RIO (2011)

There are a lot of good animations hitting the screen these days. Yet there are very few ‘awesome’ animations. I’m afraid Rio is not falling in the awesome category. Maybe the first reason is that it’s based on birds (Which are a part of animal kingdom) and we have seeing a good load of speaking animals already. 

Blu is a domestic Macau. Bought up in with the care of Linda who is a young book store owner in Minnesota, Blu has no knowledge of what so ever about the real world out of the glass window. But he practically loved the life in side. After a surplice visit from Tulio who is a Brazilian Ornithologist it’s revealed that Blu is the last male of his kind. And next thing he is on a place to Brazil with Linda and Tulio in order to meet the last female of his kind. In Brazil he finds the freedom of his life and the companion of his heart when the couple gets kidnapped by bird smugglers. 

The plot is quite unique. And it’s pulled off with wonderful animation, splendid voice acting and darn good music. But like I mentioned before it lacks some punch. The thing which gives the wow factor is not to be found. 

There have being many animations about animals, birds and fishes in the near history. Some have made us jump out of our seats practically. And now the industry is changing. And nowadays if you want people to say AWESOME it has to be something like Wall-e or UP. Something so unique and never seeing before. And this is not like that. 

So I just watch a cool animation about birds. And that’s about it. 

My Score 3/5

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Writers: Carlos Saldanha (story), Earl Richey Jones (story)

Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway and George Lopez

IRONCLAD (2011)

 

In 13^th century England the tyrant king John is once defeated by the rebellion and the historical Magna Carta is signed. But when the people thought that the king is to rule by the new laws he fights back with the support of a foreign Dutch army at his side. Massacring the people who forced him to sign the Magna Carta and claiming back his land King John becomes unmerciful. This is when a brave set of men including Knights Templers and few other worriers decide to defend the country against the king and start their battle with the critical strong hold Rochester Castle. 

Ironclad is a very strong movie about heroism, bravery and dignity. The story is based on actual historical events which add more value. 

It’s kind of fast moving. It doesn’t drag itself in too dramatic scenes or in actions sequences. Everything seems to be well balanced. And the good cinematography brings in the real punch in to action sequences overall. Most of the action sequences are closely captured with lot of blood and gore (Be warned). The historical details and the sets look wonderful. 

And the performance of the actors is good as well. The casting fits. Especially the character of King John which is done by Paul Giamatti is simply brings in heat and he performs it very well.  

Overall Ironclad is a good watch. Not boring but a little disturbing if you are not a fan of gore. But then again it brings in more drama in to the movie. Shows how brutal the wars at that age must have being. 

My Score 3.5/5

Genre: Action, Adventure, History

Director: Jonathan English

Writers:  Jonathan English (story), Erick Kastel

Stars: Paul Giamatti, Jason Flemyng and Brian Cox

WRECKED (2011)

 “Wrecked” is a quite slow moving and a painful drama wrapped in a mystery shell. The plot is rather straightforward at start but then it begin to throw quite a number of mysteries and at the same time solving them one by one as it goes. But the real twist comes at the end which ultimately makes you wonder WTF (You can either say what the f… or Well that’s fantastic on this one!)

Basically the whole story is about a ‘man’ (Adrian Broody) who wakes up in a wrecked car in the middle of woods. Don’t bother who is this ‘man’ as the movie never reveals it. His leg is stuck under the dashboard and one guy who he doesn’t know is dead on the back seat with severe injuries. And in front a bit far away there is another man dead supposedly the driver of the car who exited via the windscreen. So this ‘man’ after living with pain and hunger in one place for few days ultimately manages to get out of wrecked vehicle and realizes that his leg is severely damaged. And the bigger issue he faces is that he cannot remember how he got there and even who he actually is. When he gets some hints of who he can be by examining the rubble around him, he ultimately decide that it’s wise to hide away in the woods than being discovered by anyone. 

This flick hardly has any dialogues. But lot of mourning, cursing and hallucinations to fill the gap. I can’t actually say that it’s boring. Well maybe if you expect it to go a bit faster or get bored of seeing the ‘man’ either sitting in one place for a long time or moving around the woods with a mysterious dog friend who appears from nowhere.   At the start it looks a wee bit like the ‘Buried’. (But Buried was better). 

When it comes to acting there is only almost one actor in the whole flick and that’s Adrian Broody. The others are either corpses or one alive but almost good as dead. And the performance by Broody is simply awesome. 

My Score 3/5

Genre: Thriller, Mystery,

Director: Michael Greenspan

Writer: Christopher Dodd (screenplay)

Stars: Adrien Brody, Caroline Dhavernas and Ryan Robbins

SOURCE CODE (2011)

If I use one line to explain Source Code that would be “Practically impossible yet nail bitingly bloody entertaining”

 Captain Colter Stevens suddenly realizes that he is not where he is supposed to be. He is inside another man’s body and travelling in a train to Chicago. What he can remember last was flying a helicopter in Afghanistan. Soon he realizes that he is on a mission that none has taken before and his objective is to get in to roots of a bomb explosion which will take place in 8 mts. Not knowing how he ended up there at the first place and getting little help from the people at the commanding center, Capt Stevens has no option but to complete his mission. And he discovers that he is a part of a top government experiment where he is transferred to a dead man’s final 8 minutes of consciousness. He painfully relives the 8 mts over and over again to gather evidence of the bomb blast and to prevent a different catastrophe that is yet to unfold by the same bomber. 

The flick is a bucket of confusion from the start. And that’s where the entertainment is. You get to know very little of the characters in the movie at the first and expect a lot from them right throughout. You feel like there is a big mystery hidden somewhere but the movie gives you just small hints only. Just like Capt Stevens the viewer would struggle to unfold the dilemma and connect the dots each time a new 8 mts cycle starts. But when the truth is revealed it will blow you away and somewhat breaks your heart in the process. 

This movie is well structured. As I mentioned at the start it’s doubtful how much the plot is close to real science but the mere interesting execution of what’s suppose to be a big ‘lie’ will make you forget all the glitches. 

Genre: Sci Fi, Mystery, Thriller

Director: Duncan Jones

Writer: Ben Ripley

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan and Vera Farmiga

13 ASSASSINS (2011)

Takashi Miike gives a new face to the 1963 classic ‘13 Assassins’ and he has executed it at grandeur level portraying an event which took place in Japans feudal era. 

When an evil and sadistic lord is bringing horror to countrymen, few Samurais who were once loyal to the throne foresee a greater danger. If this Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira plunges himself to the throne in near future the country will be devastated and torn with war. Thus these brave set of men creates a silent and elite secret force in order to assassinate the lord. Gathering only 13 men to their force they fearlessly goes head to head against an army of 200 to fulfill their goal. Brutal and merciless Samurai swords speak for themselves. 

This movie is a wonder of its own creation. It brings out ancient lifestyle of Japan in to light with details. And more than that the spirit of the brave Samurais are making the plot truly strong and when they fall and die one by one still they keep the heads high and hearts strong. Courage and determination of a worrier may not seem this strong in any recent movie which I recall. 

However be warned that 13 Assassins is not an easy movie to digest. It has blood and gore in great volumes and violence sometimes you might not really expect. Yet they are important in order make the story run to your blood stream. And once the war hits the screen after a long and silent slow momentum, it goes right until the end which is nearly 30-40 mts. So you might actually lose the count of killing. 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama

Director: Takashi Miike

Writers: Kaneo Ikegami (based on a screenplay by), Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)

Stars: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada and Yûsuke Iseya

HENRY'S CRIME (2010)

Henry is kind of a mysterious and a silent individual. He works for a tollbooth and one day thinking he is going to a baseball game he goes to a bank robbery with his school time friends. Get caught and spends time in prison for a crime he had very little involvement. But when he was released he has less to return for. Puzzled and no one to look up for he suddenly realize that his life in prison is not worth as he didn’t rob the bank at the first place. So he plans to rob the bank. In the process he teams up with a buddy from the prison and fall in love with a stage actress.

This movie is quite slow, and quite. It has a certain amount of thrill in it but the whole plot is quiet predictable at one point. Though things like doing time in prison, losing a marriage and robbing a bank are actually pretty intense and hard to get by things in other movies, in ‘Henry’s Crime’ they all looks like walking in the park. What’s intense in this flick is falling in love, trying to hang on to something and finding the purpose of life. 

I wonder if Keanu Reeves full potential is used here. And so do the other actors as well. If there is any sense of good acting comes out from any one that would be from Vera Farmiga who is the stage actress girlfriend of Henry. 

Henry’s Crime is not a boring movie. But it’s a different movie. And it will not leave you anything important as such to remember after some time. 

Genre: Crime, Romance, Drama

Director: Malcolm Venville

Writers: Sacha Gervasi (screenplay), David N. White

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga and James Caan