Reviews

Has anyone ever told you that the caste system sucks? I mean, of course they have, but Nikkhil Advani's "Vedaa" is going to scream about it again anyways. You would think that a movie about the caste system is practically a layup, but for some reason, it treats the topic with a level of seriousness that's almost comical. "Vedaa" puts all its energy into fighting shadow boogeymen, where by the end of the movie, all you've watched is yet another commercial action flick with a caste discrimination setting, made to satiate either the fans or the ego itself of a particular actor.

All that being said, at least the movie tries to keep you entertained, and entertained not by the quality of the movie you're watching, but rather in a sense of being entertained by random car chases, gunshot action and fight sequences. It's Bollywood being Bollywood at the end of the day, and this is as Bollywood as it gets.

For some reason, this 2022 movie got a Sri Lankan theatrical release this month in 2024. I have watched some amazing Pakistani movies before, but never a Pakistani Punjabi one, and so I was curious to see what this movie was about, especially given how highly rated it is on IMDB. Well, big mistake, because what the hell did I even watch?

A remake of a supposedly iconic Pakistani movie from the 70s, "The Legend of Maula Jatt" feels as if it was doused in a barrel of testosterone, and I don't mean that in a positive sense, but rather in a primitive and barbarically disgusting one. It was bombastic, loud and painfully over the top, and while one might argue that it's one of these "turn your brain off and enjoy the action" kinda movies, it doesn't help when the movie is so brainlessly unoriginal, it feels like you're being punished for simply having a brain. There was nothing attractive about this movie, and it just felt very unsettlingly barbaric, but as if it were something stylish or cool.

Couple this trash with a horrible theater-going experience where two separate Pakistani families brought along their kids who were running around, shouting and screaming throughout as their parents (and grandparents?) did nothing to stop them, or at times, shout and laugh along with them with no regards for the rest of the audience in the theater, you're left wondering if all this loudness is just a Pakistani Punjabi thing. I hope not, but it was a horrible enough experience that I'd never want to check out another one of these loud, obnoxiously insufferable Pakistani Punjabi movies.

Justin Baldoni's "It End with Us" could at times be as melodramatic as it is attractive, but what it undeniably is, is a decent look into the effects of domestic violence and generational trauma. Since release, the movie has been subject to a lot of behind the scenes drama that I'm not going to focus on here, and instead just approach it for the movie that it is.

Starring Blake Lively as Lilly Bloom, the movie sees her falling in love in 2 different stages of her life... Both instances somehow being impacted by her experiences with domestic violence. I've heard complaints about how much the movie deviates from the book it's based on, but having never read the book myself (nor even aware of its existence before the movie), I was rather content with the movie I watched. While it at times does play up the melodrama to cringe worthy levels, the underlying approach to such a heavy subject is done with tact, and that makes the movie a decent watch overall.

"It Ends with Us" is about as young adult romance as it could get, with all the clichés and stereotypes of the genre on full display, and that in itself could mean that it's mostly going to appeal to a particular demographic. And that's a good thing perhaps, because while I did find it interesting, it's not good enough to warrant me recommending it to most people. It's a movie that will be liked by those who usually enjoy cutesy romantic young adult dramas, and would at best be white noise to anyone else.

"Borderlands" is entirely new territory for me. I've never played any of the games and am not even remotely familiar with what it's supposed to be about. But from what I hear, even those who did play the games find this movie to be unsalvageable trash. It's as every bit a generic big-budget sci-fi comedy as one could expect, and even that characterization does it a disservice, as something generic could even at times be passably fun. It has absolutely nothing worth praising, as every aspect of it, from its comedy, to its plot, to its action, to its world-building, to its CGI, to everything, is as lazily conceived and even lazily executed as one could imagine. It's a movie that's very rightfully being panned and however much it's currently failing at the box office is very easily deserved.

There's not much to say about Neeraj Pandey's "Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha" except that the movie itself is unsure of what it wants to be. It's at times a romantic drama, and at other times, an action movie or even sometimes a Rashomon-esque mystery thriller. But at everything it tries, the movie fails miserably. The worst of its crimes, moreso than the whole outdated soul-mate stuff, is how utterly predictable every bit of it was. And predictability wouldn't really matter in a movie like this, if only they didn't try to make it a movie that has a secret to be revealed. But for all its flaws, the movie is rather vanilla and inoffensive, and doesn't really give you a reason to go beyond 'dislike' into 'hate' territory. So yea, it's essentially a movie meant to be discarded and forgotten.

Dhanush has always been one of Tamil cinema's most consistent actors in terms of the quality of projects he accepts. So when he makes his directorial debut, one surely must be excited to see what his storytelling vision really is. It's not very surprising that he tries to model his debut along the lines of some of his most acclaimed work as an actor (think "Asuran" or "Vada Chennai"), and for the most part, he has a story that's good enough to get the conversation started.

"Raayan" is a movie about an orphaned family of siblings fending for themselves in a city infested with gang violence and one where the volatile instability of their lives are highlighted. It has all the markings of a good 'Vetri Maaran-esque' movie, and it promisingly starts off in that regard too. Right until the movie's interval block, it has its sights set on where it would want to end up, and does a great job keeping the audience interested and invested in the movie and its characters.

For as well as it started, it's the movie's second half that disappoints massively, as it just comes across as if the movie is stuck not knowing where to go from here. It has very few points of interest from thereon, and the story beats just don't seem to work. The movie drags and drags to the point where you're now just waiting for it to end. The second half has nothing to offer and that stance is insulted further by the time we get to the movie's climax, which seems to be entirely unaware of the mockery it's making of the entire movie and its premise. It's disappointing especially, considering how promising the movie looked during its first half.

Most of the mistakes in this movie comes from bad flow and writing. It had the foundation to succeed, but didn't have the experience to build off that, and that is ideally where Dhanush would have to improve should he want to continue down this particular path of storytelling. And as for whether this movie is worth checking out in cinemas, no, it's not, don't bother.

When the very first scene of the movie has Deadpool digging out Wolverine's decomposing corpse from "Logan" and using it to fight a bunch of NPCs, you know you're in for something irreverent and fun. And fun, of which the movie has plenty. It's true that over the years, people have grown accustomed to Ryan Reynolds' style of humor, which since the popularity of the first "Deadpool" movie, has followed him around into every other movie he makes. But there's always something special when Ryan delivers the same obnoxious 'c*ck-and-b*lls' jokes wearing that loveable red suit.

What convinced us all to go to the cinemas and check this movie out after the years of being sick of superhero movies however, is not Deadpool in and of itself, but the addition of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine to the mix. It's a character so beloved and one we can almost never picture anyone else in, and this movie is further proof as to why. It's a pairing that we knew would always work out well, and unsurprisingly it does. It's the banter between Deadpool and Logan that makes this movie as fun and enjoyable as it is, and credit to both actors whose chemistry was the best thing about this movie.

All that being said, we're once again back to the inevitable Marvel problem of having a paper thin script which has the now banal world ending stakes it always has. It's something that has been overplayed so much that it even makes a Deadpool movie somewhat tedious. It's a Deadpool movie, so sure you're about to expect some silliness sprinkled around, but where you don't want to see it is in the blueprint of the script. And unfortunately, that's where it is, with the laziness and the lethargy of Marvel's writing department sticking around like a sore thumb.

It's a movie full of banter and cameos and while that makes for an amazing theater-going experience, it's not enough to warrant longevity. The cameos are surprising, but only the first time you watch it, and that probably makes this movie the weakest of the three Deadpool movies. All criticism aside though, it's a movie worth checking out for sure while the hype is still on, because it's not going to be as fun once it's out on digital, when everyone knows what surprises to expect.

Let me start off by saying that while yes, this movie was pretty average, it was still a million times better than what I went in expecting, just off the trailer. "Twisters" is a movie about a group of tornado-chasers who, well, chase tornados for a living. Maybe that's a good enough a premise to attract an audience to cinemas, but ultimately, a good movie means good execution.

Things could have gone so bad so quickly with a movie about people chasing tornados, but the best thing about this movie is that it took itself seriously enough to not make the mistakes it very well could have. It has a decent story that's as much about the tornados as it is about the people in the movie, and while there isn't really anything memorable, it's still entertaining enough to pass the time. I mean, tornados are fun right?

Best not to go into this movie expecting much, because as horrible as the trailer was, I'd say if you are interested in checking it out, go in with expectations off the trailer, so that way you can at least be pleasantly surprised that it wasn't all horrible.

It's impossible to go on social media and not see people heaping praise for Oz Perkins "Longlegs". People are already calling it a masterpiece and almost everyone who has watched it seems to think that it's the best horror movie in recent times. So of course this gets me excited to want to check it out, and now that I have, I don't really feel as strongly about it as everyone else. This is not to say that Longlegs isn't good, no. It's a really well made movie, which despite its slow burn approach to horror, is really compelling and keeps you at the edge of your seat. It does so many things well that the collective is as good a horror movie experience one could want from a visit to the cinemas.

For all my praise, the movie also has some pretty unignorable low points and cliches. Cliches like the jump-scares but also in narrative that kind of cheapen the impact of the movie. That's about all I'm going to disclose here, as the less you know about it prior to watching, the better. It's still a pretty good horror movie though, with the right type of atmosphere as designed by its amazing sound and production design and helped tremendously by a standout performance by actress Maika Monroe.

If you're a fan of the horror genre, you definitely would have to check this movie out in cinemas, but just be sure to keep you expectations realistic.

What if the moon landing was faked, but it wasn't? Greg Berlanti's "Fly Me to the Moon", starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum presents a movie where the White House tries to stage a fake moon landing scenario as backup, that is to be televised should the actual moon landing fail. It definitely sounds like a fun concept on paper, but rather than expanding on it through writing, the movie mostly hedges its bets on the star power of its leads to carry the movie. It's not a terrible bet though, as both Johansson and Tatum have really good chemistry, and make the movie tolerable simply through sheer screen presence, but it still lack the writing magic that could have propelled the movie further towards the moon. It's not a great watch, but still a decently passable one. Better wait for it until it's out on streaming though.

The first "Despicable Me" movie was great. The second was good. The third was poor, and this one doesn't need to exist. The whole movie is a series of events that lead nowhere, and contribute to nothing in the overall narrative. It has a villain whose name and face I've already forgotten, and a storyline that's as drawing board as it could get. It tries so any things, but tries with such minimal effort, that it feels like it exists only to cash in on the title. The villain backstory, the heist scenario, the safe house scenario, the Super Minions scenario, the honey badger scenario... They're all just one nothing burger after nothing burger and before you realize that the movie hasn't really gotten anywhere, it's over.

It's a movie that's not really worth your time, and while it's certainly not boring, it's not going to entertain you in any meaningful way either.

Taking over from John Krasinski who made the first two movies in the series work so brilliantly, Michael Sarnoski (fresh off his critically acclaimed "Pig") gives us a glimpse into the first few days of the alien invasion in "A Quiet Place: Day One". The only real risk in a movie like this is how necessary it really is to the series (given that it's a prequel and given that it's something nobody really asked for), and how necessary it is wholly depends on how well the movie turns out.

"A Quiet Place: Day One" doesn't really break any ground, nor does it seem to give any meaningful insight into the alien invasion that started the whole thing, but it still does so many things so well, that you're not going to be walking out of the cinemas disappointed. Starring the amazing Lupita Nyong'o as a pessimistic cancer patient looking for a way to relive the happiest moments of her childhood during an alien invasion, the movie comfortably blends a very personal touch of empathy and connection in a movie with so much going on in the background. The emotions of the movie are handled really well, and yes that includes fear and the survival aspect of the invasion (that which made the first two movies work really well).

It's still the weakest of the three movies, but it's also capable of holding its own. It has enough material to keep you watching, and does what it does well enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you enjoyed the first two movies, there's a good chance you might enjoy this too.

Before every single movie screening for the past 6 or so months, the theaters in Sri Lanka have been playing the trailer for Prasanna Vithanage's "Paradise". And as someone who has visited the cinemas more than 60 or so times this year, I've watched this trailer so many times that I can basically recite it line by line. And I have to be honest, the trailer never really gave me the impression that there was anything remarkable here worth checking out. But I could not watch a trailer 50+ times and then not watch the movie when it releases.

Well, now that it's out, what is my opinion of it? It's a movie that doesn't really say very much (at least not directly), but it has so much conflict going on underneath the lines of dialogue that the movie starts growing on you the more you think about it. I watched this movie last Saturday (29th June 2024), and have had 3 full days to think about it before I'm comfortable with how I feel about this movie. "Paradise" is about a lot of things; political, socio-economical and even spiritual, and is written with a lot of clarity without ever giving away more than it needs to.

Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran star as tourists from India who decide to vacation in Sri Lanka during the height of its 2022 political and economic crisis. They're here on a 'Ramayana' tour (the symbolic significance of which, is underpinned brilliantly throughout), celebrating their 5 year anniversary, and with their local guide, the softspoken Mr. Andrew (played with so much grace by actor Shyam Fernando), travel around parts of Sri Lanka that are said to be significant to the 'Ramayana' mythology. But when the couple are robbed at knifepoint on their very first night, things escalate to a point where it's no longer about the robbery, and more so about the self serving power dynamics of the various people involved.

"Paradise" is very intentional in the way it approaches things. Even if you might not like what's happening, you certainly would feel like there's more to this movie than what you're seeing. There's so much political, spiritual and critical messaging going on underneath, that 10 people watching the movie are bound to walk out with 10 different interpretations of it. It's impressive really, and impressive more so to me because I was not expecting it. The movie is strong in all fronts, especially from its acting caliber (namely actor Mahendra Perera, who plays Sgt. Bandara with such amazing subtlety), to the visual language of the movie, the recurring motifs and even the music. They all add up to create a movie that deserves to be talked about.

It might not be a movie for everyone, and I am quite hesitant to recommend it to all in general, but it's one of those movies that would give you what you want if you are the type of person who wants their movies to be more than just mindless entertainment. It has a lot of depth and substance to it, and if that's something that interests you, do go check it out!

Three bad horror movies in cinemas this month ("The Strangers Chapter 1" and "The Watchers" being the other two), and this just might be the worst of the lot. Russell Crowe stars in "The Exorcism" (which funnily has nothing to do with "The Pope's Exorcist" from earlier this year, also starring Russell Crowe), a movie about making a horror movie, where the meta storytelling is arguably more scarier than the movie itself.

Despite some decent performances by Crowe and Ryan Simpkins, the movie is hugely let down by a nonsensically stupid plot that's competing with itself to out-stupid every stupid horror movie trope in the least amount of time. It takes itself too seriously and tries to portray itself as more than the steamy turd that it is, through "deep" pondering dialogue, extreme close ups and unbearable long shots that last forever with nothing happening. It's pointless, inconsistent and it doesn't even seem to care. So maybe you shouldn't as well.

Have you seen any futuristic sci-fi/ fantasy movie ever? Well, then you have nothing new to see here, because there isn't a single minute worth of original thought anywhere in this 180-minute snooze fest of a movie.

Nag Ashwin's "Kalki 2898-AD" boasts a star-studded cast of Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani, Dulquer Salmaan and of course Kamal Hassan (who is in the movie for a total of 5 minutes or less), and yet does nothing with the resources it has at its disposal, opting for a lazy checklist movie with every sci-fi cliche one could think of. You'd be better off going to watch it with a bingo card with the most popular sci-fi cliches (think lightsabers and force fields), and maybe that would perhaps make the experience somewhat interesting.

The movie progresses at snails pace, even so to the point that using the word "progress" feels like a crime. It might as well be a crime, the extent to which this movie tries to convince us of how serious we should be taking it. It has a laughable concept of the "Mahabaratham" mythology married to a cheaper version of "Alita Battle Angel", unimpressive sci-fi mechanics, costume design that looks no different than present day rock bands, fight choreography that's dud and boorish, humor that's annoying, characters with no dimension to them beyond a single sentence personality trait and most importantly CGI that's just painfully basic and unimpressive.

Imagine having to sit through 180-minutes of nonsense only for them to reveal that it was in fact nonsense, because whatever you thought you might have wanted from this movie is actually going to be in the sequel. Yes, there's going to be a sequel and why not. They even shamefully go as far as to call it "The Kalki Cinematic Universe" and the lack of self awareness just might explain this movie away perfectly. In any case, my recommendation is that if you're going to watch it, at least be sure to pack your neck pillow.

Ignoring the nepotism and the blatant plagiarism (inheritance?) of her dad's signature approach to horror (funnily including his flaws), Ishana Night Shyamalan's "The Watchers" doesn't really stand out in any way to be a memorable debut. And as mean and discouraging as it might sound, it mostly boils down to a laughably silly storyline and a rather amateur and unpolished directorial effort.

The movie is about a woman who is trapped in a forest with three other strangers surrounding almost supernatural circumstances. The movie unfolds in a way that makes you realize pretty early on that whatever explanation is coming probably isn't going to be all that convincing, nor interesting for that matter, but you won't realize just how spontaneous and silly it all turns out to be. It's not the worst concept for a movie but it starts off with such a plain presentation of lackluster enthusiasm eventually turning into just pointless lore-building that's so out of place and silly that it fails to make an impact of any sort.

The Watchers has a concept that could have worked better under more experienced hands, but unfortunately it just doesn't serve as good enough a showcase for debutant Shyamalan's talents. It's a concept that needed a lot more fleshing out than to give into the first silly idea that came their way. In any case, it's not really worth your time so just ignore this movie like you were most likely to anyway.

The Strangers movies have never really had anything all that interesting or fresh to set it apart in the genre. The first movie was pointless, the second was almost the same but slightly different enough to justify calling itself a sequel, and this one is just the first movie remade beat for beat all over again, but with cheaper tropes and worse writing.

It's as pointless a movie as could be, and there's apparently going to be 2 more of these. There's nothing here to make your visit to the cinemas worth your time and money, maybe unless of course you're already fans of the series. And even then I would be surprised if you really had anything different here to make you enjoy it. Either way, for the casual moviegoer, just ignore this.

Despite the movie being as old as I am, I have never really watched Shankar's "Indian" in its entirety before today (during its 2024 re-release). Having seen clips every now and then on TV, I sort of assumed the movie to simply be about an old guy killing corrupt government officials. As shallow and stupid as a concept that might be, the actual movie is a million times stupider.

Shankar is a director who has ALWAYS had the social awareness and reasoning of a caveman. He has a very binary view of right and wrong, and any social issue he choses to address can easily be boiled down to "corruption should be eradicated by killing everyone". There isn't a single intellectual position to find in any of his movies beyond the insanely single minded brand of pop-patriotism and delusional masturbatory acts of social justice. It couldn't be any more apparent than in this Kamal Haasan starrer.

I knew going into this movie that it wasn't going to be any smarter for me to give it any credit, but I just didn't expect it to be this insufferable. Not just from a messaging perspective, but even from a movie perspective. The screenplay is a drag, the comedy is nothing to write home about, the songs (none of which I've heard before today) were surprisingly garbage, the action and fight choreography is an absolute joke and if there's anything redeeming about this movie, it's probably just the make-up work on the Senapathy character (which seems really well done for its time).

Overall, this movie just gives me all the more reason to dislike Shankar as a filmmaker and even more so as someone who thinks he somehow has anything of value to say regarding any social issue.

That's not to say this franchise has overstayed its welcome, no. But this movie feels like it has exhausted its last bit of entertainment without coming across as unnecessary. And that's a good thing.

Out of the four Bad Boys movies so far, this was probably the one I enjoyed the most. It maybe also has to do with the fact that this was the first Bad Boys movie I've watched in the big screen, naturally making the experience more exciting and memorable, but I also feel like the movie has a lot to make it likeable - be it the rather cliché but effective script, the callbacks, the action, the excitement and most of all, the amazing chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Overall, the movie is pretty fun and while not all jokes land, it's still decently funny and entertaining at the same time.

The rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy, in my opinion, is unfairly overlooked when discussing some of modern day's greatest sci-fi movies. It's such a well-made trilogy with amazing action, groundbreaking VFX, three compelling chronicles, and a hero's journey in three parts that's as powerful and emotional as one could want.

Following the end of the trilogy, and upon the announcement of a fourth installment, there was much doubt about its motivations-whether it was simply a cash grab off the back of a popular franchise or if it truly had a reason to be made. I was extremely skeptical about how well this newest Planet of the Apes movie would perform, given the big shoes it had to fill. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how thoughtfully made this newest movie was. It still wasn't as good as any of the movies from the trilogy, but it's a very promising start and it definitely makes me excited to see where the series would go from here!

There's nothing much to say about this movie except that it was fairly decent. There wasn't anything egregious about it, but there also wasn't anything that stood out. It's a pretty cute, pretty enjoyable light-hearted movie that doesn't offend in any big way. The only issue I had, which if not would have made the movie much better, was that you just couldn't really root for the main character. There's just so much to dislike, and while that's of course part of what the movie is really about, it also makes it difficult to want to see him succeed or change for the better. A little more redeeming qualities in the main character would have made the experience much more personal and empathetic. But it's still not too much of a deal breaker. The movie is good enough to help pass the time with some decent entertainment.

What convinced Sarath Kumar and Gautham Menon that this was ever a movie worth considering? I could call it amateur trash and leave it be, but I'm compelled to say more about a movie that wasted 2 hours of my time with sheer incompetence and stupidity. Poor in all aspects; technical and visual, the movie has ZERO redeeming qualities about it and it's just an embarrassment happening in real time. I have no idea who the lead actor is, or why he was chosen as the lead actor, but this guy's acting skills are as trash as the movie itself and it's just 125 minutes of pain and second hand embarrassment. Don't watch this, but if you do, be sure to do your part as a good citizen and bully the hell out of it.

I'm still baffled by how Soori was insufferable as a comedian and is yet somehow sincere and naturalistic as a lead actor. Only his second movie in the lead following Vetrimaran's underrated "Viduthalai" last year, Soori delivers an impressive showcase of range and character in this gripping tale of family, loyalty, greed and jealousy.

R. S. Durai Senthilkumar's "Garudan" might not be a very pretty entry in the list of good Tamil movies this year, but it's effective and rich in its complex study of familial relationships. Each character is very well crafted and the way in which they all interact with each other speaks volumes to the amount of care the writers had towards telling an effective story. Sure, there are times when it could be a tad predictable, but it's never too much to be distracting. There's as much action and as much layers underneath said action to make the movie as entertaining as it is emotional. Where this movie shines the most is where it draws the line, as it consistently skirts the line of excessiveness without ever crossing into it. It's aware of its own scope and does well enough to stick within it, making any slip up (which of course there are many of) forgivable.

It's not a movie I went into expecting anything, but walked out of it pretty satisfied with what I watched. It's very worth your time and I would happily recommend you check it out!

I've never watched any of Adhi's movies before, but always assumed him to be a bad actor. Well, with "PT Sir", I learned that I was in fact correct in my assessment, but I didn't expect the extent to which I was. This guy is not just bad in that he can't act, no, he's bad in that he tries to, thinking of himself as a better actor than he really is, and the delusion in that is just sad and painful to watch.

Now on to the movie itself... it was trash. The movie in its essence tries to raise awareness about a very real and legitimate social issue, but seeing them go about it in the most directionless, unthoughtful lip-service, rage bait kinda way makes it all the more insufferable. It's bad when watching and worse in hindsight. It starts off as one thing, and then just deviates into something else entirely, making whatever it was originally about as pointless as the rest. And as if that wasn't insulting enough, they just had to end the movie with one of the most brain dead facepalm climaxes you could come up with. It was infuriating, more so because it was done with a boisterous tone of moral superiority that just screams condescension.

Maybe watering down a social issue to be as basic and as rage baiting as possible to reach a wider audience might not be the worst idea, but it only works when you know that this is watered down for reach and not the actual issue itself... something you don't get from this movie. There was very little to enjoy and even little to learn from. Skip this.

Casting Chris Pratt as Mario was a move that got pretty much everyone scratching their heads, but seeing how well that movie worked out (commercially at least), people seemed to not care as much when he was cast as Garfield. Well, turns out that his casting is as mistaken and uninspired as the movie itself, as there just isn't anything to be entertained by here. It's a movie with a lot of cheese (excuse the pun), lazy humor, uninteresting characters and a plot that is just nonsensical. It's so bland and lackluster that I doubt if even kids would find it entertaining in any capacity. It's not a horrible movie by any standards - the animations are clean and there's at least something happening on screen, but it's just not enough to justify a full length movie. There's very little here to appreciate and I'd rather you not waste your time checking this movie out.