Captain America : Civil War [2016]

Language - English
Director - Anthony and Joe Russo
Run Time - 2 hours, 27 minutes
Genre - Action/Drama
Starring - Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johannson, Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen and Daniel Bruhl.

Oh boy, do the Russo brothers know how to make superhero movies. After the Winter Soldier, everyone believed them to be a one film wonder, but they washed away all their critics with this gem of a movie. I am so relieved to say that the next Avengers movies - yes 'Infinity War 1 & 2' is going to be by them.

This was probably one of the most anticipated movies of this year, and like always (or you could say 90% of the times), Marvel does not disappoint. Marvel has built their entire cinematic universe so meticulously and diligently laying out each movie as a part of the bigger puzzle, it's extraordinary.

Civil War follows on the incidents of the previous movies where considerable property damage, as well as human lives, were lost in New York, Washington, and Sokovia because of the actions of superheroes. An incident that occurs in Nigeria, which leads to the death of several Wakandians provided the spark to the fire. There is a call for superheroes to get registered and work in tandem with the government. This leads to a split in the team with Cap and Stark on different sides. At a UN conference to get all nations to sign this law - 'Sokovia Accords, there is an apparent bombing by the Winter Soldier, thus further aggravating ties between Cap and Iron Man and leading to an all out war. Little does everybody know there's someone else pulling the strings.

The movie is made brilliantly, starting off slowly and picking up pace as the story goes on. The Russo brothers like to have a story element to the movie rather than having an all out action packed movie - which is why their movies stand out from the rest.

And what a cast this movie has. Apart from the regular players they've also added Daniel Bruhl (Helmut Zemo), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Tom Holland (Spiderman) and Martin Freeman (Everett Ross) to the MCU. One can hardly fail with a cast so talented.

The action sequences are so well shot and amazing played out. It seems something straight out of the comics (albeit with lesser heroes; Civil War in comics had 100 heroes and villains against each other). The FX was on point. Also, the soundtrack by Henry Jackman was spot on, Well there can only be one Hans Zimmer, but nonetheless, Jackman got it almost perfect.

This movie, I think is the start of a line of serious films up for Marvel, and it leads the change brilliantly. A mature, yet entertaining; thought-provoking film about collateral damage and friendship and trust - it does focus on real-world issues.

Irrelevant, but I had a tiny bit of disappointment when Cap does not die like he does in the comics.

Also, loved the cameo of Peter Parker. It added some humour to the otherwise serious movie.

One should not miss this film. It's a movie everyone shall enjoy.

My Rating - 8.7/10

Zootopia [2016]

Language - English
Director - Byron Howard and Rich Moore
Run Time - 1 hour, 48 minutes
Genre - Animation/Comedy
Starring - Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Ginnifer Goodwin and JK Simmons

Disney is back to being the best in animated movies. Zootopia is a brilliant movie which breaks new ground. The ideas are original and ingenuine, the characters are lovable and of course, the movie keeps your rib-tickling throughout.

For the last decade or so, most of the originality was coming from Pixar, but finally, Disney seems to have caught up and created a wonderful, fun filled movie. Loving the new direction at Disney.
[#fact - Out of the top 4 highest grossing movies this year, 3 are from Disney - Zootopia, Civil War, and Jungle Book]

Zootopia follows the story of the young cop (first rabbit cop) Judy Hopps in the city of 'Zootopia' which is a massive city where all animals live together in peace and harmony. But someone or something has threatened the peace amongst the preys and the predators in the city and Officer Hopps along with her confidante, a fox named Nick Wilde are the only ones who can solve the mystery.

There is brilliant chemistry between our 'dumb bunny' and 'sly fox' as they HUSTLE their way out of various roadblocks they face on their mission. Here we see a great evolution of two animals who have always been enemies into friendship. Other than our two protagonists, other characters are also  quite unique and marvelous including the aggressive Cheif Bogo (Bull), timid Assistant Mayor Bellweather (sheep) and fun-loving and obese leopard Officer Clawhauser.

The animation, of course, being Disney is extraordinary, with the seven districts of the city Zootopia a visual delight.

What gave me immense pleasure was a reference to both one of the greatest movies, as well as one of the greatest TV shows. Disney always tries to add in some references and easter eggs from its own movie universe as well as others and this time it paid homage to Vito Corleone from the Godfather and also to Walter White and Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad; other than some usual references to past Disney movies like Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, etc

Also, one thing I really liked was the deeper meaning that the movie tries to convey to us about racial discrimination, which is important because it still exists in major parts of our world.

To sum it, I would say it's a wonderful movie for all generations and demographics.

Don't miss it.

My Rating - 8.5/10

Fan [2016]

Language - Hindi
Director - Maneesh Sharma
Run Time - 2 hours, 18 minutes
Genre - Drama
Starring - Shah Rukh Khan

FAN was atrocious, terrible and nonsensical. There is actually not a single thing I can appreciate about the movie.

The plot was non-existent and riddled with loopholes. SRK's acting, which has been applauded, was also nothing extraordinary. It's not that hard playing a double role, and most of the actors in Bollywood have proved that. The action sequences were also quite unreal. it's unfathomable that a local cyber cafe owner and even an actor for that matter can pull off all the stunts and chase sequences that were featured in the streets of Mumbai, Dubrovnik, and Delhi. One can understand if a cop or a hardened criminal are involved in such chases, but characters like Gaurav and Aryan could not realistically pull off such stunts.

Fan follows the story of Gaurav Chandana, who is an ardent fan of Aryan Khanna, a Bollywood superstar. He has a strange obsession over Aryan and wants to meet him on his birthday and present him with a trophy he got for mimicking  his star. To achieve that, he engulfs in criminal activities and lands in jail. Aryan visits him there and tells him that he wants nothing to do with Gaurav. Spurned, Aryan plots his revenge which eventually leads to a cat-mouse game where each tries to teach a lesson to the other.

There are various loopholes in the movie like - there is a vast difference between Aryan and Gaurav, and its shocking to see how Gaurav has fooled everyone in the movie, even Aryan's wife (for a brief period) and kids and likewise when Aryan imitates Gaurav. Also, if Gaurav's parents are not supporting of his obsession, why would they spend so much money on costumes and effects for his performances every year, and also allow him to sell his shop to fuel his revenge? How does a superstar like Aryan Khanna have no alibi for the three hours in London? Logic and reason have been defied to pave the way for the outrageous plot of the movie.

Maneesh Sharma might as well give up on directing after making back to back flops like Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, Shuddh Desi Romance and now, Fan.

SRK's career might as well be over after this. Does anyone remember anything extraordinary he's done in the last five years? The answer's NO. With films like Chennai Express, Dilwale, Happy New Year and FAN, his career has just been going downhill over the years. His rivals Salman and Akshay have meanwhile gone far ahead of the yesteryear's superstar.

In all, I would say JUST AVOID this movie. Even when it comes on TV.

My Rating - 4.2/10