Bad Company (2002)

Genre: Action/Crime/Adventure

Starring: Chris Rock, Anthony Hopkins, Peter Stormare, Kerry Washington

An attempt by the CIA to buy back a nuclear warhead in the black market goes bad and they end up losing a valuable operative, Agent Kevin Pope (Rock) to the hands of rival buyers. In order to complete the mission, Pope was needed as the Russian seller, Vas (Stormare) would not sell to anyone else. The CIA discover that Pope had an estranged twin brother where both did not know of the others existence. Enter Jake Hayes (Rock) a New Jersey resident who makes money doing random tasks just like any other person of his kind. The CIA recruit him and have 9 days to train him to look, talk and walk exactly like his twin in order to convince Vas that Pope never died. Agent Oakes (Hopkins) is in charge of the entire mission and must make sure that Hayes is well trained and does not mess the deal which could potentially cost thousands of American lives. Chris Rock's performance is not fabulous but does the job to make the movie interesting and entertaining. Watching him transform from typical street to typical CIA is fun and very much Chris Rock. The movie is like just any other spy movie whdre an American law enforcement agency is chasing after terrorists and bombs but Rock's appearance lighten things up greatly and makes this movie a wholesome entertainment. 

Thumbs up: Chris Rock and his humour

Thumbs down: Run of the mill storyline

Rating: 6.8/10

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

Genre: Fantasy/Science-fiction/Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Alexander, James Dodd, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Jeffrey Tambor

In continuation to the previous Hellboy but at the same time adapting a different storyline, the second movie narrates the story of the Golden Army. King Balor is the ruler of the elves who clashed with the humans and fought long and bloody battles with no result. One of the elves builds him a Golden Army, an army of machines that are indestructible and can win any war. With this power he squashed the humans, but the bloodshed gave him a change of heart and he broke the crown that controls the army into three pieces. He made piece with the humans and gave them a piece of the crown and kept two to himself. Only if the three pieces would come together would the Golden Army once again rise. Balor's son, Prince Nuada (Goss) was against his fathers doings and has decided to return from exile and awaken the Golden Army and take the Earth as his. Hellboy (Perlman) is still fighting crime and other paranormal beings with his colleagues Abe Sapien (Jones) a psychic human-fish, Liz Sherman (Blair) his lover who can control fire and Johann Krauss (Alexander & Dodd, MacFarlene (voice)) an ectoplasmic creature and the team leader. They must come together and fight Nuada and not allow him to awaken the army as it will squash the Earth and bring doom to all. The movie is an improvement from the previous version on many fronts by making it more lively and entertaining. The romance between Liz and Hellboy and Abe and Princess Nuala (Walton) might seem to alter the stories speed and continuity but it adds character and makes it feel more wholesome. A sure watch for some good action, a huge helping of beasts and demons and the fair bit of drama.

Thumbs up: Good overall package

Thumbs down: Romance kills the flow

Rating: 6.8/10

Hugo (2011)

Genre: Drama/Biography/Mystery/Adventure

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Emily Mortimer

A legendary film maker appraises another legend from a different era. Hugo Cabret (Butterfield) is an orphan whose father was a clock maker and a highly intelligent man. His father found a decaying automaton, a unique robot that has the unheard ability to write. After his fathers death, Hugo started running the clocks at the Paris train station without anyone knowing it and simultaneously worked towards fixing his the machine. He regularly stole parts from a toy store on the station which was run by George Melies (Kingsley). Hugo gets caught in the act and George discovers a notebook in his pocket which has Hugo's fathers machine drawings along with the automatons blue print. George confiscates the book without giving any reason, much to the disappointment of Hugo. Hugo befriends George's grand daughter, Isabelle (Moretz) who come together to solve the mystery behind the automaton, George and Hugo's father. The movie is a brilliant work of art that can keep you stumped, awed and entertained for a very long time. It takes you back in time to the very first movie's of human-kind to show the magic and bizarreness that it carried with it during that time.The climax and the mystery steadily builds up to take shape which eventually unleashes to the audience's satisfaction. The only downside of the movie is its speed. Its slow to start and gets a tad disappointing around the half-way mark but the eventual mystery is still gripping enough to keep you enticed right till the very end. An outstanding work of art that is true to the reputation of Martin Scorsese and a must-watch for all.

Thumbs up: Brilliant story, very enticing

Thumbs down: Slow at times

Rating: 8.9/10

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action/Drama

Starring: Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Liam Neeson (voice)

Based on the famous childrens' book by C.S. Lewis, the book series become popular with the advent of Harry Potter and the revolution of magical stories for children. A string of books written on similar foundations sprung up, with Narnia being one of them. Four siblings, Lucy (Henley), Edmund (Keynes), Susan (Popplewell) and Peter (Moseley) are transported to the land of Narnia when Lucy discovers a hidden wardrobe in the spare room which leads to the gates of the magical land. The lands are ruled by the evil White Witch (Swinton) who has harboured demons and beasts and wishes to quash freedom in the land and bring only gloom and misery upon all. There lives a prophecy that four humans would come to the land and liberate them from the grips of the evil Witch and free Narnia once and for all. The army of the free people is led by the lion, Aslan (Neeson) who has mustered an army and wants Peter, prophesied to be the next king, to lead the army to victory. The plot is very fundamental and predictable and can only appeal to the mentality of an 8-year-old. The story is patchy with many unexplained bits and lacks the finesse that Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings managed to have. The four central characters are defined as distinct personalities with similar reactions to each situation. Peter; the wise and daring leader, Susan; logical, mindful and practical, Lucy; loving and caring and Edmund; stubborn and childish. The characters tend to behave exactly as they are drafted which makes there every move rather predictable and after a while, annoying. Hugely avoidable unless your aged less than 10.

Thumbs up: *Yawn*

Thumbs down: Weak special effects, patchy story, poor acting

Rating: 5.4/10

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 (2009)

Genre: Documentary/Musical/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Nicko McBrain, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith

Band tours are very typical in the manner in which they are executed and so are the concert movies that are made thereafter. Tour locations, clippings of performances, behind the scenes footage and interviews with various persons is the norm. Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back In Time World Tour in 2008 was special, not because of the locations or the style but because of the manner in which they were going to execute it. Bands usually have to pay huge travel bills on world tours for carrying the huge necessary cargo along with the long line of essential crew members that need to be present. Iron Maiden decided to innovate and combine the two by modifying a Boeing 757 which could carry both the crew and the cargo on one airline with lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson piloting the plane.The band toured 4 continents, 12 countries and 21 cities which took 45 days and thousands of miles to cover. The band covered remote cities that other mainstream bands can never even think of. From large metros like Los Angeles, Tokyo and Mumbai to Bogota, San Jose and Moneterry, the band covered a wide array of locations unheard of and unimaginable. They toured almost every South American country in its first leg and later went to tour USA, Western Canada, Europe, parts of Asia and once again toured the countries of South America that they previously left behind. This documentary focuses on the first leg of the tour, before they began the USA tour. The movie starts off on an interesting note, highlighting their attempts at fulfilling this landmark achievement. As the movie progress, it becomes hugely repetitive with similar footage in every city, showing crazy fans and head banging maniacs with excerpts from band members. Its a great watch for maiden-heads and rock fans, whilst others can still attempt at watching it and realise the marvels of the rock and roll circuit. Irons up!

Thumbs up: Fantastic footage, adrenaline rushing performances

Thumbs down: Repetitive format that gets to you after a while

Rating: 7.1/10

The Avengers (3D) (2012)

Genre: Fantasy/Science-fiction/Action/Adventure

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Samuel L. Jackson

Marvel, finally having run out of ingenious ideas to create more bizarre super heroes, has decided to mhx all the ingredients into one huge pot and just boil, stir, simmer and serve. The amalgamation includes Thor (Hemsworth) from Thor, Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) from Iron Man, Dr. Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) from Hulk and Steve Rogers (Evans) from  Captain America. The movie is in continuation to Thor with Loki (Hiddleston) seeking revenge from his brother which he intends to do so by destroying Earth and obtaining Tesseract, an unknown self-sufficient energy source with powers unlimited. With Tesseract gone missing, Dr. Banner is recruited by the Black Widow (Johansson) a smooth-talker, to help develop a way to locate it. Captain America has recently been woken up after being frozen for almost half a century and Tony Stark is just simply summoned to make his presence felt. Thor drops from the sky in search of his brother and hence they together form The Avengers, a team of heroes out to save the planet for sure death and destruction. The plot has absolutely nothing attached to it except for the usual good over evil tale with predictable climaxes and outcomes. Many of the more popular characters of Marvel were left out of this series, perhaps due to storyline or marketing purposes. The movie does expect its audiences to have seen the respective movies of all the characters at least once just so that they are in sync with their background and history. Even if you haven't, you wont miss out on too much but its helpful simply to understand the more finer details of every character. All in all, the movie is pure entertainment and does not intend to do anything else apart from that.

Thumbs up: Special effects, action and entertainment

Thumbs down: Bland plot, not as exciting as it sounds

Rating: 6.8/10

True Grit (2010)

Genre: Western/Drama/Action/Adventure

Starring: Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin

The second movie adaptation based on a novel, the movie charts the adventure of Matie Ross (Steinfeld) who is out to avenge the death of her father by the notorious criminal Tom Chaney (Brolin). Tom double-crossed her father when he had hired him for an assignment and fled with his gold after killing him. Matie, a young and determined 14-year-old has more sense and guts than an adult twice her age and decides to hire the best gunslinger her money can buy and get him to track and arrest Chaney for his crime, somebody who has true grit. U.S. Marshall Rooster Cockburn (Bridges) agrees to offer but not after Matie had to pester and nag him once too many times. Matie insisted on coming along with him for the journey much to his despise. En route, they meet Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Damon) who is also hunting for Tom Chaney for another crime. Not being familiar with the land of Arkansas, he approaches Cockburn for a partnership where they both capture Chaney and share the rewards. Nominated for 10 Oscar awards, the movie is not for everyone and demands a whole lot of patience and understanding. Its slow to start and slow to progress and that is where you tend to lose interest. Its only towards the very end that the movie gets some meaning and momentum and where you start appreciating the movie completely. Fabulous performances especially by the young Hailee Steinfeld.

Thumbs up: Great performances

Thumbs down: Slow plot but matures well

Rating: 7.4/10

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Genre: Action/Drama/Animation/Adventure/Fantasy


Starring (voice): Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Gary Oldman, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Michelle Yeoh, James Hong

Ever wondered how did a Goose manage to raise a big, fat, furry Panda? Well your questions are now answered. The movie continues from part 1 where Po (Black) the panda, becomes the dragon warrior and fights to save China with the rest of his 5 team members. Lord Shen (Oldman) once a part of the dynasty that ruled China, was sent to exile by his parents for his evil ways. The court Soothsayer (Yeoh) prophesied that a panda would bring an end to him and his evil ways and Shen decides to kill each and every panda possible in China. After 30 years, Shen returns and wishes to gain control over his ancestral house and dead parents' kingdom. He wishes to use his new invention to bring the world under his feet and bring an end to Kung-Fu once and for all. Po needs to fulfill his destiny and bring an end to Shen and discover the truth about his past and who he really is. The movie is a huge improvement over the earlier movie with drastic improvements in plot and humor with dazzling animation and special effects. The only let down were the dialogues which could have had punchier in some places but fizzled due to the preference given to humor. Po's background, the main mystery of the movie, is not really a major mystery and comes across as very obvious and a let down to the climax. All in all, the movie is very entertaining and action-packed with a huge improvement over the previous movie.

Thumbs up: Good humour, nice animation and action

Thumbs down: Punch lines, Po's life story

Rating: 7.7/10

Armageddon (1998)

Genre: Science-fiction/Adventure/Action/Drama

Starring: Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Will Patton, Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Peter Stormare, Ken Hudson Campbell, Jessica Steen

World catastrophe movies are not new but somehow Armageddon stands out from the crowd. Harry (Willis) is a business tycoon who has made a fortune from drilling oil. His hands-on approach and close involvement in his rigs has given him the title of being the world’s most experienced and accomplished driller. He and his team have drilled on every possible location and situation that Earth could throw up to him and this time he faces a new situation, something even beyond Earth. A huge asteroid, the size of Texas, is heading towards Earth which would most likely result in the extinction of all life forms on Earth. NASA has a limited time frame and tries all possible options to put Earth out of harms way and the only solution appears to be to land a team of astronauts on the asteroid, drill a hole 800 feet deep and plant a nuclear bomb within it. Who else than the accomplished Harry Stamper to do the job? The movie seems very far-fetched in most ways. Firstly, the whole concept of landing on an Asteroid and drilling through it is too outlandish for anyone’s likings. The action is very typically Michael Bay with random and incoherent explosions which are over-dramatised. The only commendable aspect of the entire movie is the method in which the audience tends to fuse with the characters and share the emotions and bonds of love and death. The drama adds tremendous value to the movie and without it, the movie would probably be a complete washout.

Thumbs up: Great mix of action and emotion

Thumbs down: Too outlandish and bizarre

Rating: 7.3/10 

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama/Comedy/Spoof/Adventure

Starring: Mike Myers, Seth Green, Beyonce Knowles, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Mindy Sterling, Verne Troyer, Michael Caine

The James Bond with obscenely high testosterone levels is back once more to make the ladies shiver with excitement and save the world. Austin Powers (Myers) has learnt that his father has been kidnapped and is stuck back in time in the '70s. He must go and save him from the clutches of Goldmember (Myers) an obnoxious Dutch who loves Gold and loves eating his dead skin. He encounters an old acquaintance Foxy Cleopatra who is working undercover as a part of Goldmembers team. Austin meets Dr. Evil (Myers) who too has travelled back in time to take Goldmember to the future and help him destroy the world. Austin along with Foxy must prevent Dr. Evil and Goldmember from accomplishing their evil deed and save the world from ultimate doom. The movie series were famously known to spoof various spy movies, especially the James Bond movies which provide the basis for all jokes and story. Myers exceeds expectations but increasing his role from 3 to 4 by executing the character of Goldmember apart from Austin Powers, Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard. Its an insane laugh riot which might seem very similar in humour to its previous movies but is still a very fun movie to watch.

Thumbs up: Mike Myers

Thumbs down: Overdone humour in the series, lacks freshness

Rating: 6.9/10

Scary Movie 4 (2006)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Spoof/Adventure

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Craig Bierko, Bill Pullman, Anthony Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Conchita Campbell, Beau Mirchoff, Kevin Hart

The Scary Movie series of movies can be attributed with the revolution of spoof movies where the plot never really mattered and all that accounted for was the ridiculous humour derived out of current events, TV shows and mostly movies. The fourth installment of the series decides to take on The Village, The Grudge and War of the Worlds. Cindy Campbell (Farris) has taken up a job as nursing an old-aged woman and finds that her house is haunted by a Japanese child who predicts the destruction of Earth and tells Cindy that only she can stop the alien invasion. Tom Ryan (Bierko) is a divorcee who has to take care of his children Rachel (Campbell) and Robbie (Mirchoff). Tom and Cindy are new neighbours and fall in love with each other just as catastrophe strikes Earth with an deadly alien invasion. Cindy along with Brenda (Hall) and Tom must use the Japanese kids advice and stop Earth from ultimate doom. The movie has derived its core plot from a non-horror movie and hence failed to live up to the brand name to an extent. The jokes are only moderately funny and the full extent of the humour can only be absorbed if one is familiar with the movies/personalities that are being spoofed on. You can watch it but you wont miss out on anything if you chose not to.

Thumbs up: Its not easy to make good movie spoofs

Thumbs down: Not very funny

Rating: 5.6/10

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladamir Mashkov

The second and third movie of this series was criticised by me for not being impossible enough as the series had initially set out to be. The fourth movie of the series attempts to bring back the character of the first movie and by heavily including a lot of impossible moments in it. Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), a discreet wing of the CIA, has to break into the Kremlin and retrieve information on Cobalt (Nyqvist) a leader of a terrorist organisation who intends to get hold of Russian nuclear missile codes and launch them against the United States of America. The Kremlin infiltration goes wrong with a bomb planted by Cobalt going off. The Russian government learns of IMF presence within the Kremlin and declares war on USA. Agent Hunt and his team members, Agent Dunn (Pegg) Agent Carter (Patton) and Analyst Brandt (Renner) must retrieve the codes from Cobalt before he could use them and bring catastrophic damage to the world. The movie is an improvement over what the audience is being served in the previous two attempts and is a far more enjoyable watch. However, the plot line is too basic and predictable and lacks the twists and complications of the previous movie. Hence, although the movie has taken giant leaps of improvement, it fell back on other vital aspects. A great action movie nonetheless.

Thumbs up: Improved from previous movies, addition of more 'impossible' tasks

Thumbs down: Story is too simple and predictable

Rating: 7.3/10

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Genre: Crime/Action/Adventure/Thriller/Mystery

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry

'Steps on how to tarnish a brilliant piece of English literature'. Step 1, find Guy Ritchie. Step 2, give him the book. Step 3, ask him to make a movie on it. The earlier movie was widely criticised for being too far-fetched from the original Sherlock Holmes created by Arthur Conan Doyle. The sequel still suffers from the same drawback, making Holmes appear to be a James Bond of the 19th century. Detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) is investigating a series of murders and terrorist attacks to which he has found a single common link, the widely acclaimed Prof. James Moriarty (Harris). Moriarty is trying to take control of various weapons manufacturing factories and all possible war supplies. In order to fuel the demand for his products, he intends to start a world war. Dr. Watson (Law) Sherlock's close aide has taken time off to get married and enjoy a honeymoon but is rudely interrupted by Holmes and is forced back to work and prevent Moriarty from achieving his objective. The clear improvements in the movie is the aspect of mystery which was largely missing from the earlier movie. The saddest part of the movie is its overtly stretched plot. Had the movie been below a 2-hour runtime, it might have been far more enjoyable and less of a drag. Holmes appears to be an action hero and the entire plot is not derived from any of the books but conjured from thin air. The world loved the novel due to the personality of the character and the story portrayed within it, however, the movie has altered both and hence leaving no real trace of Sherlock except the name. The movie is not for those who loved the book but for those who would drool over mindless action and murder mysteries.

Thumbs up: Twists in the tale

Thumbs down: Not Sherlock in the slightest of ways

Rating: 6.7/10

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monoghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q

Your mission, Agent Hunt (Cruise) is to find and retrieve the Rabbit's Foot, however, we would be unable to provide you with the exact details on what the Rabbit's Foot is and might not directly reveal it to you even at the very end. A notorious criminal Owen Davian (Hoffman) would be selling the Rabbit's Foot to a middle-east buyer and the IMF has no clue on what it is and what it is capable of. Hunt's image has been tarnished after his execution of a mission was not appreciated and his loyalty to the agency became questionable. Hunt decided to take matters in his own hands by apprehending Davian and attempting to retrieve the Rabbit's Foot. The movie series was founded on the idea of a spy performing missions that are otherwise impossible. The first movie stressed on the mission being impossible, showcasing the CIA headquarters break-in. The second movie lacked some aspects of impossibility but yet held on to the core belief. The third movie is completely devoid of any kind of unachievable mission, so much so, the only impossible break-in to steal the Rabbit's Foot was never shown, leaving viewers high and dry. It's like James Bond without his Martini, Jackie Chan without his kung-fu, Austin Powers without the 70's look. The movie is good as any other spy action movie but is a huge let down for the movie series.

Thumbs up: Good action

Thumbs down: Movie doesn't live up to the series' reputation and belief

Rating: 6.7/10

Puss in Boots (2011)

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy/Drama/Action/Fantasy/Crime

Starring (voice): Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris

The innocent, brown furred, black-eyed, Spaniard cat from Shrek gets a movie to his own name. Puss in Boots (Banderas) is an outlaw who loots and plunders, not from the innocent, but from those who deserve it, much like Robin Hood. He learns about the magic beanstalk with the Golden Goose that lives high up in the Giants castle and lays golden eggs He embarks on an adventure to find the magic beans when he crosses paths with Kitt Softpaws (Hayek) a cat much like him, out for the same objective. His adventures lead him to once again come face to face with Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) an old friend who started stealing from the innocent and hence parted ways. Humpty and Puss had a childhood ambition of growing the beanstalk and now Humpty knows how exactly to do it and needs Puss' help once more. The character of Puss was loved and applauded by all for his cute and suave Latino style. With the Shrek series coming to an end, Dreamworks' attempt at reviving old fairy tales and portraying them contrarty to our normal beliefs might have failed in this attempt. Shrek was loved for its humour and unique plot line, however, Puss in Boots fails on both those aspects with below average humour and an extremely predictable story. Targeted towards young kids, the movie needs heavy humour that the audience could associate with and not the rude, sarcastic and slightly sexual comedy that the movie banks upon. A let-down for people who expected the Shrek magic once more.

Thumbs up: Unique blend of various fairytale characters

Thumbs down: Boring  humour, hopeless attempt at being entertaining

Rating: 6.2/10