abhinav-prkash Reviews

Ghayal (1990)

Greatest revenge action movie -in or out of India.

[10/10 · 10 July 2023]

Ents 133

Ghayal is the best action revenge movies ever - in or outside India. And its a tremendous feat considering its competitors include Once upon a time in the West, Sholay, The Death Wish, The Robocop, Hum, The Gladiator, Kill Bill, Memento, and Leon the Killer. Oldboy (original) and 'I Saw the Devil', though amazing revenge movies, dont fall in revenge-action subgenre. Likewise Taken and Man on Fire are action-rescue movies, not action-revenge and therefore out of reckoning.

But even on its own Ghayal is an allaround powerhouse of acting performances. Sunny's 'mere bhai ko mar dala' scene has no rival , nothing that even approaches close to its tectonic strength, across entire spectrum of revenge action genre. Meenakshai is such an effortless actress that her every svene is hyper real , and Ompuri's short but powerfully introspective role underscores very theme of Ghayal.

Morever, everything about Ghayal feels relatable. The performances are convincing, The villains are not cartoonish or larger than life, the police force is right mix of corruption, ineffectiveness and helplessness, the heroes are not invulnerable to injuires and death, and the girlfriend doesnt stand on margin to preach non violence.

Finally what makes Ghayal the greatest action revenge movie is its ability to deliver a genuine and compelling story that keeps true to its mission. It doesnt take any detours, there are no deflecting subplots, and the ending is not ruined by 'Last of us' types fake epiphanies. Ghayal leaves you satisfied everytime you watch it. 11/10.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Absolute Trash

[1/10 · 27 February 2023]

This pile of confusion, jumpcuts, and littered chaos doesnt have a single redeeming virtue that can qualify it to status of movie. The plot is a deadbeat trope of recycled conncepts and hacked notions scooped up by someone stepping out from 30 years of coma and having just finished watching a double feature of The Matrix and Multiverse of Madness.

It doesnt matter how many people pretend to like it or defend it by citing its nominations for awards, in truth we all know this fluff is bloated , poorly acted, unhinged, pretentious, uniteresting , bore, unwatchable and a complete waste of time and money.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

This made me question my career choice

[9/10 · 28 May 2022]

Such was the adrenaline rush that I started questioning what I was doing in life if I wasn't flying a navy plane and daring all challenges. Its action packed, sensible, cohesive with part I, entertaining, tight and all actors are at peak of their performance. 26 years was definitely worth the wait and I think this is one of the best movies in last 5 years.

Nashville (1975)

Not my type of tune

[3/10 · 27 November 2021]

I looked up Nashville after watching 'The Player' - a Robert Altman movie that I absolutely loved. All the reviewers cited Nashivlle as most definitive Altman movie so I borrowed a copy from a friend for a good Friday evening movie and chill.

After about 1.5 hours I turned off my screen with a slight throbbing behind head. The movie was less of a movie, more like a high school journalistic video project to film a bunch of people over a course of few days. There was no script, no continuity of characters and scenes, and hardly any acting. Perhaps that was the point of this movie - and it certainly appealed to many viewers as evidenced by all the critical acclaim and glowing reviews on IMDB.

I won't be as stupid as to say that it's a bad movie and that you must not watch it. Art is phenomenally subjective. May be you will enjoy it, depending upon your taste and mood. But it was certainly not my type of music or tune.

Shakuntala Devi (2020)

Wanted to see female Sheldon Cooper, saw hysterical Rakhi from Karan Arjun instead

[1/10 · 1 August 2020]

Hardly anything about Shakuntala Devi's magnificent journey. More of a 2 hour emotional torture between a mother and daughter. Why put masala when it's not required. If content is lacKing, make a derived version (like the imitation game) than putting absolute nonsense together. Vidya Balan's monster laughter will haunt me at night and her on-screen daughters inability to act will make me cringe. This entire movie makes me weep.

Joker (I) (2019)

A masterpiece of our time

[10/10 · 18 November 2019]

Phoneix is so complete in his portrayal of a man's irrevocable decline into insanity that Joker and Batman story line becomes merely incidental to entire narrative. Phoenix steals the show in every scene he's in and he's in every scene. He manages to create that balance between insanity (which Leto overshot) and philosophy (Which Heath Ledger nailed) whilst also giving his character a really retro vibe.

The gritty and grimy hyper-realism of Gotham subverts the comic genre and makes it a movie focused on telling it's own story. If I had to compare Joker to any other movie probably it will be Taxi Driver or One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. But, honestly speaking, the added layer of the Joker's nihilism and the complete lack of actual superheroes add a whole other level. In all honesty It is a cinematic experience that generates a lot of empathy and provokes a lot of thought.

The Foreigner (I) (2017)

Jackie, Pierce wasted in this patched up movie (contain spoilers)

[1/10 · 12 January 2018]

One former army killer chases a minister all over the country to get names of terrorists who planted the bomb that killed his daughter. Plot - the minister himself doesn't have a clue about the terrorists and neither does the police. Worse still, the dumb minister is himself being duped by his wife, colleague, nephew and girl he is having an affair with. In comes, all the unnecessary drama of fights in the jungle, planting bomb in a bus, on the plane, extra marital affair, incest and what not. I think the script writer got high one evening and then noted every terrorist activity in the recent past, fit them together somehow, threw in some heavy duty dialogues and for the fear of backlash from ISIS - made IRA responsible. He then giggled as he sold the script to the producer, who I strongly believe was equally high. Somedays later, the director in the same inebriated state, derived some learnings from movies like Taken and hereby this movie was released. This should have been fun, except for the fact that Pierce and Jackie were totally wasted in the movie. In some scenes, I could actually see pain on the face of Jackie - trust me, it was because of this mindless script and not because the movie required those emotions. And whats with the Irish accent throughout - more importance was given to it then the script I feel.

Black Mirror: The National Anthem (2011) Season 1, Episode 1

Unintelligent

[1/10 · 26 November 2017]

I came in with high expectations after hearing many great reviews of Black Mirror and went out with utter disappointment. I couldn't understand the idea behind the plot presented here. Was it supposed to be comedic? or Ironic? Perhaps giving a message or symbolically conveying something ? Or was it just a great piece of crime? Well, it's nothing. It's just an unintelligent piece of gibberish written by someone with no idea of writing and produced by someone with no idea of production. The the whole story is entirely unrealistic to the point of insanity. On its own merit it wouldn't even make to grotesque section a porn story website. It's true rating should be somewhere below zero- an idea IMDb should consider one of these days.

Dunkirk (2017)

Impressive on Technicalities, Complete Failure on Scale

[1/10 · 22 July 2017]

Dunkirk is a visual treat for art-buffs and students of cinematic discipline. But for everyone else, especially those who love history, the movie is a massive failure due to it's sheer incompetence in capturing the scale and import of the biggest military evacuation in modern history- 3,38,000 allied soldiers saved by over 1000 boats and ships in just a week.

Dunkirk was not just any other battle incident in WWII. It's the story of how a large number of civilian vessels and navy ships safely transport around an enormous number of soldiers back to home. Its about achieving impossibility, doing a miracle, defying all odds only because so huge number of people were to be saved by so many untrained rescuers. Dunkirk is all and only about scale. Take this scale out and it becomes meaningless. Ask yourself - would anyone had given entire incident a second glance if there were 1000 soldiers to be saved and 20 odd boats came from Britain to do the job? No one, including Christopher Nolan himself.

Yet he takes this subject and almost in a blasphemous treatment of its importance, does away with the very scale that made Dunkirk 'Dunkirk'. What you see is an empty beach, a handful of soldier, a few odd boats in water, and two spitfires in sky, trying to play out a theatrical enactment of entire event. And that's what this movie is- just theatrics and technicalities- creating temporal disturbances in story lines to impress the gullible, patching oddball narratives to cover- up for plot weakness, raining down musical scores to hide its lack of substance.

I hope Mr Nolan never makes a movie on memory of Hiroshima attack - because then instead of a giant mushroom cloud that killed over 40,000 souls and decimated a city we will see a mild explosion and a couple of smoked huts.

The General's Daughter (1999)

Hugely Underrated Movie

[8/10 · 5 March 2017]

I can't believe this movie is rated only 6.3 on IMDb. In the mystery and crime genre alone I would personally rate it at same level as as Vertigo and Pscycho. It's direction, acting and plot are all top notch, cutting deep in your mind and psych. This is one of those movies that draws viewers in and doesn't leave them even after it ends. Some people say that its end is a little hammy, but by the time it reaches there, the movie has already done a stellar work. In my opinion it is also one of the best acting performances by John Travolta. And the supporting ensemble is equally good. This is one of them movies that deserves to be part of every collection.

Duel (1971 TV Movie)

A Slick Ultra Modern Masterpiece.

[9/10 · 11 September 2016]

I've been a big Spielberg fan. But somehow I kept ignoring his directorial debut, thinking it got to be amateurish and experimental, that's why it was released only for TV, isn't it. Man, could I be more wrong? This piece clutched at my throat and didn't let me move for its run-time and then an hour or so more. I don't remember last watching such simple and linear story-line that carried so much intensity, style, menace, and symbolism.

Spielberg's brilliant POV directorial style makes you experience the plight and terror of Dennis Weaver without the trinkets of Augmented Reality and Virtual Head-gears. At its end (spoiler now) I felt like actually walking up to Dennis Weaver, sit by him, and say, Mate i understand what you went through, I experienced exactly that!

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

A Treat for original ID lovers

[2/10 · 6 July 2016]

After seeing original Independence Day, I remember telling myself that this changes everything now. Movies won't be same ever again. The original ID was a ground- breaking, era-defining work that had probably induced largest collective jaw-dropping phenomena in world.

So my expectations for this movie were pretty modest. All I was looking for was 2 hours of intense action, explosions, and mega battle scenes, with a bit of drama and comedy here and there. And I was not disappointed one bit. The sequel is one linear plot of action on a scale from crazy to insane that kept me glued on seat. The story is actually credible and it directly builds on the material from the original. Although execution could had been better, but its pretty spot on for its genre and franchise. Acting, well frankly, I didn't go to see Oscar winning performances here, which incidentally I couldn't even see in Revenant.

The most charming part was indeed reprisal of so many characters from the original movie. Seeing Jeff and Bill Pullman back on screen after eons was like a personal accomplishment. Judd Hirsch, who plays Jeff's father, doesn't look a day older and finally after 20 years we see Brent Spiner still alive and kicking, and great that directors really expanded his role this time.

The movie certainly has plenty of weak points. Sela Ward plays one of the most dumbest and forgetful Presidential character in memory; may be directors just put her there to show what to expect when Hillary Clinton takes over USA. The CGI, instead of being ground-breaking, just follows suit, and the logical inconsistencies and loop holes of movies are in in my opinion now trade-mark of all Roland Emmerich's movies.

But I feel a rating of 5.6 is not justice for this excellent piece of action and Adrenalin. Just for bringing back Goldblum on screen it deserves two additional points !

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Deathly Disappointing

[3/10 · 9 November 2014]

Time for your OWL marks Mr. Yates and Kloves! No- don't bite your fingers; You don't get a Troll nor a Dreadful either- you have just managed yourself a resounding Poor though. Hmmm, better luck next time!- not for you but for HP fans who may want to see someone else re-doing the entire series in future.

Death Hallows Pt 2, for some time to come, will remain as the foremost example of a movie that could had been a classic if not for the grand opportunity missed, or rather wasted by the director and the crew. It had every resource at command- a very talented set of actors, latest 3D and computer technologies, and a 10 years old legacy to guide its way to greatness. But quite inexplicably it refused to even say 'accio' to these sources, and instead, after running impressively through half the way to summit, it wandered, stumbled, and then jumped off the path into same abyss where Harry is made to throw the Elder wand at end. The movie starts convincingly from part 1, and holds itself really well until the time the trio of H.R.H enters into Hogwarts. The scene in vault where artifacts start to multiply or the flight of dragon are superlatively done, there is no question to it. But once inside the castle, the fizz suddenly goes off the movie.

Yates wanted to rush towards boom boom explosions with such haste that it let the thing implode on itself. And so the second half becomes a rubble of montages and frozen frames crashed in a monumental heap where Harry Potter fans like me are still trying to find some meaningful pieces together.

To put it another words, the entire second half of the movie is just arranged together- there is no feeling introduced, no association built with the characters, no bridges created (but blown away certainly). It just compilation of images one after another. Pretty, no doubt, but Mr. Yates, ought to know that in wizarding world people in images also have soul; and the second half had not a shred of soul in it.

And therefore, I did not feel any personal sense of loss when Hogwarts shook and crumbled, when Fred, Lupin , Tonks and so many others died, and quidditch ground burned to ashes. Damn you David Yates- I had loved Hogwarts more than my own school, had ROFLed at Fred's quips and jeers, followed wizard quidditch more than Ron, and had made friends with Harry's batchmates. You dehumanized the entire saga, and left me with not even a feeling of mourning at these losses and worse-- neither one of jubilation at Harry's triumph.

And this is my principle discontent. In the movie, the climatic fight between Harry and Voldi occurs completely isolated and away from everyone. There is no one to watch watch this epic struggle which was building since last 7 years of the movie chronology. It was absurd and spoiled the movie for me. I had never liked the 7th book much, but still the conversation between Voledomort and Harry at the end was thrilling and enthralling – equally moving was Harry's conversation with Dumbledore's portrait. Yate's machination constructed an altogether different and vastly inferior ending.

As a foot-note, this is still a tolerable movie- and certainly not 'OMG-worst-movie-i-ever-saw' kind of stuff. Pity is that, it could had been much much much better.

Interstellar (2014)

A great painter, A grand canvas and A childish doodle

[5/10 · 9 November 2014]

Interstellar, despite its take on intergalactic travel, event horizon, blackhole, space-time warp, and 5 dimensions, is too naive and elementary work of an otherwise great director. It can also be said it's a 3 hours long and 300 million dollars tribute to 15 minutes of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Either way, the idea I am trying to send across this wormhole is that Interstellar is an infantile and immature movie that could had been fun, had it not taken itself too seriously.

Stripped off all the bells and whistles, the key plot element of Interstellar is the ancient concept of time-travel and how you can revisit your past to send signals that your past self thought coming from providence or their guardian angels. Deja Vu? Yes indeed! After all this is the very plot device that is at the heart of Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban.

So the main problem with Interstellar is that it doesn't have anything new to offer. On top of it you have some dead serious actors who talk and talk and talk and talk about concepts of love, belief, faith, and trust while crossing wormholes, black holes, event horizons and what not. And then they talk some more on every planet that they visit.

Well, the movie is not a complete wash-off thanks to a very impressive and realistic performance by Matthew McConaughey whose powerful acting somewhat lift up a movie that runs haywire most of the time because Nolan was playing with concepts beyond his ken. I am sure that by the time he was half way through directing it, even he did not have an idea that what the heck he was making.

But I believe that's okay for once. Every great director deserves to make one or two duds in their career so my faith in Nolan is not yet broken.

One small note for sci-fi fans. the physics used here is just the elementary theoretical physics which no can prove and no can disprove. In fact it will be more correct to day that this movie uses meta-physics more than physics -example- Love is presented as the 5th dimension of universe and belief can overcome all physical odds-like easily locating a floating astronaut in the infinite swathe of universe!

Into the Storm (2014)

Realistic and Breathtaking

[8/10 · 2 November 2014]

This movie deserves an 8 only on the effect actually. The effects are so realistic and intense that its feel like watching a documentary on a tornado, which incidentally is one of shooting style used for this movie. The howl of tornado and its furious intensity that rips apart building, levitates cars,giant trucks and 747s, uproots forest and sends man, machine and material up the swirling pool is both frightening and fascinating to watch.

Normally in a production like this, the directors don't care to spend much time on story and characters, but this movie is different here. The main characters are given ample screen time, and it's their emotions and struggle to survive that becomes the central theme of the movie, against the backdrop of the tornadoes that are almost hunting them down. Throw in an obsessed tornado tracker who doesn't much think about himself or his colleague's life if it can result in good shot, and you have a complete drama at hand. Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshild of Hobbit) packs in a intense performance and even the fringe characters play their part well and convincingly.

All in all, 'Into the Storm' is one of the better flicks I have watched this year.

Chef (2014)

Warm Appetizing!

[7/10 · 26 October 2014]

This movie is not one to bowl you over and take your breath away. No..but it is a treat for people who love food, and especially who love to cook. But that's being superficial. There are also intertwined stories of father-son bonding, artistic freedom and redemption, friendship and relationship. And all done without anything getting over-board. There is a nice touch of realism throughout. It's true that at one or two points, the movie really stretches and some of the characters are one-dimensional but there is nothing you can't enjoy with some sizzling sandwiches, tostones and yuca fries ! Go ahead and watch this movie. Don't get bogged down by any negative review.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Old wine in new bottle, but nicely packed and good in taste

[7/10 · 21 October 2014]

Take Aliens, Groundhog day, Saving Private Ryan, Starship Troopers, Independence Day and Source Code. Add them in a jar, put a healthy seasoning of CGI and give it a nice good shake; there, you will have Edge of Tomorrow frothing out all over.

Now, if you are thinking this is an indictment of EoT, its actually not, because, well... a well made shake actually taste good. And ditto for this movie. Yes, it has no originality; yes the acting is average; yes, there is little character development; yes, there is no back-story, and yes, at times it is somewhat illogical, but then this is a movie that begs not to be taken seriously. What it has, and has in plenty is a well paced story and very well orchestrated action sequence that actually help to move forward the story.

One admirable thing about this movie's action is that it stays focused around the main plot. Although the story is about global destruction, but the directors have stayed away from showing now extremely cliché scenes of mass scale devastation and crazy fireballs. The action here is solid, very intense and thrilling. And although once again, in true Hollywood style, only a handful of protagonists finally defeat an alien super being that couldn't be touched by entire armies, the movie does end satisfactorily.

All in all, this a good piece of entertainment to finish a couple of burgers and fries along with :)

Gravity (2013)

Anti Gravity

[1/10 · 19 October 2013]

3D techniques should work two ways-as I get an illusion of objects bursting from screen to hit me; the movie makers should also be able to get the illusion of viewers bursting through the screen to hit them. This was my entire line of thought during and after watching this dumb, corny and jaded piece of hogwash put together.

The story here is so pathetically rubbed down that if i were to say 'a chimp swinging from one tree branch to another tree branch is more enjoyable way to spend 2 hrs' it could be taken as a spoiler by some! Well so i have anyways tagged this review as 'spoiler'. In fact this whole movie is a spoiler. A spoiler of time and your hard earned money.

It is set out in space, where there is no air, no atmosphere, no gravity and of course no acting. Unless someone can call swimming through space as acting; of course then they would have to put up with protests from fishes and tortoise who do the swimming act lot more convincingly and entertainingly.

But it's the dialogs that really makes u want to chug this movie out of your system. In fact i realized that if English language had lacked two words- 'Okay' and 'Houston', this movie 'd rushed and sat with 'Silent Movies'. Except that in them people act!

So what remains? Oh yes, effects remain. If this movie had been the 'first ever 3D movie with gazillion special effects released in the history of cinema', it would have been good; which makes as much sense as saying that if Blackberry had launched Z10 in 1990 it wouldn't have its ass handed out to it today.

P.S I am not giving this movie a 1 to compensate its otherwise outlandish rating. No; Just that it has resoundingly and emphatically earned this 1!

The Hunger Games (2012)

It missed the beat

[3/10 · 19 August 2012]

The Hunger Games

I hadn't read the book ' The Hunger Games' so I had no frame of reference to carry when I decided to watch this movie. A lot of my friends and online pals had recommended it. Adding to it was fact that it's directed by Garry Ross of Pleasantville fame and a near impressive 7.4 rating on IMDb. I couldn't afford to miss out on a candidate with such impressive resume.

Now after spending 2 hrs 22 minutes on this movie, I neither grudge the recommendations nor the ratings. From entertainment point of view alone, the movie should deserve it laurels. The dystopian setting of the future USA is shown convincingly -although I feel it comes nowhere close to masterful dystopia of 'Children of Men'. The direction is taut, story moves briskly and there are sufficient number of thrills, tensions and suspense points put in to keep viewers in their seats.

On the other hand this movie is also a perfect example of what bad actors and two dimensional direction can do to a script laden with so much potential. Perhaps Ross and the directional crew allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by scope of story to ignore the casting as well those finer points that could have elevated The Hunger Games from the general to master class.

To begin with, Jennifer Lawrence has given an unbelievingly shallow performance in the lead role that deserved someone of far better acting capabilities. She has a blasé wide- eyed-open- mouthed expression to which she has resolutely stuck in every scene no matter what's the situation. To realize that just watch the scenes where she volunteers herself for death games or when she enters the chariot parade or when announcements changing the rules of games are made during the death struggle. It's easier to spot a change in frame than any change in her expression. I wonder what richness and range of emotions someone as talented as Emma Watson could have brought to this role.

Second, the complex relationship between Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellar) looks hustled and compressed in a very uneven tableau. The character of Peeta Mellar is presented as an opportunist, calculative and manipulative through a third of the movie, which Katniss detests. Then suddenly she changes the mind ( not the expression :) ) and falls for him. It's like a phase change. One minute there is nothing. Next minute there is love and understanding.

Then there are those minor imperfections which don't stop a movie from earning millions But they sure help decide in its elimination from hall of fame. The Hunger Game has several of these imperfections. The most glaring one is the Spick and span looks of contenders even after rounds of bloodshed and spending several days in wilderness. All the time they give an appearance of having just stepped out of shower after a good 8 hours sleep. Also despite the continuous talk of deprivation and food scarcity in the 13 districts, the characters look so well fed and cared that I thought perhaps only kind of hunger known to the film makers is one that they feel on account of a skipped snacks.

To conclude for me The Hunger Games was a good one time watch but I do not opt to keep it in my library for an encore.

My rating. 6 out of 10.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

An entertaining end to a majestic saga

[6/10 · 21 July 2012]

The Dark Knight Rises is an entertaining action movie. The almost unceasing action comes because the story demands it. You know Gotham cannot survive the mayhem by hordes of thugs unless there is so much action, and it almost doesn't survive.

It does though courtesy a physically and emotionally wounded billionaire, who puts everything personal behind to 'Rise' to the crisis. The emotional anguish of Bruce Wayne/Batman is anguish of a man who doesn't have a choice but to stick to the code book he has written for himself. This come-what-may-but-I-will-do-only-this approach which makes Bruce Wayne so predictable also leaves him vulnerable against anyone who cares to take him down.

The Dark Knight Rises is more a story of conflicts, crises, weaknesses, strengths,despairs and victory of Bruce Wayne than Batman. It's Bruce Wayne who is tricked and deceived, its its Bruce Wayne who suffers loss of fortune and pride, Bruce Wayne who forces himself into an emotional exile, and Bruce Wayne who finally emerges from the depth of hopelessness in the final showdown between the good and the bad. Batman is just a costumed Bruce Wayne, wearing the suit to give himself some combat mileages.

Christian Bale once again shows how good actor he is with so much screen time at his disposal. We see the actor who gave those flawless performances in 3:10 to Yuma and The Machinist. Nothing much can be written about Michael Cain that has not already been said. He is one of those actors who always fool you into believing that their character is a real person.Morgan Freeman is as stylish and irreproachable as ever, although I felt his character is largely a prisoner of circumstances in the final version of trilogy. Gary Old-man turns out another stellar performance of a cop who believes in hope and his ideals.

On the other side, Anna Hathaway as the Cat-woman is charming but wholly dispensable in the entire scheme of story and Marian Cotillard about manages to delivery what's expected out of her.Almost.

So that's about it. Or did I miss out on something? No I did not, cause missing out on Bane means nothing. This purported nemesis of Batman turns out to be a tall, muscular, deep voiced thug who can lift batman up and break his spine and has a character as deep as an inverted spoon, and exactly as much interesting.

Don't even think of expecting to see anything even remotely close to the wiry, twitchy, grungy maniac who wouldn't dare touch Batman until he was down on his knees, but such an evil genius that it was a shame Batman even managed to survive to rise again is . Yes Gentlemen, some phenomena appear perhaps only once in a life time. And it's only 4 years to that majestic, unsurpassed, mystic, and foreboding phenomena called the Joker.