Pacific Rim [2013]

Language - English
Director -  Guillermo del Toro
Run Time - 2 hours, 12 minutes
Genre - Action/Sci-Fi

Great idea. Not so great execution. This is what happened to this movie, and anyway after Transformers already somewhat explored the idea of giant robots/aliens fighting to save the world, this seems a let down after we've watched Michael Bay's extravagant movies.

But if you do not compare it, this is a pretty decent movie. The action is spectacular, but the thinly characterised humans who pilot the robots in mind-synched pairs inevitably get dwarfed. And without vivid heroes to root for, after a while Robots lose their impact. The problem with this movie is that it is focused too much on science fiction scenario, rather than the emotional scenario, to which most people associate with. And the fact that we've seen one too many 'world destruction  + alien race + giant fighting robots' movies, it makes this seem like another monotonous affair.

The plot is as follows - We are in the future, where aliens beings called Kaijus who are arriving from a portal in the Pacific ocean [the only innovative feature about this movie]. The Pacific Rim has built giant robots called Jaegers to battle them. But the Kaijus are getting stronger with every attack and the Pacific Rim has to find a permanent solution. Are the Jaegers able to win the war? Does Earth survive?

If you're a hard core action and science fiction lover, you can give this movie a go. But personally, I would not recommend watching it.

My Rating - 6.2/10

Only God Forgives [2013]

Language - English/Thai
Director - Nicolas Winding Refn
Run Time - 1 hour, 30 minutes
Genre - Drama

Till now I believed that Ryan Gosling could not be in a bad movie. Alas, I was wrong. Much more is expected from the director of movies like 'Bronson' and 'Drive'. Simply put, this movie is unwatchable, with its substandard plot, lack of powerful dialogues and the grotesque violence. Ryan Gosling is the only reason one is wanting to complete the movie, but when you don't give the best actor of the movie any dialogues, it sort of has to fall apart. I do not know if the director was attempting to make a 'mind-bending' movie or not. Many vague and unexplained scenes.

The plot follows Julian [Ryan Gosling] operating a boxing club in Thailand, which serves as a front for his drug trafficking. Enter his brother, Billy, who ends up raping and murdering a prostitute. He is eventually caught up by the Thai Police, lead by 'Chang' who is remarkably a 'supercop ' with highly skilled fighting skills, and yes, a Sixth Sense. Long story short, everyone keeps avenging murders on the two sides of the coin i.e. the gangs and police, and we see Chang singing karaoke in the end [How fucked up is that?]

Avoid this movie, no matter how big a Ryan Gosling fan you are. Though it is shot very well, there is hardly any substance in the movie.

My Rating - 4.5/10

The Lego Movie [2014]

Language - English
Director - Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Run Time - 1 hour, 40 minutes
Genre - Animated/Comedy

First shot at writing review on an animated movie :3

Coming from the guys who have scored extremely when it comes to the animated movie genre - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and then into the comedy genre with 21 Jump Street, they are back with a mixture of the two, which is a delight to watch. It was fresh, unique and utterly hilarious. Add in the great animation, and the plethora of amazing characters, you get a blockbuster.

Herein, we have a plethora of characters, ranging from DC superheroes, to Star Trek characters, Dumbledore, Gandalf to William Shakespeare and Shaq O Neal among others. Although the best among those was the hilarious parody of Christian Bale's Batman and Morgan Freeman as the narrator/wise one/Godlike persona. Loads of satire/spoofs followed.

The movie starts off with Lord Business [Will Ferrel] attacking Vitruvius [Morgan Freeman] - the great wizard, to steal the greatest weapon of all time - The Kragle. He is successful and is about to leave when stopped by Vitruvius, who dictates a policy about the Special One, who will find the last piece of resistance and save the world.

Fast forward 8 years, enter Emmet Brickoswki [Chris Pratt], a NORMAL guy, who lives his life happily while following the rules. Long story short, he is the Special One, and has to save the Lego Universe by beating Lord Business and his cronies, among which includes Bad Cop/Good Cop - whose again hilarious role is carried out superbly by Liam Neeson. I'm using the word 'hilarious' too much - I know, but that's the way it was, I was in splits throughout the movie.

After the story and the script has been applauded, we come to the animation, which was spectacular. Every little block of Lego can be seen clearly, and the action scenes are well made with the effect of ripples in water or even smoke being seen incredibly.

I can go on, and on about how amazing this movie was. Just go watch it. A must watch for all

My Rating - 8.8/10

The Lunchbox [2013]

Language - Hindi
Director - Ritesh Batra
Run Time - 1 hour, 45 minutes
Genre - Drama

The Lunchbox. Such an emotional, heart warming movie. A gem of Indian cinema. Shocked that this movie was not nominated for the Academy award's foreign film category. This was by far one of the best Hindi movies of last year. Simple and sweet, yet leaves you with a melted heart.
Irrfan Khan is a proven actor, with international acclaim, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui is the new upcoming talent in Bollywood. Nimrat Kaur too gives a good performance.

This movie revolves around the 'dabba' or lunchbox, which is being delivered by 'dabbawallas' - a group of hardworking and sincere delivery men, who almost never fail to deliver at the right place [Studied and proven by Harvard as one of them exclaimed]

Saajan [Irrfan Khan] is a grouchy old widow, who has lived his life in a schedule ever since his wife died. He works as an accountant for the state. He is soon to retire, thus he is asked to train Shaikh [Nawazuddin Siddiqui] as his replacement. Whereas Illa [Nimrat Kaur] is a lonely housewife, ever trying to please her husband with advice from the 'aunty' who lives upstairs. Being a fantastic cook, she tries to reach her husband through the stomach, and here comes he twist - the 'dabba'  destined for the husband reaches Saajan. This leads to the start of a blooming romance through notes left in the dabba.

Would you imagine, out of millions you see everyday, one would fall in love through meals and notes shared?
This movie shows a unique tale of two unique people and how uniquely they fall in love. And though it might irk some people, the filmmaker does it right by leaving us to wonder what happens.

Although the film is a bit predictable, it is yet enjoyable, and is a relief from the nonsensical and cliched movies releasing year round. Give it a watch

My Rating - 8/10 

City Lights [2014]

Language - Hindi
Director - Hansal Mehta
Run Time - 2 hours, 6 minutes
Genre - Drama

City Lights. Raw and gripping story of yet another man who comes to Mumbai to fulfill his dreams. What must he do to survive? Hansal Mehta reunites with his National Award winning actor Rajkumar Rao to make yet another good movie. He has hit the sword right, yet again with this movie, and it is a delight to watch.
But the problem, as it was with Shahid, is that it could be something much more. But yet, I am happy at the way Indian films are going over the cliched slapstick comedies and 'hero-kicking-everyone's-ass' movies

Rajkumar Rao  is evolving as brilliant actor day by day, and puts in an extraordinary performance as the gullible, hardworking Rajasthani villager, complete with the accent, and the trademark mustache. Manav Kaul and Patraleka as the two supporting actors do not dissapoint and give the movie some depth.

City Lights follows the tale of Deepak Singh [Rajkumar Rao] travelling to Mumbai to earn a living, with his wife [Patralekha] and daughter. He is duped of all his money as soon as he reaches and is forced to sleep on the roads. His wife meanwhile, has to resort to bar dancing to earn some bread. Deepak finds a job at last, as a guard at a armoured truck company, where he befriends Vishnu Sir [Manav Kaul], who was instrumental in Deepak getting the job, and becomes his mentor. Mid-way, we get to know about the sinister plots of Vishnu Sir, to unlock a box and keep the moolah for himself, of which, half the task has already been done by him, in the way of obtaining a box. Long story short, Deepak gets involved and tragedy strikes and he is fired from his job. What must he do to provide for his family?

The movie shows the dark side of Mumbai with its extreme poverty, and how the poor have to struggle while they are being mooched off by everyone.

The music is atrocious, which robs the scene from delivering the emotion. And the story could have been a bit better. There is hardly any climax build-up. The movie just moves on a steady scale and lo, here we have the climax.

A nice watch. Could go for it.

My rating 7.6/10