AnirudhGod Reviews

Gaami (2024)

Visually striking, but narratively bland.

[4/10 · 11 March 2024]

The movie has good intentions. It starts out to be a story about Shankar, an agora (played by a dozing Vishwa k Sen), going on a journey, seeking a cure for his condition which prevents him from experiencing human touch. He starts to get visions of a boy stuck in a depraved research facility that experiments with mind control through lobotomy; a woman, devadasi, being sexually exploited for money by some crooked temple chief; and a little girl who winds up to be the daughter of the devadasi. Those three storylines converge in a weird and bonkers twist.

One of the fatal flaws of this film is the headache-inducing pacing, and the bland, uninteresting characters. See, I love films as art, but films pretending to be art is not what I like. The pacing is all over the place, and the music blaring in every scene. It didn't sit well. But the cardinal sin is, I couldn't even care a least bit about the characters' journeys, because I couldn't even relate to them. I don't know them. I don't know where they come from, where they want to go, what they feel about things in their past. Things just happen and it all unfolds randomly. It's as if the writers ticked all the story beats, but failed to inject character life that defines them. It's plain bad writing.

It could've been forgiven if Shankar had a least bit of character arc. Nothing, he has nothing. Oh, wait, he has. His journey is to realize a lame twist of his life. Otherwise, he's just a blank slate who moves forward with the plot, when some random doctor chick (played competently by Chandni) joins this journey randomly, out for some research purpose, which turns out to be for her 3 year old daughter, and I couldn't understand. Vague as hell. Together, they go on a death-defying journey without any safety. No gloves in the snow, zero basic hiking equipment and safety, and random death defying falls which should kill you in an instant. And after the nonsensical hike, they reach some mushroom mountain. And then after some random scenes, Shankar gets a big revelation. His memory. That the parallel running storylines of a boy in research facility, and the daughter of the devadasi, are all connected to him. In what way, I won't tell you. See the kalakand om for yourself. One of the lamest twists I have in a while is this one. A twist with no substance, excitement, nor any credible thematic relevance.

There were glimpses of something interesting. Like the red herring of Shankar being the father of the little girl of the Devadasi. The possibility of him being the husband of that devadasi was really interesting. That was a potential character backstory I could've latched on to, but no. It's disposed of, all for a lame twist.

It's as if Donald Kaufman worked on a draft of this and called it day. All these Donald Kaufman twists in these wannabe cerebral movies are driving me crazy. I don't want to see another gimmick anymore. Just give me a visceral story, with a good backstory, motives and conflict.

And that's it. Technically, it's all right. The production design was top-notch, and the camerawork was really good. I could feel the frames illuminating with vibrancy, especially for an Indian film. But, I mean, compared to the norm of world-cinema, this is just another husk. The score was competent but overbearing throughout. There were no real moments where I could actually register what I was listening to, because it just felt like some regular epic-movie soundtrack you listen to on YouTube. Other than the teaser horn hook, the soundtrack felt like a blur. It's because the movie felt like a blur. Just like the titular Shankar not remembering his past, I don't think I'll remember this movie. Probably, only if a lame twist hits me on the mind after some mushrooms, and I remember this movie. After that, I'll probably die out of hyphae-boredom-phobia instead.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

A moderately entertaining fare with nothing much to say

[5/10 · 7 October 2022]

Shallow, dumb and annoying characters take away any credible emotional investment the film could gain. It's suspenseful, sure, but if you're expecting anything beyond a mere mystery built around chance, than you're going to be disappointed. There's no genuine pay-off to the proceedings with any credible connect or thematic relevance, but instead, it is treated as a joke. But, if you're in for something mindless and moderately suspenseful stuff, then you're in for a forgettably entertaining ride. Add to that you've got dumb people dancing and jumping around to ultimately die. Recipe for a good B-movie for friends' night.

Ante Sundharaniki (2022)

Has Plenty Rewards, but Really Tests Patience

[6/10 · 21 July 2022]

Ante Sundaraniki is a new-age rom-com which tells the story of Sundaram, who keeps lying his way to marriage with a Christian girl. The resulting drama is about how he comes across various obstacles, and so on to get the girl is the crux of the story.

I'll list the negatives first, so the positives stand out.

First, it takes around 1 HOUR TO ESTABLISH OUR PROTAGONIST AND HIS LOVE INTEREST!!! And that too, it just bobs around back and forth, with some ambiguous dialogue and action which tries to build intrigue of Sundar's story, between the present, the past, and another past; all confusing us with the timelines for an insubstantial story. It bloody introduces the dramatic premise and situation at around 1hr 10 mins into the movie, and I was literally zoning out by that time. The tighter edit of the first 1hr could have made the movie more enjoyable.

The second, is the bloody BACKGROUND SCORE!!! It seems to blare every second without a break, and it really frustrated me. Couldn't even hear half the dialogues because of it. Vivek Athreya doesn't know when to let the moments be quiet and let them breathe, and when the music should be let free. It just keeps blaring every second, and that desensitised me to any meaningful emotion.

Thirdly, it was the constant cuts (combined with the unmemorable music of Vivek Sagar), and the implication of chaos that just disoriented me, especially during the first hour. It just felt too chaotic for a romantic comedy. As if a drugged out Michael Bay directed an Indian rom-com.

Lastly, I could feel jack sh-t for the romance between Nani and Nazriya. Zero freaking chemistry at all. They just lie on each other's shoulders and go. That's it.

I get it, Athreya, you're trying to be complex. We all want to be. But someone should've knocked you on the head, and told you to be to the point, and take it slow. But you misinterpreted the opposite, and made us suffer through the chore.

But to take the positives out, the cinematography by Niketh Bommi is pretty good. Visually immersive and saturated, the world of Sundaran drew me in, if not, for sometime. Even though it weirdly looks like advertisement cinematography - high contast and saturated.

The second half picks up well, with interesting obstacles, and pretty good humour. Watch out for that sexologist scene with Rahul.

The actors did their part pretty well, excluding the child actors. Kid Sundaram danced well though.

And yeah, that's it. There wasn't anything that really stood out in this film, except some forgettable jokes. Really wanted to switch off the film 45 mins through, but struggled to keep going. And yeah, there are some rewards, but nothing worth to spare you valuable time to sit through. Can probably watch it for the signature Nani acting, some humor and the striking cinematography.

The Seed (II) (2021)

Lost Many A Braincell

[4/10 · 15 March 2022]

The Seed is an abysmal downer of a movie, with a plot that's so vapid, and characters who're utterly despicable. It's repetitive, boring, and substantially dull to the core. It doesn't even act as dumb fun. It's not fun, because it's unnervingly stretched out to the point that I had to skip forward through several scenes. The conversations between the girls have no point, the girls are highly dumb, and the mystery itself is a ticket to snooze-world. The alien has a face which could probably be the most laughable thing I've ever seen. And that's the only funny part of this. The moment I stopped taking that creature seriously, impatience steeped in, and add on top of that the shallow characters who're annoying as hell. So, I didn't care.

Now, I don't have all bad things to say. It's technically competent. The acting by the three leads was good, it's pretty gory, and there's a particular sequence, with girls and alien, more than halfway into the film which was pretty cool, and trippy. I give it 4 stars; 1 for the acting, 1 for the gore, and 2 for the mind trip sequence.

I'd probably have forgiven this, and would've maybe given 2 more stars, if our leading ladies' boobies got more screentime.

Sehari (2022)

Mildly Entertaining Fare

[5/10 · 26 February 2022]

Sehari tells the story of Varun, who tries to navigate through relationships and a central plot-point of marriage. A story of first-world problems, the film is insubstantial to a huge degree. The characters goof around, and nothing much of consequence really happens. Predictable to a huge degree.

The directing and editing is not upto the mark, but the writing and performances of Harsh and Abhinav keep you interested in the proceedings. So, yeah. Some good jokes, here and there, and some cool music should be able to mildly keep occupied for the night.

Looks That Kill (2020)

Bland and Unfunny

[4/10 · 10 February 2022]

Protagonist wants girlfriend, gets girlfriend, loses girlfriend. Cheesy and bland as heck. I didn't laugh at even one joke in here. Although it aims for an emotionally resonant story, the writer doesn't seem to have enough maturity and respect to actually develop these characters into something more than just mere caricatures. The chemistry between Max and Alex is felt, but their relationship feels kinda cliche. Dan was an absurd pointless existence of a friend, and the rest of the characters feel mostly out of place. There's just not much of a story here to tell, and that can be felt with its stretched-out scenes. Max's story is something that I feel was unworthy to tell, which was dull and insubstantial. The cinematography is cool, I guess, and the ending one take scene of changing locations seemed innovative. Other than that, I didn't feel anything profound from this movie. It's just a chill, but forgettable watch on a cozy evening.

Minnal Murali (2021)

Pretty entertaining, but Overlong and Kinda Insubstantial

[7/10 · 25 December 2021]

Minnal Murali by Basil Joseph is a solidly crafted movie about the burden of superpowers and its implications in the lives of a small town in Kerala. It tells the story of Jaison, who gets struck by a lightning bolt, and gets superpowers, turning him into a force to reckon with in the village. He beats up corrupt cops, deals with personal problems and saves the village from another super-powered villain. Yes, another man, Shibu, gets struck by lightning too. And his character is the most fascinating, and well plotted one of the whole lot. His backstory is pretty tragic and heartbreaking.

The action scenes are passable with moderate CGI and interesting sequences of superpowered action. My only complaints are that there's not much of a driving theme here which makes the story worth telling. Is it about love, is it about the village, or is it about what it means to be a superhero? If it's about Jaison's arc to realise that he needs to superhero, despite having a backstory, he doesn't feel like an interesting character, 'cuz he doesn't have much of an arc. Or at least, I couldn't feel it. He wants to get out of the town, but I couldn't really get into to his zone as to why he chooses to stay back. We're given nothing; he does this and he does that, with not much emotional reason to care about it all. His character wasn't tested, wasn't put through the difficulty of choice; he just becomes Minnal Murali by the voiceover of his father. Can't say the same thing about the villain though. Shibu's character was emotionally moving, and well-etched enough to make me truly care for him, and his descent into madness. I truly loved him, and you should check out the film for that at least. And yeah, it was a thoroughly entertaining superhero film, which you can watch during a cosy evening with your family and friends.

Churuli (2021)

Beautiful, Insubstantial Mumbo-Jumbo

[5/10 · 25 November 2021]

Churuli is probably the most raw and beautiful looking films I've seen from the Malayalam industry. Each and every frame is littered with such green, that you just can't help but be gravitated towards it. The cold, isolating forest, the intriguing characters, the toddy shop, and the overall landscape that our two protagonists must navigate in order to catch a criminal, is really good to look at. All in HINDSIGHT. After suffering through torturous amount of inconsequential action that just goes on and on. It's all good to look at, but there's nothing really to gain from it. I love Malayalam movies, alright. They're probably the only industry, coupled with the Bengali, that's actively trying to make substantial art in a cesspool of garbage that my Tollywood makes. When I came across this new LJP's film, that too advertised as being a sci-fi/fantasy, a rare occurrence in Indian cinema, it got my gears up. But, god, wasn't it such a disappointment. I watched it with my mom, and she was annoyed and angry by the end. Who the hell would want someone to feel like this? If you're going to stretch the narrative to its tipping point, with moments stretching far beyond what's necessary, and ending it on a near-incomprehensible note, without giving any substance to what we just sat through, it's only an embarrassing testament to the investment of ourselves.

It just feels like a copout by the filmmaker by not giving any scientific explanation to the events happening in the village. At least, some clue. Usually, the pretentious artsy directors think it's cool to leave audience on the edge to let them figure out what the story is about. I don't think LPJ is a pretentious filmmaker (even with that self-indulgent placement of his name over the film's title), but he may have pushed the envelope a little too far to really seem like one. The critics while watching this, must've felt themselves to the ambiguous, Kubrick-ian ending, and felt like this is the greatest film ever. At least, Kubrick had the substance and theme necessary to back up his visuals. What LJP just does is beat around a beautiful bush with his lazily written characters, in a premise far disconnected from any rational, or scientific thought. If this is a fantasy film, with the parable being about the corruptibility of a never-ending pursuit, then why put clocks, coils, aliens and all to signify some deeper meaning to the characters or the reality that they're experiencing? It all seems phony. Oh wait, maybe I answered my own question. Okay, maybe, I have to let myself give it the benefit of the doubt and watch it again. But why should I care to generate the drive at all, to suffer again through the torture of absolute monotony, with characters and the reality holding no real substantial value, and reach an ending that's vague and incomplete. All I can say, is that it's not the intellectually stimulating science-fiction I thought it would be, nor is it a profoundly moving fantasy film about revelation and guilt it could've been.

Most Eligible Bachelor (2021)

Eternal Torture

[4/10 · 20 November 2021]

The movie stretched to an infinity. Unbearable overacting by Pooja Hegde, cringeworthy dialogues, nonsensical storyline, and terrible direction, all make it a kind of torture to sit through. And that bloody, blaring background music in every freaking scene was so irritating. The only thing bearable was the performance of Akhil, the usual disposable jabardast comedy, the cinematography, and the music. A forgettable piece of mess. Ayyagaaru probably needs a relaunch again. At this point, I kinda do feel sad for him.

Witches of Blackwood (2020)

Had Great Potential

[3/10 · 3 November 2021]

I came across the trailer, and it had me intrigued that a relatively unknown film had such good camerawork and production quality. So, I thought of checking it out. And boy, was I so dumbfounded.

We follow our protagonist Claire, in her own isolated reality, trying to find her way out of the mistakes of her past or whatever. When she's informed of her father's death, she travels to Blackwood to sort out his stuff and other biddings too. And what she discovers there and within herself is the crux of the story.

First off, the characters come off pretty bland. They just seem like sims in a video game. And the actors act like that too, excepting some. I just couldn't buy in to the actor who played Claire, even though it seemed she kinda gave it her all. I won't speak much more about the acting, because the story itself is terribly weak.

Coming to the story, it's just bland to the point of boredom. Occasional intrigue here and there, but you wouldn't miss a thing if you skipped forward. The town of Blackwood seems so dull, rather than spooky. People's faces are dull, the imagery looks dull, and the scenes are stitched together out of randomness, than with a flow. Claire looks at a body in one scene, and in the next she's is burning her own mother. There's no emotional build up or anything. It just happens. Kate Whitbread seems to have an eye for good visuals, but fails to make them emotionally resonant for the audiences to care about what's going on. Also, I don't know who's idea it was to apply the jittery slow-mo effect on the flashback sequences, I think he needs to be kicked 60fps times for it. Made the movie look infinitely cheap. Should've shot it on 60fps, rather than slowmo-ing the eff out of 24fps.

And that's it, I guess. Really don't have much to talk about an uninspiring film with no tangible themes or a beating heart. I'm think about it again, and I still can't decipher what this film is ultimately about. Maybe trauma or something, but whatever, I couldn't feel anything because it was all dull.

The Juniper Tree (1990)

A Hauntingly Beautiful, but Ultimately, Insubstantial Film

[6/10 · 2 September 2021]

Heavily experimental, with borderline confusing dialogue and narrative, the movie stands out for its exquisite imagery. The music is so calming, and the overall mood was pretty isolatingly chipper. One could say the movie tells a story about abandonment and selfishness in a trauma inducing reality, while I interpreted it as some quasi-spiritual drama about the place of women, and hope and reincarnation in times of pathlessness. The film feels pretty insubstantial for the most part and a lot of the runtime feels like it's stretched out to the max, with decorative and repetitive imagery and no meaningful moments of revelation that move you-except that one moment of death halfway through the film, that's just as it is. Even though the movie was a pretty feel good one with solid imagery and music, all of it felt like a huge excercise in ambiguous storytelling, with little substance that deserves your investment and that which has little rewards-except that soothing music during the end credits.

Overall, I liked it, but I doubt people looking for any real substance will find any here.

We Are the Flesh (2016)

Hauntingly Beautiful, but Infuriatingly Incomprehensible

[5/10 · 11 August 2021]

How can I like and not this film at all. I just don't really know what to say about this. Siblings feed into the depravity of humanity, by some insane man for food. That's the supposed story that can be deduced to. I felt emotionally disconnected to the proceedings after the movie veers off into an incoherent narrative. The insane man, Mariano, had something interesting to him, but, suddenly, we are plunged into supernatural incoherence. Lots of sex and symbolism kinda makes this film look pretentious. I wouldn't even want to say 'pretentious', because the film is pretty solid in its imagery and cinematography. But it's pretty much lacking in emotional resonance. Well, the symbolism could be that of insanity through pleasure, and how one would eat themselves and others while delving into insanity. One thing is that, I was not emotionally moved by the story. It was pretty confusing, and pretty insubstantial to warrant the need for another viewing to fully comprehend the narrative. Only, if there was one.

Sarpatta Parambarai (2021)

Rousing Sports Drama!

[8/10 · 29 July 2021]

Pa. Ranjith is a filmmaker that just keeps making film after film, and they keep improving in quality. This is no different. This film has tremendous level of conflict, and the hero is the underdog who rises up to the top. And the journey is very moving. Albeit overlong, the film manages to tell an interesting tale of a man doing his best to honour his clan, his family, and more importantly, himself. The sequences of boxing are pretty exciting, and the music pretty gentle. I really liked it.

Caveat (2020)

Solid Atmospherics and Creepiness, but Underwhelming Story

[7/10 · 27 July 2021]

The movie is pretty solid for 45 minutes or so. Extremely creepy premise, ominous characters with hidden problems, the overall run-down atmosphere, and genuinely bone-chilling moments make this a stand-out from the usual big-budget, chaotic horror that we are accustomed to. The eeriness of Olga's catatonic stupor, the creepy painting and the rabbit, and the horrifying imagery of her dead mother in the basement are things that might not get out of my head for sometime. It's some technically accomplished stuff. Really well done.

And these are the only good things about it. The rest of the movie is illogical nonsense that undoes everything, or anything, that might be essential to the narrative, and goes downhill. The characters act stupid. The protagonist is a bland, one-note character with no real sense of purpose or determination to get on. One moment he's just going about his own thing to survive, and in the other he starts to act like a man looking for his adult diapers. Olga is another blank-slate, where she's just crazy. There's no sense of drama between Olga and Isaac, as they just want to escape each other. Several highly interesting elements were ignored, the painting and the rabbit, in favor of extended sequences of illogical nonsense of Isaac during the 2nd act. Wasted opportunity to not integrate them into the narrative.

Overall, a fine movie to spend the night.

The Power (II) (2021)

Highly Atmospheric, But Narratively Underwhelming

[6/10 · 26 July 2021]

A deeply atmospheric piece that succeeds when trying to portray the isolating reality of the hospitals, and when there is a high sense of mystery surrounding the supernatural occurrences that correlate to the trauma of the protag. The movie really works when it's following the perspective of our protagonist, Valerie, as she navigates through the dark and dingy hospital premises and her perspective is always of the fear and tension; in turn, making the audience feel that too. It is creepy, suspenseful and ultimately heartbreaking. *MILD SPOILERS* The problem here would be the lack of any real scares, and the terrible reveal of the abuse perpetrator. These two dilute the overall impact the story could've had. The movie fails during the 3rd act, with the revelation and conclusion being of the utmost silliness, and an established character being the literal, cliché bad guy. The movie seems to be misandristic in nature and that is something that I did not appreciate at all. It tries to tell a harrowing story about the trauma imposed by men in authority, and that our female protagonists try to take it for once and for all. The climax is that, and it all seemed pretty laughable to me, even though there were ideas that could've worked here. More emphasis on the drama between her past and maintaining that sense of utter creepiness of the isolating hospital would've worked wonders on the film. Also, the fact it tries to set up various interesting sequences of a perverted ghost trying to do bad things with Valerie, never pays off into it, and that stuff merely exists as mild distractions for the final reveal of an abused little girl wanting to take revenge on the perpetrators. And our Valerie, while fighting the bad guy, calls for the spirit of the little girl as if she's freakin' Iron Man calling for her suit. After she gets the spirit suit, our protag, spirit, and another little girl (who basically drives the narrative forward) scream at the bad guy until he fries into a statue; and, boy, wasn't that hilarious stuff. So bad.

And there we go, the conflict seems pretty inexistent, in hindsight, until the terrible 3rd act, and the set-ups solely exist as red-herrings for the revelation. Anyway, fantastic acting by the heroine.

The Scary House (2020)

A Decent Distraction for a Night

[6/10 · 16 July 2021]

An interesting distraction that has has a decent premise, and interesting moments of visual imagery and characters. The imagery here is pretty evocative of the Dark series, and is strangely atmospheric. The characters, especially our protags, pretty much lack any interesting qualities that made me feel invested in their personal journey. It was interesting when our elder brother, Hendrik, is facing a conflict of getting out of the country-side and go back to the city. But it all goes nowhere. He becomes a blankslate by the end, and his journey doesn't matter. Of course, he finds love pretty easily, so, that makes him feel better. It's all jumbled and not that well developed, so the movie has not much of an impact going for it. Anyway, it's pretty much a one time watch, and you can quickly forget it after you turn it off.

Satan's Slave (1976)

Unnecessarily Brutal and Highly Nonsensical

[3/10 · 15 July 2021]

A headache to sit through, Satan's Slave is a bland and forgetful experience that's better read on paper than the product on film. It's very brutal, even though the effects are noticable, and there's very less eroticism other than knives stabbing and women dying, all the while their breasts hang out. It's all very sadomasochistic. The movie lacks a coherent story with credible characters. The characters are all bland and uninteresting, and the movie ends abruptly. So, the movie is a disposable piece of mess.

How I Became a Super Hero (2020)

Had High Hopes, But Pretty Disappointed

[5/10 · 10 July 2021]

It's an underwhelming film about superpowers and its effects when exploited, which starts out pretty cool but becomes very dull halfway through with no real sense of conflict or urgency. The protagonists pretty much chill around without them know the impending conflict or threat, or the lives at stake due to the antagonist. They keep investigating stuff, which is pretty much dull and lacks any sense of tension or grounded-ness. The characters come and go, especially the drug users, acting like fillers for the next scene. The takedown of the school kid lighting up his school is pretty nonsensical, as he surrenders without hesitation or putting up any fight for our heroes. If he doesn't even want to kill people, then what's he trying to do? Threatening the bullies? No answer is given at all. He disappears completely the next scene onwards.

Our protagonist, Gabriel Moreau is a blank-slate of a character without much depth to keep me invested in his character. His backstory has a 'trauma' which, throughout the sequence, made me yawn. The villain has an interesting backstory, but his current motivations made no sense. He seeks justice or something by extracting superhero serum? Nonsense. The superserum source girl, Lily, is a disposable character with no deserving emotional investment other than that she's a teenager. Other supporting characters add no real weight to the narrative and theme, and just exist to be plot vehicles.

One that that really stood out for me is the relationship between the two investigating partners. First, it develops as a careless association, turning into an interesting friendship, only to be ruined by a climax kiss scene that left me really frustrated. I thought he'd give her a hug or something, but no, they literally go at it. And it left me very angry. Because the movie hinted it to go in a sweet partner-in-crime sorta thing, but made it a romance thing.

Comparisons to Project Power, I think this is an inferior piece, even though this is based off of an original novel far back when PP was conceived. Overall, it's mostly a one-time watch, which you can forget it the moment you turn it off.

The Tomorrow War (2021)

Mindless Fun

[5/10 · 7 July 2021]

A high octane action-creature feature, which doesn't take out the foot off its pedal. Pew, pew, pew. Shoot and kill. Do not expect a sensible story. Just tune in to watch the chaotic VFX and some gunshots.

Jiang Ziya (2020)

DESERVES 7 STARS, AT LEAST, FOR THE AWE-INSPIRING ANIMATION

[8/10 · 29 June 2021]

I really liked the tale of Jiang Ziya, who seeks to clear his name of illusions and rescue someone from the clutches of a demon. It's an interesting watch, as it showcases the nobility and kindness of the gods, who only want to protect people. For the first 50 minutes or so, our protagonists are on a quest, and nothing really of significance really happens. But once our protags reach Mount Youdu, the action kicks off spectacularly and the conflict escalates too. With the Nine-Tailed Fox coming to action to pose significant threat to Jiang Ziya. And from there, there's no stopping. The movie is contemplative, emotional, and action-packed, with not much room for comedy. Except the scenes with Four-alike. They're fun, and also the one scene with it will make you bawl your eyes out. I really liked the arc of Jiang Ziya defying the gods for not being able to save an innocent's life, and the totality of that narrative was interesting. And Nine-Tailed Fox's backstory was also sad. I totally dug the film. Loved it. The only flaw that I would point out that, the world of Jiang Ziya is too complex and sprawling that the pace of the film doesn't really give a break to process the world-building. Which resulted in the movie's mythos not really making coherent sense. I understand the context of the Chinese culture, but a little more accessibility would've given the movie a wider audience who could've truly appreciated the wonderful visuals and heartwarming story.

New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021)

Visually Thrilling, but Narratively Underwhelming

[6/10 · 26 June 2021]

A real surprise from the Chinese animation industry, where the story is clear cut and to the point with loads of fantastical world-buulding that's pretty fun. But the story is pretty weak in terms of its conflict. Each and every menacing and imposing conflict pushed upon our hero, Li Yunxian, is treated with such disposability and ease for our hero that he crosses all of them with no real sense of struggle. That made the film less thrilling for me, even though it was spectacular to watch, at times. I just wish they spent some more time on the animation, and the script to give us some thrilling action/drama.

Security (I) (2021)

Incomprehensibly Dull and Boring

[3/10 · 24 June 2021]

I can't remember what I even saw. It was such a dull movie with no narrative/thematic depth, or any sort of high octane thrilling drama. It felt pretty lifeless and dull. The scenes are bland, and the over conflict is trivial and stake-less. The movie could've have been good, if it had a true sense of purpose with its characters, rather than them being dragged on by others for a pretentious ride. Our protagonist, Roberto, is literally the embodiment of that, where he slogs and drives around purposelessly without defined and urgent pursuit. Throughout the movie, he seems like he needs a good night's sleep before he can start to do his thing to solve the case, as he walks around with no real urgency to get to the bottom of the case. Also, what weakens the movie is the lack of an intimidating conflict and villain, who spices the narrative up. There's a clear lack of stakes, and any meaningful drama to warrant any sort of emotional investment that's worthwhile. You could play the movie in the background and you wouldn't even miss a thing. A strong sense of purpose/goal, and a stronger sense of conflict and stakes would've enabled the movie much more.

Lupin III: The First (2019)

ENJOYABLE FAMILY FUN

[7/10 · 22 June 2021]

A breezy watch that doesn't bore you, but also offers nothing in terms of character development or any meaningful insight into the human condition. Lupin is a character that's capable of solving and tackling every situation, which results in the movie not having much tension or conflict within the character. He's admirable to watch, but difficult to sink into. That's how the movie is too. It is predictable, but none the less, exciting at times. The plot becomes predictable because we notice Lupin ready to solve the impending doom. Characters expect a lot from Lupin, which makes the movie a li'l bit illogical. The animation is gorgeous to look at, but the characters' dubbing is sometimes minutely off and a certain sense of uncanny valley-ness is noticeable in the way they speak. This is strictly a kids' film, as they will enjoy and marvel at the glory of Lupin's quirky and charming persona. I liked it. And also, killer soundtrack, man.

Stray (I) (2018)

MADE FOR YOUR MIND TO STRAY

[4/10 · 22 June 2021]

I expected nothing when I turned on this movie, except a decent story. And it didn't even have that. Man, this was a chore to sit through. I couldn't even get in to the character of Jack (the male protagonist) to empathize with his pain. If I'm not feeling what a character is feeling, then the story has failed its duty. Even though the actor was solid in expressing inner turmoil, I just couldn't get in to Jack's shoes to understand where he is coming from, and what's he regretting or is traumatised about. It pretty much felt superficial to me. Only, if there was more of a reason to care for Jack, other than him being an aimless mumbo-dumbo without much depth to his character, I'd have rated the film much higher.

The female protagonist, Grace, is also a blank slate of a character who, coupled with Jack, has nothing much to do until way into an hour or so. The sexual tension between Grace and Jack, when they first meet, is released so quick, random and abrupt, that I started laughing my butt off. The only redeeming things from this would be the excellent camerawork, solid sound design, and a bravura central performance by Keiran Charnock. Other than that, this film only adds to the countless forgotten films of our world that only tell pretentious and surface level stories, with long and extended shots where nothing happens visually, narratively or thematically.

Ardha Shathabdham (2021)

Watching This Might Give You a Shathabdham of Headache

[3/10 · 20 June 2021]

A mind-numbingly headache inducing film that has no substantial value, nor a cohesive plot. As soon as the central conflict that's introduced way into an hour into the film, the story becomes literally incomprehensible. Random characters are thrown in for dramatic impact, without leaving any impact. It's a very shallow and nonsensical story. The characters, especially the side characters, don't react in a logical manner, and behave indifferently to the action around them. It's not even mildly distracting to pass the time, but plain headache inducing stuff that makes you want to switch the film off. A talented cast of actors are wasted on an inexistent screenplay, and given "enter and exit" roles. Baa, I can't even try to recollect the experience. It's that bad.