Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Sakhavu (2017)
Entertains, Could Have Been Much Better
The movie is an entertainer. And that also is partially the problem of this movie. The introductory scenes briefly show various history of the Communist party and also that in Kerala so we are almost led to believe this movie would be a tribute to the ideology the party stands for. But the main character Sakhavu Krishnan who is a communist leader occasionally indulges in fights to teach those who err a lesson, and we wonder if that is what the party really stood for. I felt those cinematic fights mocked whatever serious history the movie showed about the party in the early scenes.
Nivin Pauly gives an excellent double performance as the Sakhavu Krishnan of the 70's and also the present day Krishna Kumar but as Sakhavu, he was especially commendable with both the physical appearance and the mannerisms. Aishwarya Rajesh gives very good support as a sincere party worker Janaki who also later becomes the Sakhavu's wife. Actors like Sreenivasan and Aparna Gopinath make good guest appearances. Nishanth Sagar was wonderful in a brief villain role, his performance has truly evolved over the years.
Most of the best scenes in the movie are the flashback scenes that involve the Sakhavu. The 70's or the 60's look(be it the costumes or how the people lived) shown in the movie are done quite realistically and another impressive factor is the music score too. The cons like I mentioned earlier are the fight scenes in the story which rob some of the shine from this movie, they weren't necessary. And I felt a final confrontation scene between two characters could have also been finished better.
Anyway, it's a watchable entertainer with family and friends and miles better than The Great Father.
The Great Father (2017)
Disappoints, not Recommended to Watch with Kids
When I read the brief story of The Great Father on IMDb, "A malevolent policeman has a run-in with a man who owns a construction company, and who is trying hard to be a hero for his daughter", I had huge expectation but turned out to be a major disappointment when I saw the movie. To the daughter Sara, her father David is a hero, guardian angel etc etc..which she actually shares with her entire school at the end of the movie but the things that this father does from the start to the end prompts you to title him as The Violent Father! He smokes, uses choicest of words, points out gun in front of bunch of school kids, beats people whom he considers bad black & blue, seriously injures a person with a crude bomb and then we have the end where he kills a character brutally. Some of the scenes were unintentionally laughable like the moments where few dead kids were shown blurred on cam. I wondered why they were blurred because these characters were not nude. They had almost no blood anywhere on their body except for a clown mask on face. So why were they blurred?! lol A kid also carries a gun to school but the gun's shown blurred yet we have Mammootty who points out gun in front of the same school kids and his gun's not blurred! If these edits were instructed by the censor board, it didn't make any sense. Also, initially there are some scenes that involve kids that's kinda cute & funny which made me wrongly assume they can watch this movie. How wrong I was! Due to all the violence depicted in the movie and also that the story is about the manhunt for a psychotic pedophile who rapes & kills kids, this movie is definitely a NO for kids to watch.
Mammotty does a fine job as expected but frankly the only scenes I liked of his were some ramp walks he does in front of his daughter in different outfits and how he stylishly sports his shades & jacket. Sneha as Mammootty's wife has a role that was quite wasted. Arya makes a commendable presence as an undercover cop but felt his character could have been treated better especially towards the end. Anikha Surendran as the young Sara is good. The only performance I liked in the movie besides Arya's is by Balaji Sarma as a dumb assistant cop to Arya. He gives a much needed comic relief in the movie.
Therefore, this movie is a big disappointment due to the cons I mentioned above with regard to the story and therefore not recommended although some of the performances are good and there's good suspense. A thumbs down.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Entertains like Most of the Early Jason Movies
Almost all the Jason movies I've seen have left me entertained, and the Final Friday is no exception. It has all the Jason style murders that you look forward too but not overly graphic too except for one or two scenes that show Jason's attempt to exit from bodies that he inhabited, uggh! There's good suspense, twists and the end is an unexpected surprise. But the performances are mostly forgettable except for John LeMay as Steven who tries to save his wife & kid from Jason or Steven Williams as the bounty hunter Duke. There's some nudity too but again, not quite in the face either. If you've been a fan of Jason movies, you'd like this one no matter if some of the scenes seem outright ridiculous.
Take Off (2017)
Excellent Movie, A Must See
I was in for a surprise. I found the trailer good but the movie just blew my mind. From the initial scenes of character nurse Sameera's pain as she struggles between motherhood, a divorce, night shifts and also the tension to get a job in Iraq to the later scenes where she witnesses horribly injured patients at an Iraqi hospital and then the nightmare of ISIS terrorists who hold her & her colleagues hostage are shown brilliantly. Parvathy is near flawless as Sameera and hope she gets another state award for her performance. Kunchacko Boban as her husband and Fahadh Fasil as an Indian Embassy officer are the other major characters in the movie and they both deliver very well. This movie may draw comparisons with the Bollywood movie Airlift released last year due to similar theme of Indians caught in a war zone in Middle East. I'd say both are very good in their own way although each has some flaws too. What I'd remember Take Off for is Parvathy's performance and also many of the tense scenes that involve the terrorists. They get seared into your brain long after the movie is over. But as this movie is only inspired by true events, some of the liberties taken with the story fail to convince in few scenes. Also, the reaction of Fahadh's character to the news that his decision saved some of the Indians from an explosion on a road is quite cinematic, it almost mocks the deaths of the other nationalities caught in that tragedy. But these are somewhat minor flaws in an otherwise masterfully made movie of hope and the will to endure any crisis. I think it's a must see.
Alamaara (2017)
Loads of Fun, A Good Entertainment
I think Alamaara is an underrated movie that deserves much more attention than it gets. There's loads and loads of humor, a quite clean entertainment and also there's a nice message too. It has a story that has some resemblance to that in Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol where a couple faces issues after marriage although I agree the plot in the latter is much more than that but at least Alamaara does not stumble on that thin line between decency and vulgarity! Sunny Wayne as expected gives a subtle performance and as his love, Aditi Ravi(in her first movie as a lead) is very good. Rest of the cast are commendable too notably Renji Panicker and Seema Nair as Sunny's parents, Aju Varghese, Saiju Kurup, Manikandan(excellent) and Sudhi Koppa as his loyal but crazy friends and Sonu Jacob as his younger sister. Indrans makes a hilarious appearance as a villain here. What I didn't like about the story is how some shady people seem to get away with what they did to Sunny's character and his friends in Bengaluru which felt odd in a movie that is otherwise funny and ends on a positive note.
It is still a very watchable movie. Thumbs up!
Syngenor (1990)
Silly Mutant Horror Movie that Entertains
The new soldiers that's made by this sinister organisation for America are mutants so they don't feel fear but they're as dumb as they're ugly! As per the plot, they are the next best thing but in many scenes, they don't act like universal soldiers that would crush the enemies mercilessly, more like painfully slow zombies that fall in an instant from your water gun! Still it's this silliness that entertained for me, and as expected, there's bits of nudity too. The performances are above average too. Starr Andreeff and Mitchell Laurance in the lead roles are good but I would say the best performance was from David Gale as the whacko, homicidal boss.
Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol (2017)
A Huge Disappointment
Frankly, the only reason why I go to a Mohanlal movie is because my mum is a fan. She tries to catch up with any of his releases and the whole family tags along. When's the last time I saw a really good Lal movie? Maybe it's Pulimurugan. Although I liked his performance in it, I was disappointed with some of the vulgar dialogues in that movie. And that's what concerns me about any of Lal's releases. Many directors who cast him show him to be flirtatious(either in body language or dialogues) to the point that can leave the viewers uncomfortable or there could be some character in many of his movie who indulges in vulgar lines. There are exceptions like directors Priyadarshan or Sathyan Anthikad but most of the rest who cast Lal like to show him as a womaniser in a way to just titillate the male audience. With disappointment, I must say there's too much of it in this movie also, Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol.
Somewhere in the movie is a nice message for teens and their parents but weak execution turns this work into finally an average watch. The first half has few unnecessary scenes where characters even talk silly about the institution of marriage, the second half is not much better too and again Lal's character here is partially a womaniser and portrayed in such a manner on screen that can leave the female audience slightly annoyed or uncomfortable. And even the message to the teens is not driven home clearly. There's lots of flirty talk and scenes between a couple in the movie, then comes the message to their teenage kid not to indulge in such behavior until she is an adult, and followed again by flirty scenes between the couple!
There's one or two nice songs but finally, I felt so disappointed to see Mohanlal's characterisation here that I forget the positives(some comedy, good performances from the entire cast) in the movie easily.
But, finally I'd say go ahead if you're a hardcore Mohanlal fan or else you're not gonna miss much.
Jomonte Suvisheshangal (2017)
Feel Good, Family Movie that Could Have Been Better
What I like about Sathyan Anthikad directed movies is that you're guaranteed clean entertainment. Jomonte Suvisheshangal is another feel good, family movie from his stable but I miss the touch he'd during the 1990s. Maybe his writers has changed over the years, I'm not sure what has happened but his movies these days miss the charm and spontaneity of his older works from the 90's era. Also, this movie seem quite inspired by last year's release Jacobinte Swargarajyam which has a similar theme.
Ultimately I think what saves this movie from being an average flick is the humor especially from actors like Innocent. The performances from the cast are good. Dulquer Salmaan as the lead does very well(dance, comedy, emotions) but this man is capable of much more. He's ably supported by Mukesh as his father. Aishwarya Rajesh as the leading lady is very good. Anupama Parameshwaran makes a nice impact in a shorter role as Dulquer's love in the initial scenes. Jacob Gregory as Dulquer's business partner provides good comic relief like Innocent in the movie.
The songs are also pleasant to hear.
The final scene has a big influence on your overall opinion of the movie and in this movie, it fell short of my expectation. It ends on a positive note but it felt ordinary and predictable.
To sum up, I can say this movie is somewhere between excellence and mediocre. Although I frankly expected more from a Sathyan Anthikad direction, it has many touching & funny moments and like I said earlier, if what you seek is clean family entertainment, go for it.
Dangal (2016)
Entertains and Inspires, An Epic Movie for all Ages
Wow - if I could sum up Dangal in one word, and that wow goes especially to the choreography of the wrestling matches between the character Geetha and her opponents and also on the visual capture of these matches. In terms of sports action in Bollywood, I loved Chakde India but Dangal simply outshined it in that aspect. Maybe I can say that the sports action in Dangal is as good as those from Hollywood, at least in terms of sheer suspense and thrill factor. Dangal is even like a beginner's lesson on what wrestling is for viewers :D and that's because there are scenes in the movie that explains(via Aamir's character to his kids) in an uncomplicated, interesting manner on how the points work or explains the various attack or defense moves.
Besides the excellent sports choreography(the Commonwealth Games semifinals match is my favorite) and the cinematography, the performances and also the direction deserve a big applause. Aamir gives an aptly controlled performance as the centrestage actually belongs to the character of Geetha. If he'd not taken a backseat whenever required to let the other actors shine in some key scenes, this movie would have stumbled. Fatima Sana Sheikh as the older Geetha gets the role of a lifetime. She must have trained very hard to do justice to such a physically demanding role and her emotions are spot on too but if I were to choose just one performance in the movie that's my favorite, I would say Zaira Wasim as the younger Geetha. What a natural child actor! And of course, the support cast is wonderful like Sanya Malhotra as the older Babita(sis of Geetha), Suhani Bhatnagar as the young Babita and Ritwik Sahore(young Omkar, the Phogat sisters' cousin). The child actors, I must mention again, Zaira Wasim, Ritwik Sahore and Suhani Bhatnagar deserve lots of appreciation for their acting.
Of course, as it is a movie, the makers take liberties to exaggerate a few moments or scenes or even bring shades of grey to few characters which is all OK but at what point does one limit it? Geetha's national coach in the movie is shown to have shades of grey, exaggerated grey actually, so much so that PR Sondhi(who was the national coach of Geetha & Babita in real life) remarked that his reputation has been hurt by what's shown in the movie and they should have not taken such liberties with the character at his expense. I agree. Otherwise I'd have rated this movie a 9 or even a 10(it's still epic) but I downgrade it to 8 as a symbolic protest to how some of the characterisation was done.
Verdict: It is "bollywood-ish" but still entertains, thrills and inspires in equal measure. Bring your family to the theatre too, and also it runs with English subtitle for a wider audience. As soon as the DVD is out, I intend to buy and watch it again. A must see despite any flaws.