The Avengers (2012)

Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Robert Downey Junior, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders

Plot: Earth's mightiest heroes must come together to save the planet from an unrelenting evil.

Avengers delivers what it promised--a high octane showdown involving a horde of superheroes. It culminates together the previous Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Hulk movies.

Great to see such perfect 3d treatment. Perhaps the only non-animated movie (barring Avatar) where 3d hasn't messed a single frame. Joss Whedon shrewdly avoids many dim lighting shots and the few that are there have been done very well.

The camera work simply bowls you over and the much talked about tracking shot is unparalleled awesomeNESS! Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawk Eye, all together, standing tall against the evil which is about to end the world--you simply don't want that thrilling shot to end! Another brilliant piece of camera work is the 'aerial shot' of Thor and Captain America together.

The film is full of some epic scenes, the epic-est of them all being 'Captain America taking the mountain shattering blow of Thor's legendary Mjölnir on his indestructible shield.'

 

Funniest was, without a shadow of doubt, the Green monster smashing a demi-God! Loki was K.O.ed like a bug! Iron Man is also at his arrogant, charming best. Black Widow looks hot as ever--especially for a 60 year old woman! Her interrogation scenes, using sort of reserve psychology, are clear winners for the film. Captain America takes a while to get going but comes up trumps in the second half once he takes charge and starts commanding/strategizing his Avengers against the Chitauri invasion.

Another top scene: Iron Man makes his usual grand entrance with AC/DC 'shoot to thrill playing' (again)!! The tin man is the only show-off one wants to watch again and again!

Cobie Smulders starts off well in her role as S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Hill and may get meatier part in sequel with Coulson gone now (though he may not be entirely gone!).

For a good vs. evil film to be deemed as classic, equal magnitude for both works well and should ideally be the case . Here, the Villainy/evil sucks; compelled Hawkeye looked more vicious then Loki and co. No point in comparing the villainy/evil with DC's Joker even Marvel comics produced better movie villains in 'Iron Man' and 'X-Men First Class' and for that reason these two still remain way better screen adaptation. One may argue 'Avengers' movie is not about villain but heroes assembling, even in that regards the animated 'Ultimate Avengers' did much better job. After putting in millions of bucks in the movie what baffled me most was the fact that they couldn't find a little girl who could speak Hindi without a foreign accent! Could have taken a tip from Boyle on this!

Overall 'Avengers' is a good summer blockbuster that blends action and laughter with backstories and provides a spectacle that gets your adrenaline pumping but could have done little more than having Michael Bay-like flying/jumping alien invaders being chopped like dead meat.

Thanos in end credits (villain from Silver Surfer and Iron Man animated cartoons) seems like a very valid reason for Avengers to reassemble!

7.7/10

The Hunger Games (2012)

Director: Gary Ross

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Stanley Tucci

Plot: In a dystopian future, a boy and a girl from each 12 subjugated districts must compete in an annual tournament and only one victorious may walk out alive.

When I first heard of ‘The Hunger Games’ the obvious question popped up in my mind—is it a ‘Battle Royale’ rip-off? I haven’t read any of the books but seen both the movies and can say there are similarities. However, underlying theme and treatment of both is quite different. To begin with, Hunger Games is PG unlike Battle Royale.

Battle Royale is a sheer slasher and it captures the gory details of violence and fear that violence instills—especially in someone as young as fifteen—far better than Hunger Games, whereas, Hunger Games is superior when it comes to character development, screenplay, and especially grandeur.

As compared to an in-your-face BR, HG is a more thorough and complete movie that grows on you. The idea of using flashback scenes—loaf of bread, coal mine blast—in HR proves to be a winner and gives the viewer (even without reading the book) enough insights into actual story development.

Now, this doesn’t mean HG is better than BR or vice-versa. BR was perfect as it was and requires no one to even bother about the novel, but HG does need a backstory. In fact, in terms of direction and overall acting BR is slightly ahead of HG. Even after so many years the expressions, shrieks and trauma of fifteen year olds from BR are still vivid with me.

Seeing Jennifer Lawrence first in ‘Winter’s Bone’, I did predict an Oscar nomination for her. And since Winter’s Bone her stature in films has been growing all the time. Here again, she delivers a power-packed performance.  

Found some interesting BR vs. HG discussions here:

http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/2010/03/hunger-games-vs-battle-royale.html

A good watch.

7.5/10

Winter in Wartime (2008, Dutch - Oorlogswinter)

Director: Martin Koolhoven

Set toward the fag end of WWII, this film is a visual treat with its breathtaking scenery and snow clad Dutch landscapes.

Holland is still under Nazi control and there are secretly active resistance networks all across the country. Dutch youngsters, obviously, hate the Germans and create trouble for them at every opportune moment. Film revolves around one such Dutch boy, Michiel (Martijn Lakemeier).

Some scenes, like the one where a German soldier rescues a drowning Dutch boy while the natives just stand-by and watch, are simply top notch. Highlight of this particular scene is the befuddled expression on the face of young boy who always believed all the Germans to be devils.  

No spoilers ahead just mentioning a sort of twist. Apart from the last half an hour of the movie--where an unnecessary twist ruins it a little--I would say it could very well have been a classic. The entire movie dealt with a higher cause and was striding toward greatness, and all of a sudden there is this bolt from the blue and films concludes in a clichéd manner, with focus on ‘just a man.’

Overall it seemed like a highly evolved and creative piece of film-making, other than the ending, that seemed rather immature/underdeveloped.

Decent screenplay, good acting--especially Michiel's. Climax somewhat ruing what it could have been.

7/10

Justice League: Doom (2012)

Genre: Animation

Based on ‘Tower of Babel’ arc, this is one movie many DC fans were/are eagerly awaiting.

DC has been making some very good animated films off-late and a good script for big-screen adaptation has been one reason of their success in the genre. Doom, however, seems a little compress-scripted with too many characters and too little time. In the end, you are left with a want for more--especially if you are a DC nerd.

The film also deviates from the original comicbook. Some notable changes are:

•          Vandal Savage is the main villain instead of Ra’s al Ghul
•          No Aquaman or Plastic Man
•          Hal Jordan is the Green Lantern instead of Kyle Rayner
•          Superman is rendered powerless with a green kryptonite in place of red and he doesn’t become transparent

Even with all these modifications, film is a decent watch but should have been more detailed and definitely lengthier.

7/10

War Horse (2011)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Not enjoying a Spielberg movie is a tough ask and this one is no exception. 

Visually grand and entertainment-wise sating, it does (somewhat) misses out on sentiments a little. Not that it isn’t 'emotional enough' but when your plot focuses on animals—dog, horse, dolphin, etc.—you expect the film to leave you either overjoyed or heart wrenched. It does both, albeit, only to a certain extent. 

Come to think of it, some animal-films that managed to wow the audience sans the Spielberg-esque budget are ‘Spirit of the Stallion’, ‘Red Dog’, ‘Hachiko’, ‘Free Willy’ etc.  

Spielberg also introduces Celine Buckens as young Emilie. We may be seeing more of her in future—reminds you of other young actors in Spielberg’s movies like Haley Joel Osment or Dakota Fanning.

A good 3d movie too and indeed worth a theater watch—in fact most of the film industry stalwarts are doing a fine job with 3d now. I only await the release of ‘The Hobbit’ which is supposed to take the movie watching experience to level-next.  

Warhorse is a good mix of comedy, sentiments, action—a sure-shot commercial success formula.

Joey the horse is obviously best part of the movie.

7/10