Avengers: Age of Ultron [2015]

Language - English
Director - Josh Whedon
Run Time - 2 hours, 21 minutes
Genre - Action/Drama
Starring - Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, etc

Yes, Age of Ultron is a good movie, in fact, a great movie. But it doesn't feel like one. That is because we expected too much from Marvel after the first movie. Adding 3 more Avengers to the roster would make it even better was the logic, but sadly it did not.

Don't get me wrong. I liked Age of Ultron a lot, but not as much as I loved the 'Avengers'. It was the same feeling I got after watching The Dark Knight Rises. A great movie, but somewhat not upto the mark set by its predecessor.

As expected, we get a delightful mixture of drama and action from Marvel studios, who rarely dissapoint. The visual effects are a treat to the eye as well. But the wait after which India will have proper 3D theaters is testing my patience. In India, there is hardly any difference between watching a movie in 2D or 3D.

With such an excellent star cast, Marvel could not go wrong. And the acting was top-notch, whether from the original cast or the additions i.e Aaron Taylor Johnson as Quicksilver, Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision and even James Spader's voice as Ultron.

It's amazing to see the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe coming together and how the continuity from each movie is brought forth in the next one. That is where Marvel gets it right, and wins over the X-men or even DC franchise [Warner Bros]. We even get a hint as to what shall happen to the Avengers in the last scene of the movie, as well as the post credits scene [Yes, wait for it]

It is widely regarded that superheroes create their own enemies, and we see that happen in Age of Ultron as well, as Dr Bruce Banner and Tony Stark hide from their teammates and create artificial intelligence. This artificial intelligence - Ultron then goes rogue and looks to destroy humanity - as a measure to attain peace. We have the basic plot of the team fighting, failing, realizing and fighting again here too. Here I thought the plot could have been more different, with much more surprises. It was kind of predictable.

Ultron is one of the greatest enemies of the Avengers in comics, and he got a grand portrayal in the movie. With Scarlet Witch, Quickilver, Vision, Falcon and War Machine added to the roster, and Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange and Spiderman to be added soon, the next Avengers is gonna be a hell of a ride.

Another thing I would like to mention is the amazing scriptwriting by Whedon. He manages to add subtle comical moments in between a serious movie and that is remarkable. The little quips go a long way to keep all types of viewers entertained.

Also, the background score by Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman is well composed. Not as good as my favourite composer Hans Zimmer, but nonetheless, laudable.

Everyone should definitely watch this movie, its a movie for the masses.

My Rating - 8.4/10

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! [2015]

Language - Hindi
Director - Dibakar Banerjee
Run Time - 2 hours, 28 minutes
Genre - Drama/Thriller
Starring - Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari

Dibakar Banerjee is amongst the very few Bollywood director's whose every movie I've at least liked, if not loved. Although he has returned to Bollywood after a gap of 3 years [discounting Bombay Talkies], he has returned with a bang. Mystery thrillers are scarce in Indian cinema, and thus Banerjee has stepped up to fill that scarcity. He brings to life the famous Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, a.k.a the Indian Sherlock Holmes.

This movie is set in the 1940's, during World War II, when Kokatta was almost regarded as the capital of India and boy do we draw a comparison between this city and its detective and Sherlock Holmes and London. This city, is portrayed perfectly, down to its dynamism and the hustle bustle. There exists a very high level of authenticity.

The film is shot beautifully, and you have to give Dibakar Banerjee this, that he was making a film-noiresque movie, which again are not abundant in the Indian film industry. This movie is FRESH, like other films by Banerjee. Be it LSD, Oye Lucky, Khosla ka Ghosla or Shanghai, Dibakar always manages to bring something new to the table. And that is what I like the most about him.

Sushant Singh Rajput plays the titular character, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy or as called in the film, 'Byomkesh Babu' who is set to find out the mystery behind the disappearance of Bhuvan Banerjee, who has been missing for the past two months. Well, he is able to discover what happens to Mr. Banerjee, buts also uncovers a a sinister plot which affects the city as a whole. It is intriguing to see how the plot goes, and what will happen next. Although sometimes it was easy to predict.

But, hats off to Banerjee for making this delightful film, and to Kudos to Sushant Singh Rajput, for tremendous acting. I feel he will be amongst the best actors of the next batch of Bollywood superstars. His performances feel much genuine and convincing than the likes of Siddharth Malhotra or Aditya Roy Kapoor.

One thing that the movie could have improved upon was the flow of the plot. Too many characters and too many sub-plots. It would get quite complicated and confusing at times. But there is a plus point to that ass well, as it leaves the audience wondering even more.

In all, a pretty good movie. Don't miss out on it.

My Rating - 7.6/10

Kingsman : The Secret Service [2015]

Language - English
Director - Matthew Vaughn
Run Time - 2 hours, 9 minutes
Genre - Action/Comedy
Starring - Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Caine.

Kinsgman : The Secret Service remains a tale of two halves. While the first half of the movie was exciting and intriguing, the climax leaves you to wonder IS THIS FOR REAL? This could have been one of the best movies of the year, had the finale been executed in a better fashion. To put it in another way, the movie gears you up for 'Avengers' and delivers to you 'Daredevil'. The audience was lost when the plot stopped making sense. To be honest, I expected much more from the director of X-Men First Class and Kick Ass.

Hollywood bigwigs - Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Sameul L Jackson and Mark Strong give fantastic performances, as is expected from them. But what ticked me off was that Michael Caine was given such a small role considering his enormous acting talent. Taron Eagerton as 'Eggsy' and Sophie Cookson as 'Roxy' delivered some good performances. Be sure to have an eye out for them in the future.

The movie starts off with a secret agent being KIA, and his family being given a medal with a number at the back to call in time of dire need. The son would grow on to be our protagonist, Eggsy. Egssy has no goals and aims in life and always gets in to trouble. One such time landed him into jail. He calls the number and gets freed by the secret service. He is subsequently recruited into being a Kinsgman and ultimately saving the world from the Internet Billionaire Valentine [Jackson] who is hell bent on killing the 'extra' people on the planet to save it.

And BOOM, this is where reality disappears and  we get embroiled into a world of fantasy. Eggsy is able to battle countless of soldiers without getting a scratch and bombs turn into something in the image of fireworks.

I admit, there's a sense of suave and class around the film. The action seems to be well crafted and the movie has been shot excellently, but for me a film must cater to logic which it fails to, and thus disappoints.

It could be a one time watch.

My Rating - 7.1/10 

The Imitation Game [2014]

Language - English
Director - Morten Tyldum
Run Time - 1 hour, 54 minutes
Genre - Drama/Thriller
Starring - Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley and Mark Strong

One would say that they have watched one too many movies based on the second World War, but none as intriguing and as brilliantly made as The Imitation Game. The Imitation Game is as good as a historical movie could get. Its constant shift between the three time periods makes it even more interesting.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, a young, yet cocky genius who is called on to help crack Enigma, which is the Nazis' encryption machine. Turing can be called narcissistic, rude and impossible to work with. Until he meets Joan Clarke [Kiera Knightley] who makes him understand the need to work with others. From thereon, all of them work on to crack the encryption code and help Britain win the war.

Someone who did not know about this extraordinary man - Alan Turing gets a solid introduction to this complex individual and his extraordinary work which led to the first model of the modern computer. The fact that Alan Turing's cracking of Enigma was kept a secret for 50 years is also astonishing.

Hugh Alexander is an interesting character played by Matthew Goode, who was earlier against Turing, but finally got around to crack the 'Enigma' together. Goode shows promise and is capable of having lead roles in the future. Adding to that, even Mark Strong played a small, yet fine role as Major General Stewart Menzies

Cumberbatch has now proven himself to be among the Grade-A actors in Hollywood with a plethora of brilliant performances to his name now, be it in film, television or the theater.

Well made movie, with some brilliant acting and good background score, The Imitation Game is a must watch.

My Rating - 8.9/10

Roy [2015]

Language - Hindi

Director - Vikramjit Singh

Run Time - 2 hours. 27 minutes

Genre - Drama

Starring - Arjun Rampal, Ranbir Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez

One of the most awaited bollywood movies of the year, ROY. The trailer promised so much - a smart, riveting thriller, with a love triangle and some great acting and action. But to our much disappointment, that is all a facade. This movie lacks a plot, and even the charisma of Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Jacqueline Fernandez fail to pull this off. A futile attempt by Vikramjit Singh to make a mind-bending movie. Till the first half, you are befuddled as to what is happening in the movie. Even after the interval, when the plot becomes clear, the movie still fails to capture our attention.

There’s a scene in Roy where Arjun Rampal says "Pata nahin yeh film kaise ban gayi?" One wonders the same when they leave the theater after watching this torturous movie. This movie revolves around Kabir Grewal [Rampal] as a script-writer cum director working towards making his next film titled 'Guns Part III'. Mind you, these are new age directors who do not have a complete script, neither do they have a female lead in the movie until they reach Malaysia where the shooting takes place.

The heist which we believe the movie is about, after watching the trailer is a part of the movie Grewal is shooting, with Roy[Ranbir Kapoor] as the protagonist. Neither the movie, nor the movie shot by Grewal [movieception] make sense and the audience is left wondering when will this horror end.

The film also at times fails logic. It takes its inspiration from the Dhoom series for this - Indian cops going around the world to catch a global masterthief, the cop telling the theif [although unknowingly] that he has come to catch the thief. Also, we see Malaysian news channels and radios are more interested in Bollywood moviemakers coming to their country to shoot pictures and here we again have that prodigal Bollywood actor kicking down 5-7 trained guards just with his bare hands.

Some good music and some good acting by Arjun Rampal are the only saving grace of the film. I personally did not like Ranbir Kapoor's acting this time [Inspite of being a big fan of him]. He seemed doped throughout the movie. We are scammed into believing the protagonist of the film would be Ranbir. He gets about a quarter of the screen time Arjun Rampal gets.

DO NOT WATCH. YOU WILL SAVE TIME AND MONEY

My Rating - 5/10

PK [2014]

Language - Hindi
Director - Raju Hirani
Run Time - 2 hours, 33 minutes
Genre - Drama/Comedy
Starring - Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla and Sushant Singh Rajput

Got a little busy over the last couple of weeks, but here we have PK's review. PK's promos and trailers left everyone, including myself, quite intrigued. With Raju Hirani directing, and starring Aamir Khan and a buttload of other A-list actors, it was one of the most awaited movies of the year.

But sadly, I was left dissapointed while walking out of the theater after watching the movie. It seems Raju Hirani has lost its charm. What worked wrong for the movie was the central idea behind the film that had already been conveyed through Akshay Kumar-Paresh Rawal starrer 'OMG-Oh My God' 2 years back. Yes, it worked around the idea through a completely different and unique plot, but at the end of the day it just felt lifted. Also, I felt that the movie was a tad bit stretched and  it got a bit of a drag till the end. Especially the whole scene when PK [Aamir Khan] goes around praying to each and every God in India. The songs dont work in the movie's favor either. The songs in this movie were dull and almost seemed liked filler items to further elongate the movie.

Coming to the positives, the movie is filled with A-list actors, and all of them gave a splendid performance. Aamir Khan as PK, the confused, pan-eating, Bhojpuri speaking, cloth-lifting alien gave an extraordinary performance which is worthy of all accolades that I'm sure he will earn in all the upcoming annual film awards. Aamir Khan's uncanny ability to achieve success in any role that he is given propels him to the status of being among the best actors of Bollywood all time. Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Dutt and Sushant Singh also excelled in the various supporting roles. It was the tremondoues acting by all the actors which drove the film, according to me. I really loved Sanjay Dutt's short and entertaining cameo.

The movie starts with PK [Khan] arriving on Earth, somewhere in rural Rajasthan and is immediately robbed of his remote through which he can call back his spaceship. Lost, and confused, the movie tells his journey of his acclimatisation of the planet and the country wherein continuing the search for his remote. He befriends a curious reporter Jaggu [Anushka Sharma] who first does not believe his story, but then offers to help him.

The movie's central theme is a satire on the religious practices of people and the ridiculing of the length of people's beliefs in God and their designated God-men, similar to what OMG had attempted to do.

There is some room for laughter in the movie through some good script-writing, but it is offset by the excessive dramatization of the theme.

Watch this movie only for the marvelous performance of all the actors. I'm quite dissapointed by Raju Hirani after his three brilliant movies earlier.

My Rating - 7/10

Ugly [2014]

Language -Hindi
Director - Anurag Kashyap
Run Time - 2 hours, 8 minutes
Genre - Thriller/Drama
Starring - Ronit Roy

Anurag Kashyap through his film 'Ugly' shows us how people actually are. Yes, they are Ugly. He makes you think this movie is about the case of the missing child, but it is much more than that. It is about how rotten people are. It is so subtly put, most people would not be able to get this underlying theme.

I have been a huge fan of Anurag Kashyap after his amazing films like Dev D, Black Friday, No Smoking and Gangs of Wasseypur, and he does not disappoint. Although I do admit I expected much more from him, a better climax perhaps, after some pondering did I realize what the movie actually tried to convey, and it was much more than just a story.

With such obscure actors (Ronit Roy being the exception), Kashyap has indeed given us a gem of a movie. Thus, indicating his ability to find out the diamonds amongst the mud. Each character is perfect for his role, and don't you just love Ronit Roy's acting with each passing role? He is one greatly underrated actor of our times.

Shalini is a housewife who spends her day in misery and in the company of alcohol. Her husband is the hard ass police cheif, Shaumik Bose (Roy). Shalini has a daughter with her ex-husband Rahul, a struggling actor named Kali. One fine day as usual, Rahul takes Kali for the weekend as allowed by Shalini, and she gets kidnapped in broad daylight. The movie revolves around the kidnapping, and the ensuing rescue operations of innocent Kali. Everyone is seemingly innocent, yet no one is. Do Shomik and Rahul take their mutual hatred aside to find their daughter together? Watch this gripping tale to know the conclusion.

The best part about this movie is the introduction of so many different characters and storylines, as well as going into flashbacks, but ultimately linking everything with everyone. It gives a certain Guy Ritchie-esque feeling. A dark, thrilling and brutal tale, amidst the usual Bollywood masala. Do not miss it.

My Rating - 8/10

The Interview [2014]

Language - English, Korean
Director - Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen
Run Time - 1 hour, 52 minutes
Genre - Comedy
Starring - Seth Rogen and James Franco

Amidst all the hue and cry, The Interview finally managed to release in select theaters and online. As shameless as we are, we got the WebRip a day later, which enabled me to watch it and write this review.

Warning - Do not watch this movie with your mind open. It is a brainless movie but manages to make you laugh. But that is all because of the amazing performance by the two leads, James Franco as famous talk show host Dave Skylark, and Seth Rogen as his trusted producer Aaron Rapopart.

Skylark and Rapopart, or must I say Dung Beetle and Aardvark - the code names given by CIA attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Un in his own country on the facade of an interview. It is hilarious to see how they proceed as Skylark bonds with the dictator over Katy Perry and daddy issues, whereas Rapopart is infatuated with Kim Jong Un's head of security.

This movie provides some laughs, as did the two previous movies of Goldberg, namely 'Neighbours' and 'This is the End', as per our expectations. It does not have you roaring with laughter, but does manage to amuse you for just under 2 hours. The chemistry between Franco and Rogen is extraordinary, ever since the days of 'Freaks and Geeks' which is evident throughout the movie. These two lift the otherwise plotless film.

See the movie to know how Franco and Rogen go about the assassination. Do they succeed?

My Rating - 6.8/10

Primal Fear [1996]

Language - English

Director - Gregory Hoblit

Run Time - 2 hours, 9 minutes

Genre - Drama/Thriller

Starring - Richard Gere, Laura Linney  and Edward Norton

Although the plot of the movie is not very strong, kudos to Gere, Linney and ofcourse Ed Norton to give us a brilliant movie. Richard Gere and Laura Linney were considered supreme actors when this movie came out, and yes, they did deliver. We get to see Edward Norton's debut in this movie, and it couldn't have been a better debut performance for the man. After seeing this movie I realize how Norton pulled off the lead in Fight Club. The premise for the role of Tyler Durden was built here.

Martin Vail [Gere] is a hot-shot defense attorney, who loves the fame he gets from fighting for high profile clients. One fine day, the archbishop of the town is murdered, and the suspect is believed to be a young altar boy, Aaron Stampler [Norton]. At first, Vail is pursuing the client for the publicity it would bring, but eventually believes in his innocence. Against Vail is state attorney Janet Veneable [Linney], who has had a history with Vail.

The movie goes on with an investigation by Vail, along with his  defense of Aaron in the court. To his, as well as everyone else's horror, he discovers many secrets. Where do we see these secrets driving him, and the case?

The major plot is weak, but it is supplemented by side-plots. The movie could have been much better if the sub-plots were given more attention to. The other altar boy, Alex and the state attorney, John Shaughnessy provided for the story to build on them, but it never did.

Watch it, just for the performances of the cast.

My Rating - 7/10

Edge of Tomorrow [2014]

Language - English
Director - Doug Liman
Run Time - 1 hour, 53 minutes
Genre - Sci-Fi/Action
Starring - Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt

World uniting to fight away an alien invasion is now a highly used and saturated plot. But Doug Liman brings a new dimension to this theme by introduction of the time loop phenomena. Add to that the charisma of Cruise and some good acting from Emily Blunt, and we have a winner. Edge of Tomorrow mixes raw action with some smartness, and we have a good sci-fi flick on our hands. This movie is gripping, well paced, intriguing and clever. Tom Cruise proves that at the age of 52, he can still charm us as well as kick-ass.

Although the concept of time loop is not new (Groundhog Day, Source Code, Prince of Persia to name a few), it's introduction into a genre which was facing a scarcity of ideas was well executed. Like his other movies - Bourne Identity and Jumper, Liman manages to keep us enthralled and captivated by the movie.

The plot follows as aliens termed 'Mimics' have invaded central Europe and forced the countries of the world to join in an all out attack. Major William Cage [Cruise], a PR officer is forced to lead the army onto the beaches of France to fight against the aliens. When he declines, he is arrested, labelled a deserter, stripped of his rank and forced to fight. During his fight, he dies, and is born again, and the start of the day. He must then meets Sargent Rita Vrataski, the Full Metal Bitch [Blunt], who has had same experiences as Cage in an earlier battle. From there on, we follow the battle Cage and Rita face against the mimics, their comrades and their superiors in a bid to salvage the world.

Overall, the movie was shot wonderfully, the action sequences being quite good. Also one thing that gave the movie a plus point was the subtle comedy provided by the character of Nicholas Cage, which adds a little deviation from all the seriousness of the movie.

I would say this is one of the better films of the year, and one must craving sci-fi and/or action must definitely watch it.

My Rating - 8.2/10