ETHIR NEECHAL ("LONG SWIM")

May 1,2013

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Priya Anand.

Director: R S Durai Senthilkumar.

Sivakarthikeyan as the hero, Anirudh’s music topping the charts, Dhanush as the producer; he comes in an item dance with Nayanthara as well. Ethirneechal having all these mouth watering elements finally hits the screens so what more can you ask for, right? Well...a lot more!

A couple with no children for quite a long time gets blessed with a baby boy (Sivakarthikeyan) whom they believe has been given to them by the deity named Kunchithapadam, and for the same reason they name him after the deity. People start calling him Kunchi and Kunchithapadam who is a decent athelete feels cursed even when he wins races just because his name gets announced during the presentation ceremony. He is friends with Peter who runs a tailoring shop.

A lot of misfortunes come his way which he believes is because of his name. So he changes his name to Harish. He falls in love with Geetha (Priya Anand) who is a teacher cum LIC agent cum student cum charity worker. After a series of events he decides to take part in a marathon to “earn” his new name! He starts training under Valli who has the National record for 100 metres race.

The first half of the film is rather passable with a few funny scenes, some reminding you of Boss engira Baskaran. The romance between Sivakarthikeyan and Priya Anand is nice but lacks the chemistry actually required. At times it’s hard not to feel if the director was hoping to make the film appealing to the audience by stuffing in as many songs as possible.

The second half mostly concentrates on the training for the marathon and the actual event. The item song involving Dhanush and Nayanthara is nice but it is just as unwanted as Valli’s flashback!

The screenplay though earnestly written lacks the solidarity required  either for a romantic film or a sports film, and when it’s a combination of romance and sports the final product ends up with several loose ends unfortunately. This is not to belittle the training sequences that have been shot really well.

A filmmaker feels victorious when the audience empathise with the characters he is presenting to them, but the characters in Ethirneechal seems half baked and you as the audience end up watching a story that is happening somewhere out there and not something that you can relate to.

In spite of it feeling too long Ethirneechal cannot be termed as a bad film. It does offer entertainment in parts and does not make you feel bored. But that’s that!

Iam giving a 2.5/5 for Ethirneechal. Go in without expectations and you will not feel disappointed.

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.

IRON MAN 3 ("HEAVY METAL")

April 26, 2013

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, sir Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce.

Director: Shane Black.

One of the most anticipated movies of the year has arrived, that too one week ahead of it’s US release just like “The Avengers”. Because of the amazing response from India “The Avengers” had had a super huge opening in the US and it is going to be no different in the case of Iron Man 3!

Tony Stark is more of a responsible person, the reckless womanising character has faded away. He is now in a committed relationship with Pepper. Come Mandarin along with Aldrian Killich and Tony Stark’s world as he knew it changes.

Into middle age, all that generally comes to people in that phase(or may be more) happens with Tony as well; he is anxious, less of a risk taker, fearful of the safety of his family and super anxious to the point of having anxious attacks very often. You can get to see more of the emotional side of the Iron Man here.

After a watered down start (which is intentional) the action starts, once Tony declares an open challenge to The Mandarin, with a super spectacular sequence(action wise, cinematography wise and effects wise), in which Tony loses his house. And after that it’s heavy bombardment time!!!

The plot is an average one but the screenplay infused with a lot of action sequences and humor keeps you engaged even if you are not an Iron Man fan, barring a few scenes. Tony Stark’s equation with the kid in Tennessee will be loved by the younger audience. With Robert Downey Jr as the arrogant, witty, mocking Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as the ever dependable Pepper, Guy Pearce as the intriguing Aldrian Killich and Sir Ben Kingsley as the interesting Mandarin the performances are nothing short of first class.  

What is most amazing about the film is the unbelievable grip and control that Shane Black has over the action sequences and the effects. His coordination with the technical crew especially the action choreographers, visual effect team and the cinematographer is well evident in the final product on screen.

With a number of over the top action set-pieces it’s carnival time for the Iron Man fans and others alike.

Iam giving a 3.5/5 for Iron Man 3. Gorge on. This is the Iron Man doing what he does best!

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.

                                                                    

THE CROODS ("SUMMER TREAT")

April 19, 2013

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone.

Director: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders.

For some reason or the other animation films that release during vacation time are sure to become hits irrespective of the content. The only difference with respect to The Croods is that it’s rich in content as well!

Set in a period 4 million years ago, the croods (as their family is called) lose their cave during the geographical shifts taking place on earth. The over protective Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage) along with his family is forced to trek through alien lands with the help of Guy(voiced by Ryan Reynolds). Grug’s daughter Eep (voiced by Emma Stone) falls for Guy.

With a weird family consisting of a wife, a cowardly son, a dog like daughter, and a crazy mother in law (apart from Eep ofcourse) the trek with Guy offers plenty of entertainment for the viewers. The antics of the family itself will leave you in splits.

Though it is a simple story the breathtaking visuals and stunning 3D are sure to transport you into a dreamland. If you take kids along you can see them trying to catch the objects on screen every now and then. It’s equally appealing to adults as well. The visual effects and animation team surely deserve a pat on their backs for creating such a visual masterpiece. Some scenes might remind you of ”Avatar” mainly because of the similarity in the landscape and the animals.

Then comes the different animals some of whom most of the time are trying to kill the croods (for food of course). Now do not get me wrong these are not the dangerous sort that you might have seen in “Avatar” for example; these are the funny type and you have to give it to the character development team for making them so endearing. The fluffy colourful adorable scary looking but cowardly tiger, Guy’s belt (that’s an animal for your information), Grug’s son’s pet are just some of the animals you are most certainly going to fall in love with!

The cinematography and some action set pieces are simply stunning and some of the finest that you have seen in the recently released animated movies.

But the strength of the croods lies in it’s brilliant script, knowing it’s limits(not attempting to stuff in unnecessary details), that keeps you entertained throughout and the wonderful direction that remains faithful to the script.

Iam giving a 3.25/5 for The Croods. Be prepared to take your kids for repeat viewing!

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.

                                                                    

UDHAYAM NH4 ("IT'S HIGHWAY...FOR THE AUDIENCE")

April 19, 2013

Cast: Siddarth, Ashrita Shetty, Kay Kay Menon, Kishore.

Director: Manimaran.

Being directed by Vettri Maaran’s associate with the script written by Vettri Maaran himself, Udhayam NH4 comes from a juicy crew with a pretty good cast.

Rithika (Ashrita Shetty), the daughter of a politician, who studies in a college in Bangalore falls for her classmate Prabhu (Siddharth). After a dramatic turn of events she is forced to elope with Prabhu. Kay Kay menon who is an encounter specialist is asked to bring back Rithika to her father before she turns 18 the next day.

The film starts off with a glibly shot encounter scene and you would start getting doubts if your decision to come for the movie was right after all! Very soon you would be sure as hell that it was one of the most stupid decisions that you have ever taken in your life!

The screenplay written with the intention of being clever never really goes beyond the elementary level! The hero very easily keeps fooling the police and what more, even the cops look happy enough to play fools. Next it’s time for the audience to become fools when the hero and the cops start taking turns to fool each other! For instance, the hero leaves his cell phone in a dust bin to prevent the police from tracking him. Once he starts moving he sends a message from his friend’s mobile and ends up getting caught.

To make it so wonderfully sweet, the heroine who gets caught by Kay Kay Menon after a struggle all of a sudden starts telling her romantic story to him and the ruthless encounter specialist suddenly becomes an avid listener. By this time all you want to do is run out of the theatre screaming for help.

Coming to the dialogues department, it is really unfortunate to see such silly and cheesy dialogues coming from someone like Vettri Maaran. Barring one or two, the supporting actors and the heroine with weird accents (as a lot of them are not Tamilians in real life as well as in the film) and the last thing they could do being act, make your life miserable. To make it worse the dubbing and lip sync are a disaster!!

Manimaran has a long way to go as far as direction is concerned. His inability to extract performances from his cast is too apparent, even from actors as fine as Kay Kay Menon! The shabbily written and shot scenes between the lead pair have a fair chance of reminding you of the disastrous Twilight Saga chemistry between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.

The songs are nice and a few scenes are humorous but it’s highly doubtful if you would remember any of those by the time the ordeal comes to an end.

Iam giving a 1/5 for Udhayam NH4. If the director tells you it’s either his way or the highway, you would be better off taking the highway even in this summer heat!!

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.

                                                                    

GAURAVAM ("NOTHING TO BE PROUD ABOUT")

April 19, 2013

Cast: Allu Sirish, Yami Gautam, Prakash Raj.

Director: Radha Mohan.

When you talk about honour killings to a filmgoer it’s natural if the raw, intense “Mississippi Burning” and it’s equally good Indian version “Aakrosh” come to his mind. But does Gauravam belong to the same league? Not at all!

Set in T. Vennur (a village in Tamilnadu), Gauravam talks about the story of Allu Sirish who comes in search of his classmate Shanmugam ( from a lower caste family) who is believed to have eloped with his girlfriend (from an upper caste family). Prakashraj plays the role of the girlfriend’s father. Nobody in the village, including Prakashraj and Shanmugam’s father, knows about the couple’s whereabouts. Allu Sirish and his friend, along with the help of Lawyer Yaazhini (Yami Gautam), the daughter of a local Communist leader, set out to find Shanmugam and his girlfriend.

If you have already watched “Mississippi Burning” or “Aakrosh” you right away understand the plot, but even otherwise it would not take the average viewer long to figure it out, courtesy the lazy, lacklustre and naive screenplay by Radhamohan. The screenplay is so amateurish that you would not find even a single tense scene in the movie! There is no scope for jokes in a movie of this genre and the bad ones forced into the screenplay are made worse by Allu Sirish who is stone faced most of the time.

The cast consists of a couple of Radhamohan regulars who do a good job. But it’s the actors who have played the role of Shanmugam’s father and his girlfriend’s sister-in-law, though very limited in screenspace, who outshine the rest of the cast. Sadly there are no characters like that of Gene Hackman and Willen Dafoe (in Mississippi Burning) or Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna and Paresh Rawal(in Aakrosh), fiery enough to give you the thrills!Even the antagonists never looking menacing or dangerous.

An amusing yet confusing thing about Radhamohan is his tryst with Punjabis. Yes, you have a Punjabi in this movie as well who plays Allu Sirish’s friend!

The cinematography is so inconsistent that you would wonder if there were two Directors of Photography working. When some scenes are nothing short of visual beauty others look like cheap camera print.

Most of the events that look to good to be true unfold at regular intervals as if they were programmed. Certain scenes are so naively thought about and executed that you will burst out into laughter at the silliness. Towards the end there are a few “so called” discoveries and twists that fall flat on the face! With a lot of gratuitous characters and scenes Gauravam feels longer than it’s runtime of 2 hrs 16 minutes.

Iam giving a 2/5 for Gauravam. It’s clear that Radhamohan has stepped onto a genre that he has no clue about!

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.

                                                                    

OBLIVION ("BOREDOM ON SCREEN")

April 12, 2013

Cast: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough.

Director: Joseph Kosinski.

With Oblivion being Tom Cruise’s only release for 2013 all the fans who geared up for an action adventure would get not quite the same.

Set in 2077, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a drone repairman on the war destroyed earth. He is stationed in a tower along with Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) and does a daily patrol of the area under his jurisdiction. When they are almost ready to get back to home base an explosion nearby leads to the discovery of Julia (Olga Kurylenko) who has been sleeping(scientifically induced) for 60 years. Harper starts realising all is not well and what appears to be the truth is far from it rather.

We know from Tron Legacy that Kosinski has an eye for the visuals and an ear for quality BGM and it’s no different here. You are treated to some wonderful landscape and graphically created buildings and machines. Though the BGM would surely remind you of the great Hans Zimmer the corresponding scenes lack the intent, grace and feel to do any justice to the great piece of music. 

The plot is too straightforward and trite and along with a dull, dragging screenplay you would most likely be left twitching and stretching in your seats.The supposed inner turmoil that Harper is going through is lazily written and directed which makes the whole experience a boring affair. The action scenes come in at times but they do not really offer any adrenaline rush.

Coming to performances Tom Cruise has done what he always does; full justice to the role! But it’s sad that he was wasted because of a lacklustre script. Morgan Freeman must be in need of some money I guess as nothing else explains him taking up this role having around 10 minutes of screen space with no substance at all!!

Oblivion is a cruelty to the fans who waited for a long time to see Tom Cruise in action.

Iam giving a 2/5 for Oblivion. It’s better to stay home watching an old Tom Cruise movie on TV.

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.

                                                                    

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (" ACTION WEEKEND")

April 5, 2013

Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart.

Director: Antoine Fuqua.

After a series of flops Gerard Butler has teamed up with the Training Day Director Antoine Fuqua for Olympus has fallen.

Mike Banning(Gerard Butler) gets discharged from the position of the Security Chief for the President (Aaron Eckhart) after he fails to save the President’s wife from an accident. After 18 months the White House is taken down by the North Koreans and it’s upto Mike to save the day while Speaker Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) is the acting President.

Whether it is a conscious decision or not, Olympus has fallen gives more importance to action than the plot. The taking of the White House (especially by the aerial route) might look too easy to be true but the whole sequence has been shot perfectly with skilfully choreographed action scenes.

The authorities who are calling the shots along with the acting President  are portrayed as a bunch of naive persons easily falling into the traps set by the North Koreans. You would especially notice this when the US Airforce helicopters are shot down by the North Koreans using “Hydra”, about which no mention was made during the taking down of the White House. But if you are an action junkie I do not really think you are going to really mind that.

Gerard Butler looks fully in his element giving a confident and believable performance as Mike Banning. Aaron Eckhart in his limited role as President does a good job. Morgan Freeman does not really have any role.

The firing, bombs, air combat and fist fights are sure to delight those who go in looking for action, and these are perfectly placed at regular intervals in the crisp screenplay of 2 hrs making it the perfect action flick for the weekend.

Iam giving a 3/5 for Olympus has fallen. Get ready for some really good action.

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.

KEDI BILLA KILLADI RANGA(“KEDI DULL AH KILLADI BORE AH”)

Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Vimal, Bindu Madhavi, Regina, Suri.

Director: Pandiraj.

After a promising start with Pasanga we saw a decline in the quality of content in Marina. Now that has gone down further with Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga.

First of all there is no relevance to the characters and the film name except that both the characters are Rajinikanth fans and were born when their mothers were watching those films on tv!

Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga is “formula film” with a few songs, romance, (so called) comedy scenes, and (horrible) sentiments. But the sad part is that the film does not even live upto the standards of a normal “formula film”.

Murugan(Sivakarthikeyan) and Kesavan (Vimal) are best friends who are jobless. They want to get into politics. Paappa(Regina) and Mithra(Bindhu) play their love interests respectively. Suri who is a “veettode maappilai” is always there for Murugan and Kesavan.

The plot is so silly and amateurish. Both the heroes keep going behind the heroines without much use in the first half. After the interval all of a sudden the heroines develop interest for the heroes, it does not end there, even the parents are ok with it. What more can one ask for! Sivakarthikeyan along with Vimal (after being wronged by the local MLA) manages to contest the election with the little money he gets from Regina and her dad. The list of such instances and the superficial characterisation of almost the entire cast are disappointing to say the least. If you are still inside the theatre during climax you would understand why the words “sentimental scenes” have taken a negative meaning.

Though some scenes are genuinely funny most of the time you are just indifferent. The film looks much longer than it’s runtime of 148 minutes and if you are real fan of comedy films the only reason you would sit through would be the air conditioner inside the theatre. The film just keeps drifting pointlessly on and on and on and comes to an abrupt end!

Iam giving a 2.25/5 for Kedi Billa Killadi Ranga. It’s time for Pandiraj to take a serious look at what he is doing if he wants to maintain the name he has earned.

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.

                                                                    

CHENNAIYIL ORU NAAL ("A GOOD DAY IN CHENNAI")

Cast: Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj, Radhika, Cheran, Prasanna.

Director: Shaheed Khader.

Chennaiyil Oru Naal is the remake of the Super Hit Malayalam movie Traffic which was directed by Rajesh Pillai, inspired by true events that happened in Chennai some years earlier.

It is a casting coup of sorts with a lot of prominent faces from the Tamil Industry like Sarathkumar, Cheran, Prakash Raj, Prasanna, Radhika, Vijayakumar, Jayaprakash, Lakshmi, Mallika, Ineya,....it’s a big list! But the refreshing and good thing about Chennaiyil Oru Naal is that it cannot be termed as the film starring any of the above actors. Chennaiyil Oru Naal is a film where the screenplay is the hero, heroine and the villain. All the above actors and the rest of the cast just support the screenplay by acting out their parts.

The original screenplay written by Bobby-Sanjay has been retained. But even the dialogues(though written by Ajayan Bala) are almost the same as in Malayalam. The fabulous multi – layered screenplay which must be the first of it’s kind for the Tamil audience is sure to be appreciated.

Though not on par with Rajesh Pillai, director Shaheed Khadar has done a fairly good job in trying to retain the essence of Traffic and most of the time he actually succeeds in it. But having watched the original, it’s a bit hard to overlook the fact that the masala element creeps in at some scenes.

Coming to performances it’s a job well done by most of the cast except for a few scenes involving Prasanna, the newcomers and the junior artists. When certain scenes involving Prakash Raj are really funny, others involving Lakshmi, Jayaprakash and Radhika are touching.

But what really works for the film is the portrayal of wide ranging characters having different dreams about their lives with conviction without causing any deceleration of the tempo.

Iam giving a 3.25/5 for Chennaiyil Oru Naal. Get ready for a mixture of wide ranging emotions along with some thrill.

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.