The Butler (2013)

Genre: Drama/Biography

Starring: Forest Whittaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Elijah Kelly, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz

Abraham Lincoln had officially banished slavery in the United States back in the 19th century. Yet, in spite of that, racism, division, injustice and misuse of African-Americans continued to as early as the 1980's. Cecil Gaines (Whittaker) experienced a difficult youth when he saw his father being murdered by his employer in a cotton farm in cold blood. He soon learns to become a house servant and decided to move on to Washington D.C. to become a waiter. His dedication towards his work and constant urge to learn, brought him in the spotlight to earn a place at The Whitehouse as the butler to the President. His eldest son, Louis Gaines (Oyelowo), wishes to fight for the rights of African-Americans which is a stark contrast to his fathers job of serving those very people who have created the system. The movie showcases the polar differences between father and son and how their lives evolve individually and the times that their paths keep crossing. Forest Whittaker has done a good performance as Gaines, but yet nothing to mark it as outstanding. The movie is a pure narration of events with no major developments and simply showcases individual lives. The movie is loosely based on Eugene Allen and his career as the butler within The Whitehouse but only for timeline of events and not for Gaines' personal life. An interesting movie with an interesting perspective of various American Presidents but still is unable to offer anything different.

Thumbs up: Interesting perspective of American politics

Thumbs down: Lacks something different

Rating: 6.9/10

Mahabharat (2013)

Genre: Animation/War/Fantasy/Action/Drama

Starring (voice): Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Vidya Balan, Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher, Shatrughan Sinha, Anil Kapoor, Deepti Naval, Manoj Bajpayee

The Mahabharat is being credited to be the longest epic poem in the world and when a story of such scale and grandeur, a story that lays the foundation of a religion and hence a society of billions of people is remade into a movie, justice needs to be given. Touted as being the most expensive animated movie to come out of Bollywood, it is no doubt that the audience has modest expectations from it. Bhishma Pitamah (Bachchan) is the mentor or custodian of the throne of Hastinapur. His eldest son, Dhritarashtra was blessed with a 100 sons who were collectively called the Kauravs and his younger brother, Pandu was blessed with 5 who were called the Pandavs. Unfortunately since Dhritarashtra was blind, Pandu ascended the throne of Hastinapur and after his death the throne was handed over to his eldest son, Yudhishtir (Bajpayee). Duryodhan (Shroff), the eldest son of Dhritarashtra was of the opinion that he is the rightful prince to the throne and in order to avoid a fight between the brothers, the kingdom was divided in two halves for each of the princes'. Jealous of his brothers popularity and success, Duryodhan continued to plot against the Pandavs which ultimately led to the battle of Kurukshetra, a war that saw both sides battle it out for the ultimate victory. With a strong cast that covers almost every credible actor in the industry, it is extremely disappointing that no attention whatsoever seems to have been given towards the movies animation. It suddenly seems as if one is watching a movie made 15 years ago with rigid animations, imperfect movements and an overall lack of finesse. A stark contrast to the botched animation is the superb special effects that stand out from the rest of the movie, even though it is used sporadically. Condensing such a long story for a 2 hour movie is a challenge and the makers have been successful in highlighting all the major aspects of the story but yet they seem to be situations that have simply been pieced together with no flow or connect to each other. Major aspects of the story were identified and glued to one another without any concern for logic and maintaining a fluid story. The background score is loud and powerful but the overall lack of finesse in executing the action sequences does not seem to compliment what you hear. The audio does not seem to agree with the visuals and hence look completely out of place. The movie was made to target children and explain to them in a simplified manner the story of Mahabharat. Whilst the movie might achieve this target with the audience it is trying to reach out to, had the animations and overall development of the movie been better, it could have been appreciated by a wider audience which would have worked in the movie's favour ultimately. To be watched only if you have someone younger than 10 years accompanying you, else avoid this at all costs.

Thumbs up: A decent attempt at reaching out to the younger audience

Thumbs down: Bad animation and an overall lack of finesse in the storyline

Rating: 5.3/10

Premium Rush (2012)

Genre: Crime/Action

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dania Ramirez, Wole Parks, Michael Shannon, Jamie Chung

Manhattan, New York, it is the place where the world comes together to do business. Billions of dollars is transacted daily and in the midst of all the chaos there is the constant need for information to flow in a correct and timely manner. However, there are times when email and the internet fails to do the task of delivering something and the regular courier companies are far too slow. That is where the bike messenger comes in place. No traffic rules, no speed limits, no parking concerns and no fuel, bike messengers are able to zip through New York traffic and deliver anything within an extremely short time span. Wilee (Gordon-Levitt) is one such messenger who in spite of having a law degree, does not want to sit on a desk wearing a suit and prefers the rush of cycling on the street. Fixed gear and no breaks, that is how he likes it. Nima (Chung) is a Chinese student who asks for Wilee to deliver an urgent package, halfway across town. Bobby Monday (Shannon) is a gambling addicted cop whose hobby has left him in debt. His creditor has agreed to right off all his debts if he retrieves Nima's package and brings it to him. A good action-oriented movie that does not follow a chronological sequence of events. It showcases the raw speed that bike messengers indulge in every day and the rush that they get by swerving through traffic and playing with their lucky with every step. A decently interesting story that has good action and worth that one watch.

Thumbs up: Good action

Thumbs down: No climax, twists or suspense

Rating: 6.8/10

Dhoom 3 (2013)

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama

Starring: Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Tabrett Bathell, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Andrew Bicknell

The original Dhoom movie started off as Bollywood's take on The Fast and The Furious franchisee with the only difference being the movie being centered around 2 wheels instead of 4. The movie garnered a good following due it's action sequences and vehicular chase scenes which prompted the makers to take the series ahead. Dhoom 3 is the latest offering in the series and continues to feature Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra as the leading cop-duo with the villain and female roles changing with every movie. Chicago, USA, a young boy, Sahir Khan (Khan), is a circus artist and along with his father, they own and perform at The Great Indian Circus. The bank has asked them to vacate the property due to non-payment of loans and Sahir Khan's father subsequently commits suicide. Fast forward to current day and Sahir Khan has pledged to take down the very bank due to whom his father lost his life. His motto is simple, take down the bank, branch-by-branch, and distribute the money to everyone on the street. ACP Jay Dixit (Bachchan) and his side-kick Ali (Chopra) have arrived in the US of A on the request to hunt down Sahir and arrest him. But why should an Indian police officer travel half the world to chase down a robber who is outside his jurisdiction and who has got absolutely no link to India and might not even be an Indian citizen? Today's world is connected with the internet and the audience has access to the best of movies from around the world and now realise what is possible and what isn't. Somehow, the makers of the movie have decided that they would continue to make a fool of the viewer by showing the most bizarre and outlandish stunts and hoping that everyone would happily lap it up. Aamir Khan's bike has the unusual ability to become a motorboat on the click of a button, Abhishek Bachchan can drive an auto-rickshaw across roof tops and the Chicago Police Department either does not have guns or does not have bullets inside them to shoot. The special effects and CGI seemed to have been outsourced to an teenage amateur and the action sequences were randomly pieced together without having any concern for the story. Many people, including me, had some tiny hopes from the movie on the pretext that Aamir Khan's presence might do some justice but sadly that has not been the case. The entire movie revolves only around him, to the extent that there was no focus on the bank robberies in itself and everything was about Sahir Khan's personal life and random bike scenes strewn here and there. The songs too were nothing to talk about and you probably won't go dancing or humming to any of it's tunes too quickly. Katrina's presence is simply only for the songs and she has a total of 18 seconds of non-song role to play. Even in those songs her dances seemed incomplete and unpolished and somehow Aamir '2-left-feet' Khan could pull them off better. All-in-all a movie that you absolutely need to avoid at all costs, even if you get paid to view it.

Thumbs up: Out of all the garbage, Aamir Khan's acting is the least smelly piece

Thumbs down: Each and every aspect of the entire movie

Rating: 4.2/10

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Action

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Kaluuya, Gillian Anderson, Dominic West, Pik-Sen Lim

The suave and charismatic Johnny English (Atkinson) has been sacked from the MI7 and stripped of everything he had due to a catastrophe that took place in Mozambique. He is currently serving exile at a Tibetan monetary where he is learning self-defense and how to gain control of his mind, body and genitalia. A plot to assassinate the Chinese president during his scheduled talks with the British Prime Minister has come under the radar and English has been asked to return to the agency once more. The head of MI7, Pegasus (Anderson) wants him to go to Hong Kong and meet an ex-CIA agent who might know more about the assassination plot. It is English's last chance at reclaiming himself and prove to the world that he is not as daft as they think he is. As with the first movie, this one too is a humorous take on the James Bond franchisee and the comical antics of a spy. As with many successful movies, the sequel fails to live up to the standards of the original and does not seem to have those elements due to which the original movie was appreciated. Good, credible humour is missing and the attempts at making you laugh is miserable. The movie rests on the shoulders of Rowan Atkinson who seems to have tried hard to make you laugh, but in vain. Perhaps having some support from other characters might have helped but do not watch the movie expecting a laugh riot.

Thumbs up: Rowan Atkinson, but it could've been funnier

Thumbs down: Lack of support from other cast and characters

Rating: 6.2/10

The Hunger Games (2012)

Genre: Adventure/Science-fiction/Action

Starring: Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson

In a modern day world, the nation of Panem rules over 12 districts where living conditions are miserable and extremely backward. Due to a past rebellion, every district must send 2 'tributes' to the annual Hunger Games to The Capitol, the capital city of Panem. The Hunger Games is an annual contest played between the 24 tributes where each must fight for survival in a wild forest. The last man standing is pronounced the victor. The games are considered more as a source of entertainment for the people of The Capitol with no consideration given to the life's of those are a part of that game. In District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) volunteers to become a tribute after her younger sister is randomly selected to represent the district. Katniss, along with her district companion Peeta (Hutcherson) must now train themselves and eventually fight in the battlefield to return victorious and alive. The concept of having the poor or the convicted to kill each other to either get rich or gain freedom has been something that Hollywood is not entirely a stranger to. Movies such as The Condemned and Death Race have already explored this story and hence, to someone who has already seen these movies, this movie becomes a repetition. The story is far too predictable and builds towards an unwanted happy ending. It fails to offer anything new or different, save the modern world approach, and gets a tad boring too after a while. Can be watched if such a plot is new to you, else it is a been there and done that kind of movie.

Thumbs up: Good action, great backdrop of the modern world

Thumbs down: Not a new plot, predictable outcome

Rating: 6.4/10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (3D) (2013)

Genre: Fantasy/Action/Adventure

Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch (voice), Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly

The second installment of The Hobbit continues from where the first movie ended. 13 dwarves are led by a wizard, Gandalf the Grey (McKellen) and a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) to enter The Lonely Mountain and take back precious jewels that Smaug (Cumberbatch), the dragon, has been closely guarding for all these years. Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) is the heir to the throne of Erebor, the very mountain which Smaug is guarding, and wishes to find the Arkenstone that would unite the seven dwarf families once again. An evil has slowly been gaining strength and prepares for war against all of Middle-Earth and the dwarves must unite in order to ensure their survival. The second movie continues under the direction of Peter Jackson who successfully directed The Lord of the Rings series of movies, whose story technically succeeds that of The Hobbit. The first movie was notorious for making the journey more slow and dragged, which thankfully, the second movie has improvised upon. The constant action and fresh developments are a treat to watch and help in keeping the audiences attention alive, right to the very end. If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings and other medival-fantasy movies, then this movie is just what the doctor ordered but prepare yourself with the previous movies storyline. An adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkiens book, The Hobbit.

Thumbs up: Extremely entertaining and good action

Thumbs down: The 3D technology does little justice in improvising on the visual experience

Rating: 7.5/10

Courage Under Fire (1999)

Genre: War/Action/Drama/Mystery

Starring: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Matt Damon, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty

The medal of honor is the highest military honor awarded by the United States government and is awarded for outstanding bravery and valor at the time of combat. The medal, however, cannot just be given to anyone and a deep research precedes the actual awarding of the medal. Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Washington) has been assigned the task to evaluate whether Army Captain Karen Walden should receive the medal of honor who died whilst trying to rescue fellow soldiers. Serling served the army during the Gulf War and had accidentally fired a friendly tank assuming it to be an enemies. The army has kept this information a secret in order to save it's face but this has affected Serling's conscious and he finds it extremely difficult to live with that lie. A probe into Walden's story throws some surprising results with contradictory stories coming from various sources.The army and the government want to go ahead with Walden's story and gain media attention for awarding it to the first female military person ever but Serling is adamant on digging deep and finding out what really did happen that night. A very interesting movie that showcases the insides of the functioning of military organisations and how after a point, the life of an individual does not matter as much as gaining attention and maintaining an image does. The story became slightly repetitive and a hence a bit boring somewhere in the middle and failed to climax with an interesting twist. At the end it still became another movie which highlights American pride and supremacy and seemed to deviate the point that it was trying to make. It is still a good watch for once but do not expect too much.

Thumbs up: Interesting concept

Thumbs down: Story fails to pan out in the way it should have or it intended to

Rating: 6.4/10

Now You See Me (2013)

Genre: Crime/Mystery/Action

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Michael Caine

Magic is the art of manipulation of sight and nothing else. It is due to this very art of manipulation, 4 magicians are brought together to become the ultimate magic troupe in history. J. Daniel Atlas aka The Lovers (Eisenberg), Merritt McKinley aka The Hermit (Harrelson), Henley Reeves aka The High Priestess (Fisher) and Jack Wilder aka Death (Fisher) come together to form the Four Horsemen. The four travel throughout the country, thrilling audiences when suddenly during a show in Las Vegas they announce that they are going to rob a bank standing right there on stage. The troupe's antics and success in pulling off the stunt shakes the police force but are unable to pin anything against the Four Horseman on the basis of lack of logical proof. Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) is assigned the task to crack the case and assisted by Alma Dray (Laurent) from Interpol but no matter what Dylan does, the horseman are always 2 steps ahead of him. The movie is an example of when the trailer is far better than the actual movie in itself. The way magic looks marvellous at first sight but when you dig deeper you realise things are not all that great, this movie too follows a similar path. It is visually enticing and can keep you glued but the story itself is extremely shaky and is built upon co-incidents, assumptions, unrealistic occurrences and unresolved mysteries. The flaws in the story are pretty much endless and don't be surprised if you get up in the end scratching your head. The idea of a heist movie with magicians is definitely unique, but the movie lacked the strong story to support this thought.

Thumbs up: Visually delighting

Thumbs down: Flawed story with too many gaping loopholes

Rating: 6.6/10

Holy Smoke! (1999)

Genre: Drama

Starring: Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel, Sophie Lee, Dan Wylie, Paul Goddard

India has long been known as the land of snake charmers, exotic lifestyle and enlightenment. People travel the world to meet babas and follow cults that at times might turn out to be a little extreme. Ruth Barron (Winslet) travelled to India with a friend on vacation but soon got mesmerised by a Baba who might have drugged her and psychologically convinced her to be a part of his cult. Her concerned parents, back in Australia, manage to convince her to return home on the false pretext that her father was ill. They hire P.J. Waters (Keiter) an American exit counsellor who specialises in making people leave cults in just 3 days. Ruth and Waters are sent to live in isolation in the Outback where Waters must now convince her to forget about Baba and go back to her life with her parents in Australia. A very interesting story and which builds up in the initial half an hour well, but somehow fails to progress in the same manner throughout. One expects to get involved in the entire cult exiting procedure but progression from day 1 to day 2 does not happen in the linear fashion and you don't quite understand why and how something has happened. Kate Winslet has done good justice to her role and has performed well, however, she has been the only performer with more or less the entire movie resting on her shoulders. A movie to watch out only for Kate Winslet and nothing else.

Thumbs up: Kate Winslet

Thumbs down: Story progression

Rating: 6.3/10