Divergent (2014)

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Adventure/Romance

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Zoe Kravitz, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet

In a post-war world, the City of Chicago has built a small world and government of their own in order to sustain their lives. The population is divided between four factions, each having a specific outlined function. Every individual is allowed a choice to select the faction they wish to join but must first undergo a test that displays which faction is the person most inclined towards. Tris (Woodley) is one such girl who is due to undergo her test and must make a choice of the faction she wants. She is mesmerised by the lifestyle and duties of the Dauntless, the faction entrusted with security and protection, and wishes to become a part of them. Her test results, however, show her as a divergent of someone who does not have any particular inclination and is suitable in all factions. Divergent's are looked down upon because they are far too smart and powerful and are hence ruthlessly exterminated if found. The Erudite faction, known for their intelligence, is trying to overthrow the current government and wishes to eradicate every Divergent that exists. Tris needs to keep her trait a secret if she wants to survive, a secret she needs to keep from her own parents too. Trying to replicate what humanity would become in the distant future has always been a inspiration for movies and this movie follows a similar path. There is a good mix of action, suspense and some added romance to make it an all around entertainer. Do not expect anything exceptional out of it but as a good serious entertainer the movie does well.

Thumbs up: Good story

Thumbs down: Needs more interesting action

Rating: 7.1/10

Original Sin (2001)

Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance/Mystery

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Angelina Jolie, Thomas Jane

Set in the late 19th century in Cuba, Luis Vargas (Banderas) is the most eligible bachelor in town. Young and smart, he also has a massive coffee plantation and is extremely rich. He searches for an eligible bride and requests for Julia Russel (Jolie) to pay a visit to Cuba and eventually become his bride. The lady who disembarks from the boat is not the lady whose image he saw and is taken aback at this sudden difference. Julia explains that she did this because she didn't want Luis to marry her for her beauty. Luis too had lied about his profession because he never wanted Julia to marry him for his money; this similarity brings the two together and love instantly sparks. Everything goes well until Luis suddenly discovers all his money missing and Julia nowhere to be seen. This movie tries hard to be a murder mystery but somehow seems to falter when it comes to it's actual focus. It seems confused between a crime and a romance and lands up being bad in both genres. The end twist in the story becomes pretty evident during half time and there is nothing exceptional that is revealed towards the end. The entire backdrop of Cuba, rustic romance, wealth and passion is brought out in the movie in an good manner which becomes the only plus point. Antonio Banderas does some decent performances but Jolie fails to live up to his exceptional skills. An average entertainer that most people watch only for Jolie's exceptional beauty that is displayed in this movie, nothing otherwise to watch out for.

Thumbs up: Angelia Jolie looks mesmerising, depiction of Cuba

Thumbs down: Not a very interesting twist in the tale

Rating: 6.5/10

The Lookout (2007)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Isla Fisher, Matthew Goode

A supremely rich and extremely smart young boy, Chris Pratt (Levitt), had his entire life charted in front of him. Ice skater pro, good education, he had it all. And all if it went crashing when a recreational drive leads to a catastrophic accident that leaves Chris with serious brain damage, co-ordination problems and short term memory. Everything that he hoped for was gone and he now makes a living by moping the floors of a bank. Chris is emotionally supported by his flatmate, Lewis (Daniels) who is blind but highly motivated. Chris is independent but frustrated, wants to achieve everything in life but cannot. Gary (Goode) knew Chris from high school and is the leader of a gang. They use Chris for his simplicity and ambition and use him to gain entry into the bank and plan on robbing it. Chris sees this as an opportunity to get back to his old life and do everything he wished for and steadily finds himself getting convinced to become a part of it. The biggest flaw in this movie is the build up and yawning time that it takes to get things moving. Anyone would be easily convinced that the movie was a bad idea but the second half compensates for it. Far too much time was spent in establishing Chris' character which leaves little time for the actual movie. Nothing very exceptional on any aspects but the story could have been explored in a different and better manner.

Thumbs up: Decent foundation for a story

Thumbs down: Slow, everything is average

Rating: 6.1/10

Havoc (2005)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Anne Hathway, Bijou Phillips, Matt O'Leary, Freddy Rodriguez, Mike Vogel

The grass is always greener on the other side is a very apt statement. That's the case for a group of rich young kids from L.A who wish they would rather have been born gangsters than the children of businessmen. They imitate gangs, dress like them, talk like them, listen to their music but yet cannot be like them. Eric (O'Leary) is a film-maker who is trying to document the life of Allison (Hathway), her boyfriend Toby (Vogel) and their friends and how they juggle their life between the streets and homes. When an adventure one night takes them to east L.A. to purchase marijuana, Allison gets smitten by the raw neighborhood and the way the Mexican's live their life. Along with a group of friends, she decides to head back to the hood and soon befriends Hector (Rodriguez) and the rest of  his gang members. Allison and Hector become good friends with Allison dropping in often and spending time with him, much to the disappointment of Toby. A good portrayal of gangs in L.A and tries to make it look as authentic as possible. Although the movie is fundamentally about good girls chasing bad guys, the story is given a much different treatment that makes it interesting. That said, the movie does not spark fireworks with performances being mediocre and a lot of scope for improvement. An interesting story that could have been given a better treatment.

Thumbs up: Authentic portrayal of L.A streets

Thumbs down: Average acting

Rating: 6.4/10

The Expendables 2 (2012)

Genre: Action/Crime/Adventure

Starring: Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Scott Adkins, Nan Yu

The Expendables is a group of mercenaries that would perform any military role for money. Led by Barney Ross (Stallone) who accepts mission briefs for the team and plans and executes the strategy. In the previous movie, Barney did not follow the mission brief received from CIA operative Church (Willis) who now wants Barney to go to Albania and receive a device from a plane crash. Ross' efforts would compensate the mess that he caused in the previous movie and they must take Church's operative, Maggi (Yu) along too. The team successfully retrieves the item but is ambushed by Vilain (van Damme) the leader of another mercenary group, The Sangs, who has taken one of the team members, Billy the Kid (Hemsworth), hostage. Barney is forced to give up the item, only to later start pursuing Vilain in a bid to bring it back. Like the previous movie, this one too is focused on pure action and giving work to actors who either people don't care about any more or have more grey hair than black. It's a pure American action-shootout where no one gets hurt, not even a scratch, with the most insane stunts and they again fight the Russians. All the old characters seem to have taken a dig at themselves, their age and their previous movies to add the tiny bit of humour for the movie. It was good to see Bruce Willis, Arnold, Sylvester, Chuck Norris and van Damme all in one but their presence seemed to have no visible logic or addition to the story line and seemed to simply appear out of nowhere. A great movie for the action-buff but do not try and hunt for a story or logic in here.

Thumbs up: Great way to kill time

Thumbs down: No interesting story

Rating: 6.4/10

The Man from Earth (2007)

Genre: Drama/Science-fiction

Starring: David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Elen Crawford, Annika Peterson, William Katt, Alexis Thrope, Richard Riehle

When Prof. John Oldman (Smith) is moving on in life, an impromptu farewell party takes place when his work colleagues decide to bid him adieu. John seems to be leaving quite abruptly without giving any solid reasoning or logic, that makes his colleagues probe him deeper and deeper to try and get it out of him. The group comprised of a biologist, anthropologist, art historian, psychiatrist, historian, archaeologist and a student who try and understand why John wants to leave. John throws them the idea of the possibility of a caveman who has managed to live for 14,000 years and if such a thing could even be possible in the scientific world. With this topic finding takers amongst the group of professors, John slowly and steadily reveals the possibility of him being that very caveman and narrates his life experiences to the group. This movie is very obviously made on an extremely low budget where only the story mattered. An extremely interesting plot line that can absorb you quite quickly which also makes you believe in the possibility of human immortality. A lot of scientific jargon plagues the movie that makes it a turn off for someone who is not scientifically inclined. Being one of the last movies that Jerome Bixby, the writer of the original Star Trek movies, ever penned, that too on his deathbed, this movie is bound to live up to the levels of a true sci-fi fan. A very simple and easy movie to watch, if you pay close attention, and an even better movie for someone who is a science fanatic. A very interesting climax too.

Thumbs up: Amazing story, simplistic movie

Thumbs down: Zero

Rating: 8.4/10

Forrest Gump (1994)

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Romance

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field, Mykelti Williamson

Forrest Gump (Hanks) is the definition of a simpleton. Hailing from Alabama and with an IQ of 75 along with being born a cripple, he was instantly discarded as someone who would never make it big in life. Forrest is slow, a little dim-witted and took things far too much on face value. He was extremely honest by heart and many people thought he was plain stupid. From discovering the passion for running soon after his legs recovered, joining the army, making friends with  Bubba (Williamson) and an enemy in Lt. Dan (Sinise), starting the shrimping business, falling in love with his childhood sweetheart Jenny (Wright) and a whole lot more, the movie encapsulates all of Forrest's life with it's ups and downs in a hilarious movie. Tom Hanks did an exceptional job of capturing the strong Alabama accent and sticking to it throughout the movie. Humour in this movie is not outright or in your face, it is far more subtle and dark as if it's hidden and you're expected to find it. The story of the movie is very simple, the life of an average individual but it is how this life is put together and all the events that makes so unique and exceptional and worth the watch. An outstanding movie and definitely a keeper.

Thumbs up: Tom Hanks

Thumbs down: None whatsoever

Rating: 8.7/10

Christmas Vacation (1989)

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Randy Quaid

The Griswold's are back in the third movie in the Vacation series of movies. Unlike the previous movies which were focused on the families outings that turn out to be hilarious disasters, this movie focuses on the Griswold's staying at home for a good and old fashioned way of celebrating the holidays. Clark (Chase) has a certain way of celebrating Christmas that is stuck inside his head. This includes going into the forest and chopping down the 'perfect' Christmas tree, lighting up the entire house with 25,000 twinkling bulbs and inviting the family over to spend some time with them and have a family feast. Although Clark's wife, Ellen (D'Angelo) and children, Rusty (Galecki) and Audrey (Lewis) are not quite in favor of Clarke's ideas, mostly because of their horrible outcome, they have no choice but to play along. When the guests, some invited and some uninvited, come along for Christmas celebrations, it culminates into a hilarious bringing together of a lot unfortunate events. The movie is thankfully an improvement from the second movie but not as funny as the first movie was. A good entertainer that will help you kill time with the family but there is nothing more to it at all. Maybe some more outright humour that would make you roll over is something that this movie needs, but it would do in it's current state nonetheless.

Thumbs up: Decent family entertainer

Thumbs down: Needs more outright humour

Rating:  6.5/10