loves Odie and his amazing dance moves and decides to look for Odie before Jon does. The movie is a huge let down to many of the hardcore Garfield fans who were expecting much more. The plot is very typical for a movie based on pets and the names Garfield and Odie were just seem to have been added to create more hype. The movie doesn't have the kind of character and fun that the comic strips had and one would have wished to see more of the typical Garfield insults and attitude. However, it is made to appeal to an 8-year-old and it might just.

Thumbs up: Would appeal to its target audience i.e. kids

Thumbs down: Cliched plot, lacks Garfield attitude and character

Rating: 5.9/10

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DESPICABLE ME

Written by Ken Daurio

Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud

Voices by Steve Carrell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand and Kristen Wiig

Gru: Good night, sleep tight.  Don’t let the bed bugs bite … because there are literally thousands of them … and there’s probably something in your closet too.

You’ve gotta love an imagined world where there are evil super villains lurking around stealing things like pyramids and what not right from under the world’s noses.  Arguably, super villains exist in our world but the consequences of their dastardly plots are  little too real for me.  Someone who wants to shrink the moon and hold it ransom though so he can be the biggest, baddest super villain in the world though – now that’s my kinda guy.  Or at least he would be if he weren’t trapped in such a predictable, hollow plot and bogged down by such tired, unfunny dialogue.

Gru is despicable.  As he is the center of his own universe, from his point of view, he is DESPICABLE ME.  Voiced with a pretty sturdy Russian American accent by Steve Carrell, Gru is so evil he pops kids’ balloons after he blows them up for them (gasp!) and freezes the long line of people waiting for their lattes at a local coffee shop so he can go to the front of the line.  I’m shaking in fear here.  What he does next is actually pretty gross when you think about it.  He adopts three little girls so that they can bring a shipment of cookies to his new nemesis, Vector, who is evil with “both direction and magnitude” and voiced delightfully by Jason Segel.  The cookies are really robots though and are designed to steal the shrink ray Gru needs for his moon heist.

In a not at all surprising turn of events, Gru, a man who is supposed to embody evil, finds himself caring for these adorable little girls.  When the girls’ dance recital poses a conflict with his moon heist, you can almost piece together every little lesson still to be learned.  Family films do not have to be complex or present a true face of evil to make their point but they have to try a little harder than this to remain original.  Instead, DESPICABLE ME almost ends up living up to its name and leaves you with little more than a few funny moments and some pretty awesome little minion characters.  Those guys made the movie!  Too bad it wasn’t about them.

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The Proposal (2009)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White

A workaholic and strict editor of a New York publishing house is getting deported back to Canada because her visa has expired and a renewal has been refused. Margaret (Bullock) is the typically cold, inhuman and emotionless boss whose mere sight sends all the employees into hiding. Andrew (Reynolds) is her faithful assistant who has been with her for 3 years. It's not because he is the only man on the planet who appreciates her, but because he hopes his hard would promote him to editor one day. Margaret does not want her career tarnished because of her rejected visa and decides to blackmail Andrew into marrying her. Andrew does not want to see three years go down the drain and the editors seat is much too valuable for him to decline. The immigration officer smells a rat and schedules a session where each of them would be questioned about their partners likes and dislikes. Andrew hails from Alaska and his grandmother, Gammy (White) is celebrating her 90th birthday. The two of them decide to go to Alaska and break the news to Andrew's parents. With the interview date coming close, the two of them need to learn more about each other if they both want their respective jobs. It's not easy to find to get familiar with your heartless boss, least of all fall in love with her; or is it? The entire movie's story flashes in your mind after the first 10 minutes and you know exactly what your in for. Despite such a cliched and predictable plot, the movie still manages to lighten up your mood with a big broad smile plastered on your face for most of the duration.It has a good decent mix of everything and if only there was a nice twist in the end, the movie would have been time well-spent.

Thumbs up: Nice humour and a nice fun watch

Thumbs down: Predictable plot

Rating: 6.8/10

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