Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

Director: Yipin Lin

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Luke Evans, Michelle Rodriguez

Genre: Action

As if swanky cars weren’t enough, Fast and Furious now have ‘Tank’ rampaging the roads—and, you are in for one hell of a ride! 

Yipin (Justin) Lin nails another F&F movie. The 6^th installment doesn’t just pick the tempo where Fast 5 concluded; it gets bigger too, and straightaway—no lag on plot development or character insights as it is already all set. From scene one you have fast cars in action, trailblazing through some beautiful locales.  

F&F also provides what was amiss in Fast 5—a real villain of credibility in Shaw (Luke Evans), well supported by his sidekicks who match (even betters) Dom’s crew blow-by-blow, i.e., until the climax of course.

Action in the film, as it was supposed to, overshadows all other aspect of the film but comedy, overall acting, editing, camera work, special effects, etc. gel well in this in this high octane showdown.       

All in all, a perfect summer blockbuster for action buffs.  

If the sneak-peek of F&F is anything to go by then the F&F 7 is going to be even ‘massiver’—the newest addition (current tycoon of action films) to cast/franchise certainly indicates so!

What more. Being a huge fan of Diesel’s ‘Riddick’, I hope the success of F&F avails him enough riches to decently market/promote another potent, niche-focused, action/adventure franchise of his.

7.5/10

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Director: J.J. Abrams

Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saladana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg

Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-fi

Enterprise NCC-1701 continues its spacial adventure at warp speed.

Star Trek 2 springs into action straightaway with two completely different personalities—yet most compatible—in the thick of it. Kirk-Spock once again create magic with their unmatched chemistry; and helm the Enterprise throughout the film. They are well by supported by Bones, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Pike, and newly added Admiral and Khan. The strongest aspects of film, that will impact the Trekkies most, are: 

• Kirk’s undying love of his family—the Crew of Enterprise, and

• Spock’s unbreakable bond with his captain—severance of which is one of the few things that induce explicit emotions in the inherently uptight Vulcan. 

Kirk’s desperation/sacrifice to save his crew and Spock venting his anger at Kirk’s demise showcases both these aspects beautifully. Scotty and Bones are also there to lighten up the atmosphere every now and then, with decent comic touches. 

Only slight disappointment is under-utilizing, under-developing the character of superhuman 'Kahn Noonien Singh' (like it happened with Nero in previous installation)—Benedict Cumberbatch certainly showed he could match up to the 'Khan' of Ricardo Montalbán, if not better him.

When J.J. Abrams revived Star Trek, it definitely seemed like beginning of next big Hollywood venture that will be deemed an epic in years to come, and Trekkies should be happy to see a steady sequel following up a super successful re-launch of 2009. Of course, the film isn’t as magnificent as the first one, but it keeps the old fans engaged and opens the doors of Starfleet to a new crop of younger fans. 

Without a doubt, the new generation of Trekkies will enjoy the company of Bones, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Pike, along with Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock in upcoming films; all the while, BGM of Star Trek rushing their adrenaline.

Film is technically sound too, especially the post-production 3D job is quite commendable.  

What more, the tone has been set for the next film. At the end, Khan is put into a cryogenic-sleep and Enterprise embarks on a never-before-like 5 year-long exploration mission.

Keep your eyes and ears open for a cryptic signal from/to deep space!

              

7.5/10

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Director: Shane Black

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley

 

Iron Man 3 is a decent enough entertainer that mishmashes various story-lines from Marvel’s Iron Man universe.

Film is technically sound—showcases some state of art 3d/special effects. Director here clearly tries to match up to the genius of ‘Iron Man 1’ and even plots the film around ‘America hating’ terrorism, but film never really punch above its weight and is an action-comedy at best. Air rescue sequence was quite awesome; perhaps best action from film. Comedy is good wherever justified, though mostly it is your usual cliché—you might/might not like it.    

RDJ, with his charm, is indeed ‘The’ Iron Man but his antics here seemed a little superfluous and, at times, enforced. It should have either been a serious film with subtle humor and a message or an all-out action-comedy—it was somewhat irritating to see every serious scene end with some needless chaff.  

Strictly for Iron Man geeks (might contain spoilers):

From comics/cartoons point of view the film can be described in 3 simple words: “What a sham”. It wouldn’t have bothered me that much had they mucked up ‘Mandarin’ with either poor acting or some modification but what they did was criminal (I hope Marvel sues them and every geek bays for their blood).  Perhaps in light of real-world political tensions they tinkered with Mandarin’s mainland China origin and made him a British instead. Even that is fine, when you have a heavyweight actor like Kingsley portraying him as fabulously as he did (prior to the lamest twist of cinema history of course).

Now, I am little perplexed after the events of the film:

• Are they actually saying, Lex Luthor, Superman’s main nemesis, is just propaganda (Joker for Batman)? Trying hard to avoid any spoilers…hope you get the drift.   
• Is Aldrich Killian the real Mandarin now, who will come back to life with some silly retcon?    
  
• What is going to happen with the ‘Ten Rings’? Why did they even show it…

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As a film Iron Man works well; as an adaptation it is like a ‘Just for Laugh’ joke. Frankly, I could have done without Iron Man 3, however, as just a film (not a comic book adaptation) this is a decent watch; doesn’t matter how disappointed the comic geek in me sounds!

Go enjoy it for some high-octane showdown.

7.4/10 

   

Oblivion (2013)

Director: Joseph Kosinski 

Genre: Sci-Fi 

Cast: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freman, Olga Kurylenko

In pre-narration, Humans are attacked by Aliens, moon is destroyed; bringing about chaos to planet’s physiology. Nuclear warfare that follows helps Humans defeat the Aliens, but wrecks further havoc on planet and Earth is now mostly inhabitable; infested with outlasting Aliens known as ‘Scavs’. 

Human survivors move to a space abode The ‘Tet’, and continue using Earth’s remaining natural resources to support themselves. Tom Cruise, along with a partner, guards essential fuel and maintains energy/power producing units.

Visually enticing, mildly paced (goes well with the dystopian setting) film lead stoutly, as always, by bankable Tom Cruise. A simple plot—somewhat a mishmash of elements from many previous science fiction films—that unfolds to an okayish, non-complex revelation. Unlike most futuristic sci-fi films the dystopia is deliberately beautiful.

Not a sci-fi masterpiece or ground-breaking stuff but can be enjoyed once...moderately.

Trailers for ‘The Host’ and Will Smith & Son starring ‘After Earth’ seemed decent.

7.2/10