Life of Pi (3D) (2012)

Genre: Adventure/Drama

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Adil Hussain

Based on a novel with the same name, Piscine Molitor Patel aka Pi (Sharma) is  16-year old boy who lives with his family in Pondicherry, India. His father, Santosh Patel (Hussain) runs a zoo and Pi has grown up amongst animals. Due to a change in the political environment, his father chose to relocate to Canada and sell all the animals in USA, a decision that Pi was against but could do nothing. The cargo ship on which Pi, his family and all the animals are housed upon, sinks in the middle of the Pacific and Pi is the only survivor on a lifeboat. For company, Pi has a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a tiger who goes by the name of Richard Parker. Living on a boat in the middle of a vast ocean with an animal who has every desire to eat you, Pi finds himself in a very difficult situation and realises that he would become Richard Parkers dinner very soon if he doesn't do something about it. The movie is very enchanting and has a mystical aspect attached to it. It talks about god, animals and the wonders of faith and determination. The 3D effects of the movie is stunning and the animations done on all the animals are extremely life-like and very hard to imagine that its actually all digital. Although the movie does get a bit slow in the middle, the movie is still very entertaining with a lot of hidden meanings and aspects attached to it that not everyone would be able to fully grasp or understand the meaning of. Worth a watch, especially in 3D.

Thumbs up: Awesome 3D, very enchanting story

Thumbs down: A bit slow in the middle

Rating: 7.8/10

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy/Action/War

Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitrage, Ken Scott, Graham McTavish, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter

The prequel to the iconic Lord of the Rings series of books and movies, this movie narrates the story of Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) and how he came across the ring that led to the story that followed. Bilbo is a peace loving Hobbit who finds himself undertaking an adventure he never thought he would. The dwarfs, led by Thorin (Armitage) are attempting to go back to their land which was besieged by a fearsome dragon that has taken hold of the Dwarf castle and all their gold. Gandalf (McKellen) has agreed to assist the dwarfs and suggests that Mr. Baggins should join them as the burglar. Although Bilbo has never so much as stolen a stone from the ground, he surprises himself by being a part of the 14-member contingent that is out to do the impossible. LOTR was epic in its own way and it is very normal for anyone to expect its prequel to be just as amazing. Sadly, however, the movie is far from its famous siblings. It is slow, very slow, doesn't have the drama or the intensity of LOTR and simply seems to miss that special factor that was required for this movie to be good. It seems the movie was made just to finish the entire franchisee and never really to entertain the audience. I don't know if it was the 3D glasses, the theater or the print of the movie but this has to be by far my worst ever 3D experience ever.

Thumbs up: Stunning graphics and visuals

Thumbs down: Slow, boring and stretched and it yet didn't finish the entire story.

Rating: 7.1/10

The Mark (2012)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/Fantasy

Starring: Craig Sheffer, Eric Roberts, Sonia Couling, Gary Daniels

A security guard of a biometrics facility gets implanted with a unique device with the power to change the world. Chad Turner (Sheffer) must now travel to Berlin from Bangkok along with the chip in order to bring it to safety. In order to ensure Chad's safety, Cooper (Roberts) the head of security of Avanti, the maker of the chip, travels with him from Bangkok to Berlin. A rival company wants to get hold of this chip and hires a hitman, Joseph Pike (Daniels) to trace down the chip and bring it back at any cost. Joseph learns that the chip is traveling with Chad and decides to hijack the aircraft and obtain it.Coming from a Christian movie making company, the movie has a lot of Christianity infused into it and most of it seems to be done rather forcefully. Nowhere in the movie is the consequences of the chip explained, the action is horrible and plot is overall very boring. The unwanted religious preachings that seem to have no connect with the actual movie does not actually add any value to it. The makers seemed to want to drive a point and somehow that objective got built around an action movie storyline. Highly avoidable and only to be watched by the religious.

Thumbs up: Nah

Thumbs down: Lame action, boring, forced Christianity preachings every now and then

Rating: 2.0/10

Skyfall (2012)

Genre: Action/Crime/Adventure

Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris

Celebrating 50 years of James Bond on film, Skyfall is the twenty-third movie in the franchisee and Daniel Craig's third. 007 (Bond) is on a mission in Turkey where a mercenary killed several MI6 agents and has stolen a hard drive that contains the information of several NATO operatives who are hiding undercover in various terrorist organisations throughout the world. If this information gets revealed, several operatives would be compromised. When Bond and Eve (Harris) fail to recover the hard drive from the mercenary, M (Dench) comes under political pressure for failing to save the lives of so many agents and is asked to take up voluntary retirement. The MI6 headquarters comes under a terrorist attack which causes further damage to M and her image. 007 was assumed to have been shot dead in Turkey but who actually survives. He enjoys death and decides to retire for good when the troubles back home convince him that he is needed once more. An old, unfit and alcohol addicted James Bond returns to duty with a huge question mark slapped on his head on whether he can continue the job or not. The movie is very different from the usual Bond movies where we are accustomed to seeing Bond romance several beauties, have a gadget loaded car and have blistering action sequences. There was no 'Bond girl' in this movie, there were hardly any awesome gadgets that 007 used and save for the first 20 minutes there was absolutely no other captivating action sequence the movie could bring up. Javier Bardem was a saving grace to some extent but somehow he too does not feel like the right villain that Bond would usually fight. The movie was disappointing and although I haven't seen each and every Bond movie, I will go as far as claiming this to be one of the worst I have come across.

Thumbs up: Good action at the start, shows a different side of Bond

Thumbs down: Does not feel Bond-like. A lot of the necessary Bond elements are missing

Rating: 5.8/10

Superbad (2007)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Seth Rogen, Martha MacIsaac, Emma Stone

When three underage teenagers are out to have a crazy night of revelry, things go wrong, way too wrong. Seth (Hill) is a fat kid who is obsessed with sex and is a little too eager about getting laid. Evan (Cera) is a bit more practical and although he too shares the same desires as Seth, he wants love rather than lust. Fogell (Mintz-Plasse) tries very hard to be tough and project a bad boy attitude but fails almost every time. Seth and Evan are very close friends who have been doing almost everything together since they were a kid. People call them inseparable which might be true. Jules (Stone) is throwing a party and the three guys offer to somehow arrange for the alcohol. Evan has a crush on Becca (MacIsaac) who too agrees to come to the party if Evan can get for her her favourite alcohol. All three of them intend to get their lady loves drunk enough to get lucky with them. When Fogell gets a fake Hawaii drivers license with his name as 'McLovin' and age 25, when he clearly doesn't look that old, and whilst trying to buy the alcohol the shop gets robbed and cops come down to inspect, things seem to be getting very messed up. The movie builds on a not-so-genuine concept of a crazy night out but it still manages to entertain to a certain degree. The run time of the movie is too long (almost 2 hours), the humour is lacking in most areas and it just somehow doesn't seem to be complete. The movie probably needed a good humour touch up and that would make it an awesome entertainer. Good story, but could have had more.

Thumbs up: Nice plot, entertaining to a certain degree

Thumbs down: Too long, needs more humour

Rating: 6.2.10 

The Dictator (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, Jason Mantzoukas

Middle-Eastern dictators and their larger than life approach has astonished the entire world. Everyone has heard of their laws where they take down anyone opposing them, having countless mistresses, having all the money you can imagine and doing almost anything that comes to their mind. President Prime Minister Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen aka Allison Burgers (Baron Cohen) is the dictator of the small north African country of Wadiya. His love to kill anyone who disagrees with him, no matter if he is already dead, is the supreme head of everything, from military to hospitals and schools and has trained female bodyguards at all times. The UN decides to intervene in Wadiya's economy be preventing them from developing nuclear weapons and forcing them to sell their oil. In order to prevent a military attack from the UN, General Aladeen reaches NY, USA or in his words 'The Birthplace of AIDS'. The movie is hilarious but its the kind of humour that doesn't make sense and can be defined as 'lame' by many. But isn't Sacha Baron Cohen all about having lame humour? The puns and insults at various real people, organisations and companies is shocking at first but hilarious later. The movie is a far better improvement from Borat and Bruno but still has a far way to go to become really exciting. A leave-your-brains-at-home movie after which you might just make you contemplate the level of absurdity that people can get to.

Thumbs up: Light and fun

Thumbs down: Humour might be a bit too lame for some

Rating: 6.3/10

Push (2009)

Genre: Fantasy/Science-fiction/Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, Djimon Hounsou, Ming-Na, Cliff Curtis

There have always been movies about another race of human beings on the planet that are unknown to us and posses special powers. What differs within these movies is how outlandish the 'other' human species can be conceived to be. There exists a breed of humans that posses super-human powers and are classified within themselves according to the power they posses. A governmental body to control their kind, called the 'division', is after a suitcase. Everything else in the movie is one big question mark leaving you with a thousand unanswered questions with the biggest one being, why is Nick Grant (Evans) and Cassie (Fanning) even involved in all of this. Although the movie tries to build upon a decent concept and has an above average ending attached to it, most of the story is a complete washout and seems to be glued together in a highly tacky manner. It does a decent job of being a fantasy movie with decent action, but that's all there is to it. Don't try bothering to figure out whats happening cause its not worth it.

Thumbs up: Decent action, a good entertainer

Thumbs down: Horrible story that doesn't make any amount of sense

Rating: 5.6/10

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action/Drama

Starring: Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes, Simon Pegg (voice)

The Pevensie children are back in England and are leading their normal human lives. Susan and Peter are away to university, leaving Lucy (Henley) and Edmund (Keynes) to live at their cousins residence. Their cousin, Eustace (Poulter) is an extremely annoying, pampered and timid individual who does not make Lucy and Edmund's life easy. When Narnia summons them, Eustace becomes an uninvited guest to the mystery land. The three find themselves aboard the Dawn Treader, a huge ship which is led by none other than Prince Caspian (Barnes) himself. The four find themselves on an adventure to the far corners of unexplored Narnia land where they encounter evil, mysteries and demons they have never ever seen or heard of before. The movie is a huge disconnect from the previous movies with the story like just another adventure with the same cast. It might be appealing to the younger generation, but is no match for the more reputed fantasy and adventure movies known. A big let down for a Narnia fan and an average watch for everyone else.

Thumbs up: Decent adventure

Thumbs down: No link to previous stories

Rating: 5.8/10

Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow (1994)

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Adventure/Action/Drama

Starring: Michael Winslow, David Graf, Leslie Easterbrook, George Gaynes, G. W. Bailey, Charlie Schlatter, Christopher Lee, Ron Perlman, Claire Forlani, Greg Berger

With every passing movie, it seems as if this series is just getting even worse. And its not just me, but the facts support this very idea too. The eight movie of the infamous series was the least performing one and the only to not make $1 million. The story is probably a case study of how to make a ridiculously outrageous movie that makes very little sense and can be a very very big bore. An infamous Russian mafia, Konstantine Konali ((Perlman) has developed The Game, a video game which the entire world is addicted to. There is intelligence that he now wishes to modify the game which when played would extract all data from the individuals computer. Konali intends to ensure the game reaches US government computers and steal all the governments secrets. In order to tackle this situation, a team of officers from Comdt. Eric Lassards (Gaynes) academy are being sent to Moscow to apprehend Konali. From what you have now read, it is quite understandable at the tacky nature of the story and the even worse humour and bad plot execution. The movie does not have any bit of 'academy' left in it and is simply the story of a bunch of police officers and their supposedly hilarious adventure. A complete bore and a pure waste of time.

Thumbs up: (blank)

Thumbs down: Story, acting, humour, lack of entertainment, far too unrealistic.... a long list

Rating: 1.8/10

Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/Drama

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen

Black Mamba (Thurman), still has some unfinished business to do. Ever since the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad opened fire at her wedding rehersal, Black Mamba aka The Bride aka Beatrix Kiddo has sworn to hunt and kill each and every one of the squad members. Having fulfilled 2 of the 5 targets in  Vol. 1, Kiddo has her eyes squarely set on Budd aka Sidewinder (Madsen), Bill's younger brother, Elle Driver aka California Mountain Snake (Hannah) and of course, Bill aka Snake Charmer (Carradine). Bill was once Beatrix's lover and she was pregnant with his child when Bill and the rest of the squad killed her, or at least that is what they thought they did. Although Bill and Kiddo are emotionally attached to each other, Bill still tried to kill her and the Black Mamba is going to find out why. The reason why we loved the earlier movie is because of the phenomenal action that was presented. Heads rolling, blood spurting and the raw fight scenes made this movie a visual treat for fans. Sadly though, the second movie does not tread the same path as the first one and tries to be more sober and simple with a larger focus on dramatic sequences. Although some might hail the toned down action, I personally preferred the slashing Hanzo sword dripping in blood with a severed hand squirming in a corner.

Thumbs up: Very gripping and a good entertainer

Thumbs down: Toned down action and more drama results in a slightly slower movie than the earlier one

Rating: 7.8/10

DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction

Starring: Devon Aoki, Natassa Malthe, Jaime Presley, Holly Valance, Matthew Marsden, Sarah Carter, Kane Kosugi, Eric Roberts, Steve Howey, Collin Chou

Princess Kasumi (Aoki) is the leader of an Asian clan whose brother has been missing since a long time. Hayabusa (Kosugi) her brothers' best friend has not been able to find his body, leading Kasumi to believe that he might still be alive. She escapes from the temple and gets labelled as an outcast by her clan, forcing Ayane (Malthe), a ninja, to chase her and kill her. Tina (Presley) is a professional wrestler, looking at doing something more 'real' with her life. Christie (Valance) is a master thief and along with Tina and Kasumi, the three are invited to the DOA tournament. The tournament features a group of people skilled in their own form of fighting and combat to battle it out to win $10 million. Kasumi's brother, Hayate (Chou) had abandoned the clan to take place in the previous tournament and Kasumi believes he is still alive. DOA is headed by Dr. Victor Donovan (Roberts) whose secret plan is to inject each of the participants with nano-bots that would track and record each of the participants combat moves. The moment the movie takes off, you quickly realise that you have booked yourself for 90 mins of atrocity. The movie aims to showcase an overdose of bikini-clad woman doing kung-fu with each other for most of the movie. Although each of the participants are supposed to 'excel in their own field of combat' everyone seems to have the exact same martial arts technique for fighting. Don't waste your time on this, even the bikini-clad women are not all that worth it.

Thumbs up: You can give credit to the action, but it gets extremely repetitive

Thumbs down: Everything else that isn't covered in 'thumbs up'

Rating: 4.9/10

Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance/Adventure

Starring: Tusshar Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmukh, Neha Sharma, Sarah Jane-Dias, Chunky Pandey, Anupam Kher, Scooby

The prequel to this movie, Kya Kool Hai Hum, can be unofficially accredited with turning Bollywood around from the conservative family dramas to the open sexual comedies. The movie shook the nation with its open abuses, sexual jokes and skimpy women and kick-started the trend in this genre. The second part of this movie, aims to be just as openly ridiculous as the first if not more. Adi (Kapoor) is a struggling actor whose only claim to fame is selling ridiculous products on a tele-shopping network. DJ Sid (Deshmukh) is a less-known DJ who is looking for a big party to play at to become famous. Sid goofs up with the music during a fashion show which distracts model Anu (Jane-Dias) and results in a wardrobe malfunction on live national TV. Simran (Sharma) is a call centre executive who meets Adi by chance in a bus. Adi falls in love with her and proposes to her within 9 days which freaks Simran out. Simran lies to him that she is lesbian with her flat mate Anu and hence cannot marry Adi. Anu and Simran head out to Goa for a break and Adi and Sid don't want to be left behind. Unlike the normal formula for making a movie, this one has first created a string of jokes and glued them together on a hopeless plot line. This formula might have just worked, had the jokes been consistent throughout the movie and not gotten melodramatic towards the end. Some unnecessary drama and songs ruin an otherwise decent momentum. The jokes, in isolation, are a laugh-riot and extremely bold. Spoofs on a whole lot of people and movies are made which is a treat to watch. Enjoy the jokes and forget the rest, that's what you need to do in this case.

Thumbs up: LOL jokes

Thumbs down: Humour is not consistent throughout the movie, gets melodramatic at times

Rating: 6.4/10

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Genre: Western/Drama/Adventure/Biography/Crime

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cassey Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Garret Dillahunt, Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider

Jesse Woodson James (Pitt) was a famous American outlaw, bandit, murderer, gang leader, thief and robber from the state of Missouri who operated the James Gang along with his elder brother. Robert 'Bob' Ford (Affleck) was a young man just out of his teens who idolised Jesse and wanted to join his gang with him. Charley (Rockwell), Bob's elder brother and Bob himself, soon became a part of the gang and carried out many of the gangs operations. Although Bob looked up to Jesse, Jesse and his other gang members often teased Bob for his age and for his socially awkward behaviour. Due to heavy pressure from law enforcement agencies, the gang was forced to break up and Jesse realised his inevitable arrest. An event that involved two of Jesse's gang members, Dick Liddil (Scheider) and Wood Hite (Renner) resulted in a string of events that later led Robert to assassinate Jesse James. The movie is based on the true life incident and eventual death of Jesse James. The movie is not the regular western movie with stand-offs, gunslingers, saloon fights and hardcore action, but in fact is slow and dramatic and examines the unique relationship between Jesse and Rob. The movie has a touch of beauty to it in its own sense and Brad Pitt's phenomenal acting simply takes the cake. Although the movie has an extended run time, it does not appear to be slow or boring but it does expect the audience to be patient and let the movie work its charm on you.

Thumbs up: Brilliant acting, great plot

Thumbs down: Long run time

Rating: 7.4/10

Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (2006)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Bill Connolly, Bill Murray (voice), Tim Curry (voice), Bob Hoskins (voice), Iam Abercrombie

The orange, rotund feline is back once more, and he has a twin. Garfield's (Murray) nightmare is about to come true. Jon (Meyer), his owner, intends to keep him and Odie locked in an animal shelter whilst he is away to London with his girlfriend Liz (Hewitt). Garfield, for the cat that he is, decides to tag along with Jon and Odie has no intentions of being left behind. Prince (Curry) a British cat with the exact same appearance as Garfield, is an heir of a sprawling mansion in the English meadows. Lord Dargis (Connolly) was expecting to inherit the mansion when his aunt passed away who instead left it to her cat, much to his disappointment. He now intends to get rid of Prince and eventually control the mansion and convert it into a hotel. Prince and Garfield get swapped and a situation of mistaken identities occur where Garfield is living life Prince-size, and Prince has to live in a hotel like a commoner. The movie is an improvement from the previous movie and Garfield is more sarcastic, rude and uncaring than the previous movie. Although the movie plot has its flaws, its meant to appeal to the mindset of young children and it definitely will.

Thumbs up: Great Garfield humour

Thumbs down: Not all that entertaining

Rating: 6.0/10

The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

Genre: Fantasy/Science-fiction/Adventure/Action

Starring: Keanu Reaves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jadden Smith

A modern remake of the 1951 film with the same title, it is yet another movie that talks about global warming and aliens invading the world. Why is it that of all the 196 countries in the world, every alien invasion and natural calamity to strike Earth must first hit the USA, mostly in New York City and almost always in Manhattan? A strange alien globe lands in Central Park and an alien creature in the form of a human being arises from within it. The alien calls himself Klaatu (Reaves) and wishes to speak to the leaders of the world and bring about an awareness of Earth's climatic condition. Klaatu represents an alien community who believes that human settlement is causing irreversible damage to Earth and they must wipe out the human race to preserve Earth. Dr. Helen Benson (Connelly) believes in Klaatu and his mission and tries to release him from the clutches of the US government who intend to take military action against him and the alien race. The movie is a sad drab with almost nothing being exceptional about it. The story is an age old tried and tested plot and the movie attempted to recreate a legacy and hope that people would once again relate to it. A bad attempt and a movie that never should have happened.

Thumbs up: Special effects

Thumbs down: Tried and tested story, very lame plot outline

Rating: 5.9/10

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

Genre: Fantasy/Action/War/Adventure

Starring: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skander Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes, Sergio Castellitto, Pierfrancesco Favino, Damian Alcazar, Liam Neeson (voice), Peter Dinklage

1,300 years in Narnia has passed when the Pevensie siblings were living in the real world for only 1 year. Contrary to their expectations, Narnia has changed a lot from what they last knew it to be. The Telmarines are a non-magical, human race that have put the Narnians on the verge of extinction with most of them assuming that they are already extinct. A Telmarine Lord, Lord Miraz (Castellitto) is the brother of the King of Telmar whom he killed along with all his sons, save Prince Caspian (Barnes). Now that Lord Miraz has a newborn heir, he intends to get rid of Caspian and hence pronounce himself the King of Telmar. Caspian escapes Telmar and in an act of desperation, summons the Queens and Kings of Old, the Pevensie siblings. Aslan (Neeson) has not returned and the Telmarines intend to attack the Narnians and Prince Caspian and wipe them out once and for all. The movie is a large improvement from the previous movie on multiple fronts. There is far more action, adventure and anticipation than before and the useless and immature dialogues have been thrown for something more mature and needful. It's a wholesome, entertaining fantasy- war movie that young and old can enjoy and relate to alike.

Thumbs up: Fabulous special effects

Thumbs down: Being an all-rounder there isn't much one can complain about

Rating: 6.6/10

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (3D) (2012)

Genre: Comedy/Adventure/Animation/Drama

Starring (voice): Ben Stiller, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, Tom McGrath

The third, and perhaps final, episode of the four friends who ran away from their zoo enclosures to experience a better life, are finally on their way back home. When Skipper the Penguin (McGrath) and his crew decide to take their warp speed travelling aircraft to Monte Carlo to win some big money, Alex the Lion (Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Rock), Melman the Giraffe (Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Smith) sense that they may never come back to fetch them. The crew decide to find them and make them go back home to NYC with King Julien the Lemur (Baron Cohen) and his sidekicks in tow. Animal Control officer Captain Chantel DuBois (McDormand) is called after the animals wreck havoc in one of the casino's and is asked to put the creatures where the belong, on her living room wall. The movie is a perfect example of 'old wine, new bottle. The main elements for which we all loved the first movie have been collected and repackaged into this brand new offering. King Julien is the same, his song is the same and the old characters seem to be there for no reason. Even Melman had no role as the 'doctor' as he always was, Gloria wasn't shown for her 'beauty' and Marty wasn't the eccentric that we loved. Its still a watchable movie, but is far from where the original epic was made.

Thumbs up: Fabulous 3D effects

Thumbs down: No big improvements in terms of humour

Rating: 6.6/10

Men in Black III (3D) (2012)

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Adventure/Comedy

Starring: Will Smith, Jemaine Clement, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma Thompson

Crisp black suits, expression-less faces, black sunglasses and a space gun; that's what you need to have to look like a member of the Men in Black (MiB). In the third installment of the movie, an intergalactic criminal, Boris the Animal (Clement) who prefers to be known as just 'Boris' escapes from his lunar prison and intends to resume his destruction of Earth. Agent K (Lee Jones) had shot Boris' arm off 40 years ago, arrested him and successfully put up the ArcNet, a safety device that would protect Earth from future alien attacks. Boris decides to go back in time, kill Agent K and prevent the ArcNet from ever being deployed and hence fulfilling his quest of destroying Earth. Agent K's partner Agent J (Smith) must now go back in time to 1969 and prevent Boris from doing what he intends to do with the help of a much younger Agent K (Brolin). The 3D aspect of the movie seems to be present purely for marketing and revenue-generation purposes and does very little to make the movie any more interesting. The special effects and graphics are phenomenal, no doubt, but you would very quickly feel your watching any other 2D movie and you might have just wasted that extra money for thrills that never came. The movie comes as a huge improvement over the previous two movies and the second one in particular. The story is more well laid out, more complex and the movie has far more character overall. Many may find it hard to grasp or understand but its that very aspect that makes this movie even more desirable.

Thumbs up: Great story
Thumbs down: Complex for a few

Rating: 7.3/10

Bad Company (2002)

Genre: Action/Crime/Adventure

Starring: Chris Rock, Anthony Hopkins, Peter Stormare, Kerry Washington

An attempt by the CIA to buy back a nuclear warhead in the black market goes bad and they end up losing a valuable operative, Agent Kevin Pope (Rock) to the hands of rival buyers. In order to complete the mission, Pope was needed since the Russian seller, Vas (Stormare) would not sell to anyone else. The CIA discovers that Pope had an estranged twin brother where both did not know of the others existence. Enter Jake Hayes (Rock) a New Jersey resident who makes money by playing chess, selling tickets and doing random tasks just like any other person of his kind. The CIA recruit him and have 9 days to train him to look, talk and walk exactly like his twin in order to convince Vas that Pope never died. Agent Oakes (Hopkins) is in charge of the entire mission and must make sure that Hayes is well trained and does not mess the deal which could potentially cost thousands of American lives. The only person to watch out for is Chris Rock, whose performance may not be fabulous but does the job to make the movie interesting and entertaining. Watching him transform from typical street to typical CIA is fun and very much Chris Rock. The movie is like just any other spy movie where an American law enforcement agency is chasing after terrorists and bombs but Rock's appearance lighten things up greatly and makes this movie a wholesome entertainment. 

Thumbs up: Chris Rock and his humour

Thumbs down: Run of the mill storyline

Rating: 6.8/10

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Genre: Fantasy/Science-fiction/Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Alexander, James Dodd, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Jeffrey Tambor

In continuation to the previous Hellboy, but at the same time adapting a different storyline, the second movie narrates the story of the legendary Golden Army. King Balor is the ruler of the elves who clashed with the humans and fought long and bloody battles with no result. One of the elves built him a Golden Army, an army of machines that are indestructible and can win any war. With this power he squashed the humans, but the bloodshed gave him a change of heart and he broke the crown that controls the army into three pieces. He made peace with the humans and gave them a piece of the crown and kept two to himself. Only if the three pieces would come together would the Golden Army once again rise. Balor's son, Prince Nuada (Goss) was against his fathers decision and went into exile. He now returns and has decided to awaken the Golden Army and take the Earth as his. Hellboy (Perlman) is still fighting crime and other paranormal beings with his colleagues Abe Sapien (Jones) a psychic human-fish, Liz Sherman (Blair) his lover who can control fire and Johann Krauss (Alexander & Dodd, MacFarlene (voice)) an ectoplasmic creature and the team leader. They must come together and fight Nuada and not allow him to awaken the army as it will squash the Earth and bring doom to all. The movie is an improvement from the previous version on many fronts by making it more lively and entertaining. The romance between Liz and Hellboy and Abe and Princess Nuala (Walton) might seem to alter the stories speed and continuity but it adds character and makes it feel more wholesome. A sure watch for some good action, a huge helping of beasts and demons and the fair bit of drama.

Thumbs up: Good overall package

Thumbs down: Romance kills the flow

Rating: 6.8/10