Predators (2010)

After series of failure, we at last got the sequel which we had always wished for.

Events in Predators take place just after the original sequel Predator.

Here the circumstances have changed & instead of fighting against just one of them, now there is a small group to fight against for survival. Intriguing factor in this movie is our heroes are no more on earth but to some unknown sanctuary in a far away galaxy. Without giving out many details on the plot, the story begins with the central character Royce, a mercenary having a mysterious free fall from the sky. Soon he teams up with couple of more special ops operatives, mercenaries from various nations & even one death row criminal, who all reveal their experiences of fall from the sky. Just like the characters in the story we too are kept in the dark related to what is happening, for the beginning part of the story. Within the course of time it is soon disclosed that they were specifically brought to this planet for blood sport. The movie finally centers as how this small group adapt themselves for survival or else face imminent death at the hands of predators, which only brought them to kill.

Predators bring along some fresh castings. Adrien Brody as Royce was really energizing. The vigor he has displayed here quickly made us to forget that this was the same person from the movie The Pianist. Each & every character was given some time to stand out from its own perspective, even though we had some idea what will be the final outcome for most of them. Certain portions were predictable but that is how the movie was meant to be. In order to keep the feeling as the direct sequel to the Predator the soundtrack too was kept unchanged reminding us about the 1987 cult. It would not be difficult with the viewers who are familiar with the franchise. Proper editing & camera shoots made the actions enjoyable & helped us to focus on the story, without overdoing any thing which would have been otherwise annoying & confusing.

What made this movie appealing was the back drop story. Most of the sequels fail to survive in the broad spectrum only because of its weak narrative. Fortunately this was not the case here. A perfect open end closure gave us ample hint for a possible sequel.

Predators is refreshing with plenty of suspense & action, so there is nothing to worry about. Just sit tight & enjoy the ride.

My Rating : 7/10

SKYLINE

By this time I think most of you have came across the news allied to the upcoming movie Skyline.

From the trailer it’s clear that we are going to get another movie based on alien invasion. Once again it seems that this genre is getting rejuvenated.

Next year we are going to see two movies based on related premise; I Am Number Four & the prequel of The Thing.

Not much is known about this movie; whatever nits & bits are scattered around in the internet stands as; after a late night party, a group of friends are awakened by a strange light beam coming from the sky. Drawn by its bizarre brightness they soon discover some thing very disturbing. Some strange spaceships are found to be hovering in the sky and swallowing the entire population by luring them to the open with its unusual light. So the story centers on this group of friends who tries to save themselves from this new terror.

This movie is directed by Strause brothers (Colin & Greg); those who don’t know about them, they are the ones who have directed the failed sequel Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem a.k.a AVPR.

The good news is, they were also the same people who have been behind the visual effects for some of the acclaimed blockbusters namely Iron Man 2, Avatar, 300, The Incredible Hulk, Shooter, Babel & many more. So that’s quite impressive.

In a way if the movie fails commercially, I think visually this movie will be spectacular. The teaser trailer is very promising and I wish that it lives up to the hype, which is going on in an aggressive mode.

Official Release Date: 12^th November 2010

If you are interested to know more about this movie click SKYLINE

The Next Villain In Batman 3

So, who can be the next villain in Nolan’s Batman 3?

There is a lot of buzz going around that it might be Edward Nigma a.k.a 'The Riddler'.

Couple of days back in IMDB it was listed that Leonardo DiCaprio was speculated as the next villain 'The Riddler'.

It is well known that just like Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan  too likes to cast the same actors in different movies; best examples would be Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale (The Prestige, Batman Series), Mark Boone Junior (Batman Begins, Memento), Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception).

Inception brings us couple of new faces, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt & Tom Hardy. There is a possibility that we might soon see any one of them in the forthcoming Batman movie.

Since Nolan has already started to think about bringing the final installment of the Batman series, I guess there is a lot of anxiety for the entire team. If they are to outdo The Dark Knight they need to bring a character which can be at par with late Heath Ledger’s immortalized character, 'The Joker'.

Nolan has created a very rational batman world so prospect of bringing 'The Penguin' or even 'Killer Croc' is quite frail. I don’t know whether there will be a 'Catwoman' or not as it’s very premature for an early assumption.

If by any chance we do have 'The Riddler' as the main adversary, I have thought about couple of names who seems to be competent enough to portray the character to its fullest extent.

Edward Norton or Guy Pearce looks to be the best choice. Both the batman movies have presented multiple villains so another character which can be brought into the installment can be 'Deadshot' which can be taken up by Joseph Levitt.

Fans are asking for Johnny Depp, honestly I don’t think our 'Jack Sparrow' will be able to put up the riddler character very well, the alternate best choice will be Leonardo as this will be a kind of different challenge for him; at the same time a negative role for a change.

Who ever comes as the next villain needs to work very hard to make this final part unforgettable. We have never been let down by Nolan, so I am sure whatever he and his team are up to will definitely give us the memorable moment for 2012.

Till then let’s keep our hands folded. 

For more updates related to upcoming movies check out Upcoming Movies (2011) 

Till then....Adios

Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter Island is yet another masterpiece aptly delivered by legendary Martin Scorsese.

This movie can be described as a perfect psychological mind blender that will keep us to the edge, till the very end. It has more to thrill than the horror elements which were catered initially in the early trailers.

It all begins in the year 1954, when two U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) & Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) visit Ashecliff Hospital for criminally insane, located at Shutter Island to probe into a disappearance of one inmate. Distressed with his own tragic past, Teddy tries to carry on what seemed to be a routine investigation, which soon turns out to be disturbing, revealing more shocking truths about the asylum as well as the island.

This movie brings along quite an impressive casting, most notable of them will be Ben Kingsley (Gandhi), Max von Sydow & not to forget Patricia Clarkson (The Green Mile, Lars & The Real Girl). Each & every cast was able to deliver a stupendous performance. Leonardo acted brilliantly as the troubled soul in search of truth. This year both Shutter Island & Inception demonstrated us how Leonardo is competent of putting up roles of souls with haunted past. Instead of just yet another supporting cast, Mark delivered equally which is highly creditable.

There is not much to talk about the soundtrack, as there had been a limited usage, so to say. In general the backdrop score as well as the cinematography aided in pacing the story. It requires certain amount of attention to follow the story but at the same time it’s not all that perplexing. If anyone is interested to have a riveting experience, give this a try.This is Leo's 2^nd  best feat apart from Inception. Highly Recommended.

My Rating : 8/10

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

So far couple of movies have been made on sorcery, Harry Potter Series & Stardust remains to be most privileged among the movie aficionados.

The plot remains simple with a story blend in two time frames. It begins with the year 740 A.D. when one of the apprentice Maxim Horvath, betrays his master Merlin & joins an evil sorceress Morgana for world dominance. The duel ends with mortally wounding Merlin & imprisonment of Morgana in a nested doll by Balthazar; one of Merlin’s loyal apprentices. Before dying Merlin gives Balthazar a metal dragon instructing that it would lead him to his true successor, who will be competent in finishing Morgana once and for all. Searching for centuries to meet the true heir brings Balthazar to the present day Manhattan. Finally the journey completes on finding the chosen one and his ultimate training from Balthazar to master the skills in sorcery before facing Morgana.

Though the movie conveys the story in a clear-cut way, at times it did look very predictable. A little bit complexity could have been used to raise the interest. The visual effects were impressive but a quick bland climax was not passable to carter this as the best movie yet. Nicholas Cage as Balthazar had been imposing but it lacked the strength he successfully delivered in Kick-Ass. Jay Baruchel as Dave was supposed to be the savior in this movie but I guess the overall weak pinnacle added as the final blow. The overdo of simplistic narrative marred the other characters to shine, like Alfred Molina’s Maxim Horvath & that of Monica Bellucci whose limited screen presence had nothing much to offer.

This is a plain fantasy movie which is relatively less engaging. Ideal for any one who likes simple plot glittered with tons of visual effects.

My Rating : 5.5/10

Knight & Day (2010)

Knight & Day tries to deliver typical action bonanza for this summer; regrettably it fails to keep us engaged.

Standing on a lame plausible plotline, this movie has very little to offer.

Acting as a believed rouge agent Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) goes on a mission to protect a powerful energy battery invented by a genius guy named Simon Feck. While on move he meets June Havens (Cameron Diaz) & falls for her. Circumstances pairs them for what follows a deadly venture, where they have to fight against government agents who are concerned in putting Roy in detention & a group of arms dealer who are frantic to get their hands onto Feck’s invention.

In spite of some classy action moves, several scenes did look akin to Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Cruise’s character still had the mark of Ethan Hunt; this time only those fine features were missing. Other than expressing various states of emotional quotients Diaz role was limited. Simply to justify her role would be like getting caught in the vortex. Still she was able to carry her role to some credible extent.

Overall this movie is just another blend of comedy action flick which will not be lingering in our minds for long. Going to watch this with high expectations will simply be mundane.

My Rating : 4.5/10

Insomnia (2002)

There are only few directors who are competent enough in making movie remakes which can be notable from the rest. Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia is one such instance. Though the plot details are based on ’97 Norwegian movie of the same name still it was quite a striking experience.

Insomnia can be described as a crime thriller which requires attention as the pacing is slow & unfolds the story gradually. It begins with the travel of two LAPD detectives Will Dormer (Al Pacino) & Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) to Alaska for probing into a homicide case of a teen age girl. The relation between the two detectives is shown to be strained, caused due to ongoing inquiry on Dormer by the internal affairs for tampering with the evidences in some previous case. Local authority provides Officer Ellie Burr (Hillary Swank) to assist with the investigation, who also seems to be a great admirer of Dormer’s work. While trying to lure the murderer into the trap an accident takes place which results to the death of Eckhart. From here on a baffling mind game starts between Dormer & the prime suspect who seems to know the actual cause of the accident which led to the death of Dormer’s partner. The story eventually progress with how Dormer deals with his suspect’s blackmailing as well as insomnia caused due to Alaska’s everlasting daylight system.

This movie is some what diverse from other usual thrillers, although the story progressed bit by bit the overall casting made it very interesting. Al Pacino fleshed out Dormer’s role brilliantly & Hillary Swank got enough time to put her part in good use. I don’t know whether Robin Williams was the right choice for the role entrusted to him; still I guess he did pull the character pretty well.

Wally Pfister has been working with Nolan ever since Memento and his touch on the cinematography was pretty neat & laudable. Though the relevance of the backdrop score was limited; it was soothing & had some kind of haunting tune stringed to keep the tempo.

This is a character driven story powered by prominent castings. If I am addressing this article to any Nolan fan then I am sure they might have already seen this movie. Nevertheless this movie cannot be compared with Nolan’s other brilliant work but as a stand alone it is really hard hitting & definitely requires attention.

My Rating : 7.5/10