The Hunt (2012)

One thing I know is that it’s nearly impossible to explain the feelings I got when I watched this mesmerizing piece of drama. It’s no doubt one of the most powerful storyline unfolded on a movie and definitely very hard to witness for any person who has even a bit of wetness in their hearts. At times there is no pleasure in watching this but it’s just mere pain and that pain you share with the main character that is brilliantly portrayed by skilled Mads Mikkelsen. Combined with the touching storyline and the performances Jagten is not just a drama about adults and children. It’s a story of a man wrongfully accused of a heinous act and the ruthlessness of the society that falls in the same path. We being the majority and the part of that very society become victims of our own belief system and reactions which is terribly wrong even to admit. Once you’re done with this movie you will be shocked and that shock is not delivered via blood or violence. That’s the beauty of this drama that in my opinion is incomparable to any.  Must watch!!

 The Hunt ("Jagten" original title) 2012, 5/5

Iron Man 3 (2013)

The universe of superhero movies are growing and its becoming stronger and steadier by the day. Each movie comes with spectacular work of animation and stunning stunts surpassing its predecessor. This goes equally towards the promotions and ever growing expenditure for marketing years ahead of the release of the movie. Iron Man 3 was one of such movies made bigger than it actually is through promotions. But in real the movie doesn't deliver that much entertainment. But don’t get me wrong the usual CG extravaganza and the superhero flavor is very much intact. But it fails to deliver the punch through an effective story line. The reason being Iron Man is not exactly a superhero but a machine driven hero who has to abide to the laws of physics and technological advancements of the time seems a bit too overwhelming in its performance. ‘Maybe’ even a superhero cannot deliver some of the stunts in this. I know I can't be serious here but it does bother a bit.

Apart from that as mentioned earlier the sheer amount of action in the final sequence and the breathtaking amount of small details that gives energy to the scenes this movie is totally watchable from start to end. However for some reason it failed to get my full attention. This stage of the movie is a good addition to the already popular franchise but… it’s more effective in its humor than its true emotional value. Yet it ends with some big hopes in horizon for a larger and better sequence.

Iron Man 3 (2013) 2.5/5

Oblivion (2013)

This year we are to see few large scale big budget science fiction movies. Oblivion is one of them. And it sure is a crowd pleaser. Not just because of its colossus and simply breathtaking visualization of the future and its attention to detail both in cinematography and CG, but for its catchy flow and the plot overall. There are several surprises to the story but some are surely a bit too predictable. However most of them are not. This makes it a true joy to witness.  Cruise delivers a good performance after his last memorable role in Minority Report somewhat similarly takes place in the not so distant future. Once again what truly drives this movie is the sheer amount of breathtaking visualizations opening one after another. If it’s about action and adventure there is too little of them apart from the drone battle inside the Scav cave. The rest is mostly sci fi drama mixed with real human touch and plated with deep emotions. Overall Oblivion is a memorable movie with memorable frames.

Oblivion (2013) 3.5/5

සිරි පැරකුම් (2013)

මේ පුංචි දුපතේ ප්‍රවුඩ ඉතිහාසය ගැන කියවෙන චිත්‍රපටි නිෂ්පාදනය දැන් දැන් නිර්මානාත්මක පසුබිමෙන් ඔබ්බට ගොස් හුදෙක්ම වානිජමය ස්වරුපයක් ගෙන ඇති බවකුයි මට සිතෙන්නේ. නමුත් සිරි පැරකුම් එසේ කියාම වාණිජ චිත්‍රපටියක් බවට ලේබල් කිරීමට මා කැමති නැහැ. එහි වානිජත්වයට වඩා ඔබ්බට ගිය පණිවිඩයක් සහ සුන්දරත්වයක් ගැබ් වී තිබෙනවා. සෝමවිරයන්ගේ චිත්‍රපටිව වලට පොදූ පුංචි දරුවා සහ ඔහුගේ සුන්දර දඟකාරිත්වය මේ චිත්‍රපටියෙහිද මුලින්ම  ‘වැඩ කරන’ formula එකයි. මුලින්ම පොඩි දරුවාට වශී වන වැඩිහිටි ප්‍රේක්ෂකයා චිත්‍රපටියේ ඉතුරු ටික ගුඩුස් ගා පානය කරයි. එතැන් පටන් ඇති පොඩි පොඩි බොරු අපට වැටහෙන්නේ අමුලික ඇත්ත වශයෙනි. නමුත් සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් ඒ සියල්ලෙන්ම කතාව සුන්දර වනවා මිස කිසි විටෙක අසුන්දර නොවේ. බොහෝ දේශීය චිත්‍රපටි වල ඇති ‘පනින’ ස්වභාවය මෙහිද ඇත. එනම් කතාවේ ගලා යාම යම් තැන වලදී එතරම් සුමුදු බවක් නොගනී. නිෂ්පාදන වටිනාකම ඉහල අගයක පැවතෙන බව මොනවට පැහැදිලි උනත් සමහරක් පසු බිම් නිර්මාණ වේදිකා නාට්‍යය වලට සුදුසු ඒවායි සිතෙයි. මෙහි හොඳම රංගනය කාගේද කියා ඇසුවොත් මා දෙන උත්තරය වන්නේ චාන්දනී සෙනෙවිරත්න යන්නයි. ඒ ඇය තම චරිතයෙහි ඉතා ස්වාබහාවිකව අලි ඇති නිසායි. නමුත් ඔය ආරළු බුරුළු දේශීය සිනමා ලෝලීන්ට එතරම්ම අදාළ නොවේ. අදාළ වන්නේ මා මුලින් කියූ පොඩි දරුවා සහ ප්‍රවුඩ ඉතිහාසයක වීරෝධාර අගය කිරීම පමණි. චිත්‍රපටිය ගම් නියන් ගම් සිසාරා එක එල්ලේ දුවන්නේ එනිසයි.

අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයා විසින් චිත්‍රපටිය ආරම්බයේදීම යොදා තිබෙන ‘මේ චිත්‍රපටිය ඉතිහාසය එලෙසම කියා පාන්නක් නොව මනංකල්පිත  එකකි යනුවෙන්’ කියවෙන warning එක නිසාම එය තවත් හොඳින් බලා එහි ඇති සත්‍යය විය හැකි තැන් මොනවාද fantasy මොනවද කියා තේරුම් ගැනීම යහපති බොලවූ!

සිරි පැරකුම් (2013) 2.5/5

The Man of Steel (2013)

Though this is not the best superhero movie the world has seeing and that title is proudly held by the Dark Knight series, The Man of Steel emerges with a promising cast, plot and everything else that gets destroyed in the way. If you thought Avengers was the biggest CG to date this smash all your beliefs in to tiny little pieces. Because here you will see cities crumble in to dust and planets in to non existence. To my recall this is the largest CG extravaganza ever. It has a solid start where most of us Superman comics and Smallville TV fans loved seeing over and over again. But here Crypton at its best with never before seeing futuristic realization. While the movie is filled with heartwarming emotional bits and pieces here and there and the profound existence of Henry Cavill being totally manly and handsome all over it, still it’s not the best as a movie for few reasons. While all went well the movie is bit too long. It could have being made short and little sweeter if the final battles ‘final’ battle was not intended to be that long. For most of us it must feel like drag where it is a bit of a pain to witness. Not because it’s not exiting but because by the time it comes the fans are exhausted of action. And like most superhero movies it’s mundane, predictable and has this being their done that feeling. Could be because we have seeing Thor. Can’t say I loved it but I definitely liked it.

The Man of Steel (2013) 3/5

The Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

Have you seeing a totally dumb movie that makes no sense but full of suspense that can throw you off your seat this year? If the answer is no then look no further The Olympus Has Fallen is here. If you’re a hardcore fan of bullets and explosions then this movie is your ecstasy pill. But if you have a bit of brain behind that scull you will forget it the minute it ends. If you count the plot holes in this movie it might actually surpass the number of bullet holes in it. But still the downright thumping amount of action will keep you going no matter what. Whatever the rating I place for this movie is purely for the wonderful job done by the action department. The rest of the crew seems to have gone missing.

The Olympus Has Fallen (2013) 2.5/5