World War Z....... Reviews....

World War Z........ Reviews.......

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz

Direction: Marc Forster

Genre: Thriller

Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes

Story: A zombie pandemic strikes the globe. Former UN investigator Gerry Lane attempts to find the virus' origin. Can he survive the catastrophe, protect his family and save the world from the zombie apocalypse?

Review: Hollywood has always been obsessed with pandemics and zombies. Marc Forster takes the obsession a notch higher as he merges the two to give you an epic-scaled, fast-paced zombie invasion movie that is extremely gripping and thoroughly entertaining. It has everything you could possibly expect from a zombie blockbuster.

On the flipside, the film's not just about the outbreak of the virus but its origin, after-effects, destruction caused, investigation involved to curtail the global crisis and measures taken to prevent further damage. At some point, you do feel Forster's biting off more than he can chew. The climax which was re-shot, though brilliantly executed, falls a tad flat and seems incoherent.

The filmmaker's attempt at blending reality and philosophy with science fiction is not smooth either as the segments look disjointed. The family track in the film seems futile. Also, how can a former UN crime investigator know everything about medicines and scientific research! Nevertheless, flaws in construction and certain loose ends of the plot do not affect the tension-filled, anxiety-inducing impact of this spectacularly shot zombie thriller.

Brad Pitt (as a former UN investigator) is understated, yet convincing in a film that revolves around 'zombies'! The film has fantastic special effects, especially in scenes involving aerial views of zombies flooding the roads, crawling on top of each other to climb walls or attack helicopters and chase down Gerry and his family. The suspenseful opening sequence will send shivers down your spine.

The film moves at breakneck speed throughout, keeping you on the edge of your seat. The 3D barely makes any difference to a horror film but it works here. Cinematography is brilliant.

The film stays conventional in terms of concept. It even deviates from the novel (by Max Brooks) it's adapted from. However, if you are a fan of the genre and extreme destruction and survival get your adrenaline flowing, this one's highly engaging. Be prepared to play hide-and-seek with the terrifying undead creatures for there's no place to run, no place to hide...

Note: You may not like the film if 'zombie-action' fails to thrill you.

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Now You See Me..... Reviews....

Now You See Me........ Reviews.....

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Mélanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman

Direction: Louis Leterrier

Genre: Thriller

Duration: 1 hour 56 minutes

 Story: 'Four Horsemen', a team of elite illusionists pull off heists for real during their spectacular shows. How do they do it? Is it indeed 'magic'? Who's pulling the strings and why? 

Movie Review: The convoluted case is assigned to FBI agent Dylan Rhodes ( Mark Ruffalo) and French Interpol officer Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent). Post the robberies, the gang leaves no trace. They don't steal for themselves. Their misleading actions and ambiguous motives drive Rhodes to the edge. Adding to the chaos is former magician Thaddeus Bradley ( Morgan Freeman) who thinks he knows it all. 

The film has a novel and promising premise. The gang's cat and mouse game with the FBI, their display of magic tricks, fluid stunt scenes and Mark Ruffalo's banter with co-cop Melanie Laurent keep you engaged. The film works as a crime-thriller. 

However, it's unconvincing when it comes to dissecting the magic. As the film progresses, the antics of the law-defying 'famous four' start defying logic as well. The scattered plot runs out of steam eventually. The film goes into a different tangent altogether in order to be unpredictable, leaving you more perplexed than pleased. 

Scene after scene, in order to not let you dig into the script too closely, the filmmaker adds too many plot twists, but that does not camouflage the loose ends. 

The presence of a talented cast barely holds here as the characters are thinly sketched. Jesse Eisenberg yet again plays a fast-talking-shrewd guy with negative undertones like he did in The Social Network. And what is Michael Caine doing here? 

The film has its moments, especially in the scene when the magicians teleport an audience member to France from Vegas in a few minutes. However, don't go thinking you'll have fun 'solving' the enigmatic case, as the events that follow might just be way too implausible and convenient for your liking. 

The magicians in the film constantly warn the FBI officer to 'not look too closely'. The filmmaker sends out a similar message to the audience - don't dig into every aspect of the 'tricks' and you will be entertained.

HERE IS YOUR TRAILER....

After Earth.....

After Earth...... Reviews....

Critic's Rating: 

Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz

Direction: M. Night Shyamalan

Genre: Sci-Fi

Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes

Story: A father and son are stranded when their spaceship crash-lands on post-apocalyptic Earth. Father sends the son on a mission to get to a rescue beacon in time and beam a distress message into deep space.

Review: Will Smith is known to do films with a bang - grand movies of sweeping scale where he is the focal point of attention. Not so in this one. Here, he takes the back seat and hands Jaden the baton (obvious metaphors abound; he gives the kid his own saber at the commencement of the quest) to be the main man.

The film is set hundreds of years into the future, where mankind has been evacuated from Earth; a planet now inhabited by human-eating nasties. Cypher Raige (Smith) and his son Kitai Raige (Jaden) are forced to crash-land. The film's plot bears an uncanny resemblance to a video-game where the player has to go the distance from point 'A' to 'B' (100 km, in this case) in 'X' amount of time. Along the way he battles monsters of increasing strength. There are health packs too, like bonus points. And in the end, there is a 'boss fight' with a hideous alien critter called the Ursa. That's it, game over.

Cypher maintains a radio link with Kitai as the harsh patriarch at times and the voice of reason-cum-vendor of wisdom and encouragement at other times. Again it's like how a computer-programmed narrator is in a video-game. At some point, they lose contact and Kitai's moment of reckoning arrives. It's about Kitai having to prove himself to his dad.

The rest of the cast is inconsequential, forgettable and completely replaceable. There are menacing moments and the editing is taut but this stays in cliche territory; it's nothing you haven't seen before. The film suffers from a lack of ambition. After Earth aims for interstellar overdrive but barely manages to take off.

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