doomsdaycs Reviews

Due Date (2010)

Another super-hit comedy...

[9/10 · 6 November 2010]

Todd Phillips, whose The Hangover was such a hit, does another mismatched-males-on-a-trip film, reminiscent of John Hughes' 1987 film Planes, Trains And Automobiles; but he proves that good writing and skilled direction can wring juice out of a dry shell of an ideal.

Put one uptight man and one weirdo together on a forced road trip and the result partly very funny, partly gross out and one small part tender —the idea of grown men realizing what it means to be really grown up. Hollywood calls such movies 'bromances.'

Ill-tempered businessman Peter (Robert Downey Jr), is trying to get home in time for the birth of his first child. Due to the antics of the idiotic Ethan (Zach Galifianakis, replicating his Hangover character), both men get thrown out of the plane and put on the blacklist. Peter luggage and wallet are on the plane, so he is forced to share a car from Atlanta to LA with the irritating aspiring actor.

The road trip is made exciting and eventful, by the bizarre things that happen on the way, and cameos by stars like Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis and the director himself. It's not as hysterically hilarious as The Hangover, but the ingredients are all there, and it's not all witless slapstick either, as many such odd-twosome films tend to be, especially when hinging on a thin wire of a plot. There is an inventiveness to the gags, spirited performances, and in the end, some sympathy created for the two basically 'unlikeable' characters.

Enthiran (2010)

Get Ready Folks!!!

[10/10 · 1 October 2010]

When was the last time, you watched a movie and came out of a theatre and then continued to talk about that movie for ages to come? If you have an answer, you have another opportunity and if you don't, you have your first 'experience' here!

If you are that die hard fan of Rajnikanth, you wouldn't need a review but you'd still want that loads of lines praising heaps on the Superstar! But here, you'll regret one thing – the invention of the dictionary! You won't really find one word to describe the true charisma and the on-screen persona of Rajnikanth, the undisputed Superstar of Tamil, oops Indian cinema!

The Gist of the Story:

Rajnikanth is a scientist, Vaseegaran who develops his brainchild, a robot. Names it 'Chitty' and teaches every single thing that this universe can hold. 'Chitty' is programmed to learn and know everything except for human emotions and when that is taught, how would you expect a machine to react? Watch 'Endhiran' to know how!

Dialogues:

The Superstar's fan following ranges from the villages to international cities and this being a movie talking about technology, one would expect totally technical jargon in place. But that's only a myth, because the dialogues in 'Endhiran' are simple and convey the message quite crisply making sure all the sections of the audience understand every aspect of technology and science. Now did that sound serious? The movie is neatly infused with comedy dialogues that will make you giggle and when rendered by Rajni himself, you'll just scream laughing!

Visual Effects and Editing:

The teasers and trailers stimulated the curiosity thanks to the splendid visual effects by international technicians. Examples of the dynamic effects are a plenty to talk about in the movie but sample this – a robot with unimaginable powers confronts goons with his electromagnetic property and attracts their weapons, and voila, you get to see, a spectacular scene that probably idolizes Goddess Kali! You'll have to watch it to understand and realise, it is verbally impossible to describe that scene and many other visual effects! Editing by Antony is crisp. Had the length been a little longer, the party would have been a little annoying!

Stunts:

Not just for visual effects, Shankar has also used the services of international expertise for the stunts in his movie. Yuen Woo Ping, who worked on 'The Matrix', etc, has designed stunt scenes that will make your jaws drop! Our very own Peter Heines has also done his part. A sample to tease your curiosity – an intense car chasing scene with our Superstar making a 'donut' in his Mercedes Convertible! Exhilarating!

Music:

AR Rahman, the Mozart of Madras, we've seen the response for the music right after the launch! But on screen, 'Kadhal Annukal' and 'Kilimanjaro', not to forget 'Arima', they take you by storm. The background score's decent and tries to receive your attention effectively! The rerecording in the movie is near perfect and sound capture by Oscar winner Resul Pookutty is A1.

The Cast:

Your eyes are predominantly set on the Superstar but pave way for the other leads. We'll come to the beautiful Aishwarya in a little while but before that it is going to be the gracious Danny Denzongpa, the wily villain of the movie. He is old but he is got grace and is a refreshing change from the usual villains. He adds a lot of freshness to the script, a brilliant choice of casting.

The next, comedians Karunaas and Santhanam, though they don't quite have lengthy screen presence, they still manage to receive appreciation for their comic timing. Santhanam will be a proud man to have shared screen with the superstar.

Aishwarya Rai – The Miss World, is amazing and truly an epitome of beauty! She forms an important part of the script and hence you'll spot her throughout the movie, perhaps for the first time a heroine is receiving considerable importance in a superstar's movie! The marvellous costumes add to her allure and she's just majestic in few scenes!

Rajnikanth aka Superstar:

Saving the best (or the ultimate) for the last, Rajnikanth is one man who will not cease to amaze you! If your 6 or 60, doesn't really matter because you will be in awe of the man! you will be in awe of the man! In a movie which shows signs of visual effects riding in the driver's seat, the Superstar dominates every bit to walk away with appreciation! No favouritism here, you just can't stop talking about him, once you come out! As the scientist Vaseegaran, he plays his part uncharacteristically Rajni without Punch dialogues or fights but as 'Chitty – the Robot' you are bound to follow or even turn an addict!

Sample this – as a gentle Robot he is precise in acting and when it comes to the evil side, the incredible Rajni has made sure he doesn't waste his opportunity! His evil laugh, his characteristic slick walk, that body language and the dialogue delivery in 'Endhiran' remind you of the golden Rajni time! Look out for the amazing dance moves by the superstar, given his age, a few moves are stunning, credits to the choreographers!

My Verdict:

The festival of lights, 'Deepavali' is round the corner and with the release of 'Endhiran', the fireworks have already started! Quoting the Superstar himself, 'Endhiran' for the Indian audience all around the world is an 'experience'! Don't miss it!

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Not Bad .. But Badly miss Arnie

[9/10 · 27 June 2009]

Let me start by telling you that this is a well directed film , sadly it deserves much more than what critics rate ! This film is below par compared to T1 & T2 but far better than T3 .. What's most disappointing is that this film had a lot of potential and Mcg had everything needed to recreate the magic , he had the right cast and a huge budget to work with , yet he messed up ! He's no James Cameroon but i'll tell you , the reason why he failed is because he tried too hard !

Background scores were a let down , the legendary spine chilling music is limited to the credits of the film ! The robots look weaker than they ought to be and the Resistance seemed dumber than they should be ! Christian Bale's talent was wasted , and he had almost no scope to perform , but seriously dude what's with the Batman voice , snap out of it ! The plot is simple enough to understand , you'd always know what'll happen next!

Well coming to the film , the first half drags and the second half is much better ! What this film really misses is good old Arnie chasing the bad guys ! My favourite part is the short 3 minute appearance of the animated Arnie(T-800) ,it lit the whole theater on fire ! If you are in mood for watching huge robots kicking ass , then u'd love it! My verdict is its Worth watching once !!! 7/10 !

Dragonball Evolution (2009)

A absolute disaster!

[3/10 · 9 May 2009]

When i knew , goku was going to be an American , a year ago , i had a very ominous feeling about the film , and when i saw the theatrical trailer , i knew then that FOX has completely destroyed this Asian epic! This is what you get when someone tries to Americanize a true masterpiece!

As an ardent fan of db/dbz/dbgt i was shocked to see , as to how bad a movie can really get!!! Bad acting by almost all actors , very poor visual effects , i've seen movies in the 80's have better visual effects . Bad directing , bad screenplay , bad story , they've tampered the story so bad that i was so devastated after watching the film , had sleepless nights for days . Watch the movie and u'll see what i mean ! This is what happens when you take a film without seeing one ***king episode , rather the director has developed the movie after reading a summary!

The movie was so bad that u'd cry even in the scenes that the director meant to be funny and vice versa! My advice is that don't watch this film , do something more worthwhile like cursing the director!!!!!