X-Men: Days of Future Past

In 6 editions of the franchise, X Men has generated $2.31 billion at the box office.  That is billion with a “buh” as Alan Harper (2.5 men) would put it.  Now the sad part is that despite this massive level of success, it is still not in the top 10 franchises of all time.  Embarassingly below the Twilight series.  With Days of Future Past, they should easily surge ahead of the silly tweenage romance.

Arthur Christmas

A few more pointers to those who take decisions on movies to be released in India. Christmas movies should be released on the weekend preceding Christmas. To my knowledge, Christmas is celebrated on the 25th December every year all across the world. So why would a movie that is so clearly about Christmas that it has “Christmas” staring at your face be released 4 weeks after is clearly beyond my limited intelligence.


Secondly, a good movie is a good movie is a good movie. So why delay the release. I am quite certain that we have enough of an English speaking population and a critical audience that looks forward to Holloywood movies more than Europe. So why this differentiation of product? Most consumer product companies have learnt this the hard way. So why should entertainment not learn from them and launch simultaneously across the world – for crying out loud, Tintin released in India before it did in the rest of the world didn’t it????

So why would I take up this rant continuously? Because Arthur Christmas is a wonderful animation movie – a genre of movies that hasn’t seen any major delays to date. Arthur Christmas has just displaced Puss in Boots in my list of Academy award nominations from FY 2012. The list now has – Kung Fu Panda 2, Cars 2, Rango, The Adventures of Tintin – Secret of the Unicorn & Arthur Christmas. The Academy, however begs to differ and has ignored Cars 2 & Tintin. It has included Puss in Boots and a couple of other movies that I haven’t heard of yet.

Arthur (James McAvoy) doesn’t take offence to being ignored anyways because he is used to it. Most of the people in the North Pole do. The million elves that help Santa Claus (Jim Broadbent) deliver Christmas presents through his new & improved S1 suprasonic amphibian craft which is undetectable by radar controlled by his first born – Steve (Hugh Lauri) included – ignore Arthur coz he is more cause for trouble than help. But when the mission misses one girl, Arthur, accompanied with Grand Santa (Bill Nighy) and Brunly (Ashley Jensen) decide that she needs to get her gift wrapped cycle – with 3 tapes only – no later than sunrise on Christmas Day.

Let the adventure begin I say. And be prepared for some moist eyes in this directorial debut for the duo Sarah Smith and Barry Cook. Kids will love it. Adults will equally. Considering that there were 2 adults who completely enjoyed every minute of this novel concept for a Christmas movie and the attention to detail it had. Wait till the end credits which is great as well. 7 on 10 for certain. Watch it!!!

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2677710361/

X Men First Class

This one is actually a slight dampner of sorts. Although the effects make up for a lot that it seems to have been missed in other departments and the fact that the number of X Men fans across the world aren’t going to reduce with probably the first effort that has been just over average would put the owners of the franchise at some ease. The mutants are here to stay just as they sign off by saying – MUTANT AND PROUD. You can expect many more stories going forward from this “different” bunch. In fact, X Men First Class has set it up beautifully for several sequels in the coming years. Rest assured, the impact from the previous 4 have left enough of an impact on fans and non fans alike to keep coming back to the movie halls. It will take quite a disaster to make any dent on the fan following.

The producers, however, have to really take a long hard look at the past 3 directors and they would probably find an answer there. Brett Ratner (X3), Gavin Hood (Wolverine) and Matthew Vaughn (XMFC) just don’t measure up to the magic that was created by Bryan Singer in X1 and X2. Ratner, Hood and Vaughn seem to rely much more on the effects and really don’t focus as much on building a story that is irresistible. Although XMFC does try to build up the background on the entire concept, I felt they tried to do just that little too much and lost out on the story somewhere in between. I wouldn’t be wrong if I were to say that the term First Class actually came to life – The movie seemed more like a class room session. Something like Course - XMen Class – 101 – I hope u got what I meant to say. It would be clear when u do watch the movie.

My intent till now has not been to blast XMFC at all and I must apologise if it was perceived as a whipping. The movie is definitely worth a watch and you will not get bored. The classic fan though may land up being a tad disappointed. But his passion will drive him to give the movie a score that is more than what it deserves. I would give it a 6 on 10. Maybe a bit harsh. But I am also pegging it against the previous editions and I find that this one was just about par for the course. And if the characters were not fleshed out as well as they were – especially Xavier, Magneto and Raven – I would have given it 5. But for these aspects, there is nothing much other than effects. Acting is just about there to create some aura around the characters. The casting is apt but then this is as much as what McAvoy and company can get upto in terms of acting in a super hero movie. It’s a big screen watch for certain – you cant watch XMFC on the small screen and miss out on the effects.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi168926489/

Gnomeo & Juliet

I am an amateur critic and would probably not understand the finer nuances of animation. But in my not so expert opinion, I think Disney has given us a lovely movie yet again. This time with director Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2; Spirit : Stallion of the Cimaron) they give us an adaptation of a The Bard’s classic and make no bones about it when they start the movie by saying “The story you are about to see has been told – A LOT”. It is definitely just another Romeo and Juliet movie but it is told a bit differently and Disney has ensured that it doesn’t turn out to be insulting to a classic like Rob Letterman did to Gullivers Travels. In fact it is an extremely entertaining animation movie for both adults and kids alike. And rest assured, the kids will totally love it.

In Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare’s birth place) stay an elderly gentleman by the name of Mr. Capulet (Richard Wilson) and an equally elderly lady called Ms. Montague (Julie Walters). They are forever at loggerheads with each other. But this enmity is not restricted to just them. Even their ceramic garden gnomes come to life when there are no humans around and take the fight way too seriously for their own good. In the Blue corner is a team of gnomes led by Lady Blueberry (Maggie Smith) and her son Gnomeo (James McAvoy) along with their trusted ally Benny (Matt Lucas). In the Red corner is Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine), Tybalt (Jason Statham), Fawn (Ozzy Osbourne) and the extremely cute martial arts expert, Juliet (Emily Blunt). Their fights range from ruining the opponents garden to their favourite “national” pastime – Lawn mower racing. The not so obvious twist in the tale is when Gnomeo meets Juliet and it is love at first sight. Of course they take a few minutes to figure out what they are getting into but as Juliet’s frog nanny – Nanette (Ashley Jensen) puts it – the relationship is DOOMED from day one. And things only get worse when Tybalt decides to raid the Blue Lawns and destroy a flower that Gnomeo’s late father had lovingly planted and the Blue Army had tended to all these years.

A slew of corny one lines and references to Shakespearean classics do not prevent this movie from being great fun to watch. Stuff like Juliet being stuck to her pedestal with the “Taming of the Glue” or the fact that the warring elderly couple stay on Verona Drive or Nanette telling Gnomeo’s pet mushroom “You look like a fun gi”. And it is garnished with Elton John songs from the past 3 decades. The voice overs are excellent. The distinctly identifiable ones are those of Michael Caine, Ozzy Osbourne and surprise surprise Hulk Hogan as the Terrafirminator – the mean lawn mower that sets you back by a 1000 pounds of hard earned money only to cause the complete destruction of the back yards. The resulting product spread over just under 85 mins is a lovely way to spend a weekend afternoon. And it would not matter if you don’t see it in 3D coz the effects are quite bland. A very entertaining flick but on second thoughts, may not make it to the Oscars this year. Guess there were many other animation movies that were better off. I give this a 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi854264089/

Atonement

I had to finish Valentines Day with a movie that epitomizes true love. There are enough and more romantic comedies that were aired all through the day; some really good ones also. But what about the truest of love stores? The ones that are gut wrenchingly, excruciatingly painful but represent the concept of a long lasting love better than any other? I reviewed The English Patient yesterday and it was a sub conscious choice without giving much thought to the fact that it was actually a great build up to V Day. But picking up Atonement from my collection was not only a choice driven by the fact that I hadn’t seen it (the previous copy I had picked up was a DVD released by Big Videos and didn’t have subtitles and so was promptly returned) but also because I was looking at a love story and not a RomCom to finish off the day. I had my share of RomComs before Atonement with Hitch and Hope Springs. So a Golden Globe Winner and one with 7 Oscar nominations (one win) seemed to be a great choice.


What would be the emotions you could possibly go through if you are about 13 years old (a very peculiar and impressionable age) and you walked into the library of your massive house and found your sister having sex with the man that she loves who is coincidentally the one that you have a massive crush on. 13 year old - Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan – pronounced SEER sha); Sister – Cecilia Tallis (Kiera Knightley); Lover – Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). The embarrassed couple straightens their clothes and walk away.

The Tallises have their cousins from the north staying with them due some domestic problems – The Twins – Pierrot Quincey (Felix von Simson) and Jackson Quincey (Charlie von Simson) along with their elder sister Lola (Juno Temple). The twins don’t want to stay with their cousins and decide to run away that evening. Obviously the family panics and a search party is sent out. During the search, Briony stumbles upon someone molesting Lola and is shocked even further. Neither Lola nor Briony is sure about who the person was. But using this as an opportunity to get back @ Robbie, the naïve 13 year old gets him arrested as a prime witness. The fledgling romance between Robbie and Cecilia is smashed to smithereens. Robbie goes to prison and then to the war. Cecilia, leaves home and becomes a nurse. They keep their relationship alive through the years despite the frequency of meetings and the distances.

Atonement as the title suggests is a story of a girl’s search for retribution as she comes of age and understands the gravity of her actions. And how she tries to set things right. Yet another adapted screenplay, this one is based on Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name. I haven’t read the book but can only assume that it did deal with the aspect of Briony’s struggle to come to terms with her actions a bit more in detail. As aspect that was not given as much justice in the movie. The movie focused more on the love story between the protagonists who have done a very good job of bringing to fore the emotions that the lovers go through in sustaining their relationship through the years that build up to the war. Somehow, Joe Wright doesn’t seem to have done justice to the entire concept. Maybe it was in an attempt to keep the movie to under 2 hours. I would have risked extending it by about 30 minutes because the pace is quite solid and doesn’t really drop through the movie. The first thing that does hit you about the movie is the music which seems to be made with a typewriter and one which got the movie its only Oscar. Great cinematography. Some obvious slips on attention to detail – like Kiera Knightley’s luscious red lips in a nurse’s uniform. But Beautiful love story overall. Put this on your must watch list. 7 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3836805401/