Centurion (2010)

Director: Neil Marshall

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, Dave Legeno, Axelle Carolyn

Genre: Action/Adventure

Plot: A tale of decimation of Roman's legendary Ninth legion.

I remember seeing the beautiful landscape shots of Scotland in "Highlander". Centurion has them too, only they surpass "Highlander" by some way!
Another high point of the movie is very realistic action sequences, especially the sword fights. These scenes have some very swift camera work and shots pass-by before you can fully focus which makes them very authentic.

In the North simple farmers have taken up arms against tyranny oh Roman empire. They are destroying Roman garrison forts and killing soldiers using Guerilla warfare. Ninth legion is set out to kill the Pict leader of untamed North but is comprehensively beaten and mostly killed. The surviving soldiers take on an impossible return journey toward Rome.
Olga Kurylenko as a mute, cold Pict warrior looks incredible.

Please don't compare this low budget movie with the likes of Gladiator.

Acting is decent by almost all the cast. Dialogues are poorly done. Some slangs and words used are completely out of place and don't fit the time period.

Okay for a one time watch.

6.7/10

Garden State (2004)

Director: Zach Braff

Cast: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, George C. Wolfe, Gary Gilbert

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Romance

Plot: A neat little film about a distress young man, in his mid twenties, returning home for his mother's funeral after almost ten years.

Andrew Largeman (Braff) had a somewhat troubled childhood which left a permanent dent on his psyche. His psychiatrist father always kept him under heavy medication.

Living away from family and friends Andrew has become quite detached and emotionally numb. His career isn't going places either. Finally he decides to quit his father's drugs. Andrew returns home for his mother's funeral but is very confused as he can not feel any sentiments in him.

Staying over a few days he meets up wih a beautiful, nosy girl- Sam (Natalie Portman). This girl is pretty straight forward about her feelings and helps Andrew with his emotions. Eventually Andrew comes out of his shell and mends the patchy relationship with his father.
He ends up with Sam after deciding not to go back to his work. Both of them are very happy and clueless about their future but also very confident that they will figure it out together.
And this the start of a new chapter in young couple's life!

Brilliant work by Zach Braff as a director. Exceeds expectation.

7.8/10

Tekken (2010)

Director: Dwight H. Little 
Cast: Jon Foo, Kelly Overton, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa 
Genre: Action

Plot: World is now ruled by 8 tyrant corporations. Jin goes all out against one such organization Tekken to exact revenge for his mother's death.

 

Not that Mortal Kombat (1995) was a box office giant but I loved it! This one is strictly for the game fans. Even they won't find it exciting enough! The fight scenes are cliched and script is haywire. Background music rocks your adrenaline for a while then loses the sting.

Only good thing about the movie is on screen personification of most of the characters. And a few hot girls!

5/10

Star Trek (2009)

Director : J.J. Abrams
Cast : Chris Pine,Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy,Eric Bana
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi

Plot: James Kirk is born on the day his father dies defending his star-fleet ship. Kirk grows-up to be a troublesome, uninspiring, good-for-nothing twenty something. All this not withstanding, Kirk fulfills his destiny as leadership was always in his blood.

Simply put: a modern day classic which divulges into the origins of an all time classic series!

Star Trek series has always been there but not often it has held its own against the George Lucas's breath-taking and epic-like Star-Wars series. And now with "Indiana Jones" (Harrison Ford) about to hang his boots, "Lord Of The Rings" almost over save The Hobbit (1&2), Terminator not having the same appeal without Schwarzenegger, Mission Impossible series in doubt, Matrix resting in peace for good, James Bond lacking panache, and so on, the lovers of adventure, future fantasy, larger than life movies were wondering what next? So in that regard Star Trek has peaked at the right time. Lucas might revive Star Wars and stage a comeback with his Jedi Knights but that competition will be good for a grandeur showdown.

Initially, I was a bit apprehensive of Chris Pine as the ever voracious Cpt.Kirk but he proved me wrong, lead from the front like a true starship captain, and along with Zachary Quinto (Spock) stole the show away. The one high point of Star Trek is in-depth detailing of both these lead characters.

All actors have also given it all. None more than Zachary Quinto playing Spock.Zachary Quinto's thorough preparation and dedication for his role is distinctly visible. He grew his hair longer and dyed it, and shaved his eyebrows. All these highly compliment his dual Vulcan-Human heritage. Perfect casting!

In Zachary Quinto's own words: "I just felt like a nerd. I felt like I was 12 again, you look back at those pictures and you see the bowl cut. I was sporting that look for a good 4 or 5 years. There's no question I was born to play Spock."

This definitely looks the beginning of something grand which will last through this arriving decade (2010-2020).

Quinto and Pine have shown a very heart warming and promising onscreen chemistry.

Star Trek is full action and excitement. There is everything from black holes to time travel to mysterious aliens and anything else a fan of the genre can wish for.

The only drawback of the movie is wasting a talent like Eric Bana as rebellious Nero.

8.5/10 Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)