Pratheej On Cinema: 12/13/13

Friday 13 December 2013

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG ("HERE COMES SMAUG")

December 13, 2013.

Cast: Martin Freeman, Sir Ian Mckellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Director: Peter Jackson.

After just an year of “An unexpected journey” Peter Jackson is back with the sequel “The Desolation of Smaug”. With the 1 billion USD collections for the first part covering almost the whole production expense for the trilogy it was always going to be a profitable venture. Still Peter Jackson ensures that he does not compromise on quality with this sequel.

Continuing from where the first part left off, the pack of dwarves and Bilbo led by Thorin Oakenshield are forced to advance towards the Lonely Mountain by themselves after Gandalf is instructed by Lady Galadriel to check on the growing strength of the evil Necromancer. Azog the defiler is ordered by his master to give up chasing Oakenshield as there are preparations to be made for the brewing war.

It was quite evident to everyone that Peter Jackson had to give something much more spectacular than the first part to keep the audience engaged considering the inability of “An unexpected journey” to match upto the Lord of the Rings. As a fan and otherwise I am personally satisfied that he does

manage to bring this sequel a notch higher in almost all the departments.

The fight sequences which happen to come so very easily to Jackson are one of the many highlights here too. The barrel fight in the falls is one that everyone would enjoy very much for the kind of shots, camera and CG work, the stunt choreography and the sheer creativity. The level of fighting enters a different league altogether once Legolas and Tauriel enter the scene.

The film hits a rough patch at times mainly when Jackson tries to build up his characters and certain situations, which though may be required for the film, would not have hurt if absent! The BGM also gets substandard at times appearing more like an amateurish band rather than being part of the film’s soul.

Still there is a certain soul to the film that keeps it going and once the action picks up you almost completely forget those letdowns especially when you are treated with the interesting and amazing encounter between Bilbo and Smaug. The conversation they have, shot beautifully, keeps the future of the quest so beautifully suspenseful and when it’s the arresting voice and tone of Benedict Cumberbatch (Smaug) you are left wishing for more.

Though flooded with characters, The Desolation of Smaug mainly belongs to Bilbo, Thorin Oakenshield and Smaug, with Gandalf, Legolas and Tauriel amongst others offering support.

The latter part of the second half gets so thrilling that it takes a minute or two after the sudden climax for you to realise it has ended after having seen a few dragging scenes earlier. With Smaug awakened the stage is beautifully set for the final part to unleash all the action that the fans have been waiting for.

I am giving 3.5 for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Smaug has arrived, let us wait for “There and Back Again”.

IMDB Rating

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2 - Unwatchable.

2 to 2.25 - Below average.

2.5 to 2.75 - Average.

3 to 3.25 - Good.

3.5 to 3.75 - Really Good.

4 to 4.25 - Great.

4.5 and above - Extraordinary.

IVAN VERA MATHIRI ("SATHYAMA ILLA!!")

December 13, 2013.

Cast: Vikram Prabhu, Surabhi, Vamsi Krishna.

Director: Saravanan.

It is sad when a young director gives you hope after a decent realistic film in his debut and then gets confused on what to do next ending up offering a substandard masala film.

Gunasekaran (Vikram Prabhu) is a normal city guy belonging to a middle class family. He gets involved with a local gangster (Vamsi Krishna) after he decides to bring down a corrupt politician who happens to be the former’s brother. After a few totally unexpected meetings with Malini (Surabhi) the two fall in love. But trouble follows when the gangster wants Guna dead.

It is difficult not to mention the misfire right at the beginning with the unnecessary song in the background during the law college fight. It is known to everyone how bad things are in law colleges nowadays with a lot of untoward incidents happening almost on a regular basis but by emphasising it a tad too much with a song conveying the same spoils the whole thing. Starting with the above it’s misfire after misfire at regular intervals.

Almost all the songs in the movie are unnecessary and it’s better not to start talking about the BGM which gives one helluva pain for your eardrums.

The director has tried doing justice to the title of the film by trying to give an image to Guna in one of the songs by highlighting certain activities of his which are things not everyone does normally, but sadly that is all that you get. After that the screenplay slips into a very mediocre level making the film a normal hero V/s villain film with the usual masala set up.

Things keep happening mechanically half the time and the film progresses on such a narrow level with no importance or relevance given to any of the characters except the hero, heroine and villain. The dialogues and scenes towards the end, especially when Malini is tied to the metal bars as a dummy, are so silly that you would laugh out loud despite trying so hard not to.

The next area of disappointment is the fights, most of which have over usage of ropes, making lifting the opponent look like lifting a piece of paper. Going by common sense, with the kind of beating that they take with iron rods, metal objects, concrete etc among other things, both the hero and villain should have died several times.

All this and a lot more ,which if told would expose the story, makes one wonder if this is the same director who gave us a simple and decent movie an year back.

I am giving 1.5 for Ivan Vera Mathiri. This one lacks common sense and has no entertainment value.