EW Movie Review: 'The Mechanic'

Jason Statham is the B-movie bruiser of the moment. His genre of choice is the revved-up testosterone pulp action film, but the key to his charisma is that he’s a lot more cutthroat smart and elegant, more coolly British, than an actor from the crash-cars-and-ask-questions-later school needs to be. With his shaved head, tersely handsome features, and you-talkin’-to-me stare, Statham is like the Bruce Willis of "Die Hard" crossed with a more sociopathic James Bond.

As the title character of "The Mechanic," Statham is playing one of those superstar, super-stealth hit men who can sneak into the most protected of lairs, slip away minutes later with the target dead, and leave no fingerprints. The opening swimming pool assassination is clever enough to set us up for a hit-man version of a heist thriller. But then Statham’s lone-wolf rubout-expert-for-hire is tricked into killing his long-time corporate associate, played by Donald Sutherland. Feeling used, he tries to make up for his mistake by taking Sutherland’s son under his wing -- a ne'er-do-well rich boy played by Ben Foster, who’s like a gnarled, hillbilly version of Justin Timberlake.

How do Statham and Foster team up in this movie? Simple: Statham, in about six minutes, teaches Foster everything there is to know about being a master assassin. The sheer implausibility is jaw-dropping, yet I might have forgiven that had "The Mechanic" involved us in some sneakier suspense scenes. As it is, the movie is ham-fisted trash, like Robert Rodriguez’s "Machete" taking itself seriously. It’s enough to make you want to see Jason Statham take a break from B movies and become the A-list character actor he deserves to be.

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The Way Back – Movie Review

The Way Back is a harrowing experience, replicating the actual 1940 journey of escapees from a Russian gulag 4000 miles from inner Siberia to India. This is Peter Weirs’ first film in seven years and it’s one of his best. It must have gripped his imagination and demanded focus because it is a superior film in every way. It sprang from passion.

Based on a true story that has recently been clouded by controversy, it takes us on their desperate trek across inhospitable terrains towards freedom. The group includes Colin Farrell as a particularly vicious Russian, Ed Harris as an American prisoner and Jim Sturgess, a naïve newcomer turned into Stalin’s police by his wife.

They band together with a few others and make good their escape. They planned it for months and prepared themselves mentally for it. Finally, they make good their escape during a blinding blizzard.

Initially, their personalities clash, particularly as Farrell’s volatile and violent character, looks to break every rule for his own purposes. Their diverse political backgrounds and nationalities stir up trouble, but they’re forced to reach a truce - although it’s strained. Unless they work together, they won’t survive the cold, snow and hungry wolves close behind. The cold is powerful and soon takes its first victim.

They can’t find food to eat and while in a collective weakened state, get lost, backtrack, and realize the gravity of their undertaking. They’re starving, weak, suffering from exposure and hopelessness, but their horror of imprisonment in another Stalinist prison forces them to move on.

Miraculously they start reaching the geographic markers that tell them they are on their way to freedom.

A mysterious young woman (Saoirse Ronan) shows up out of nowhere. They’re mistrustful of her because she can’t explain where she’s from or who she is, but take her along in a humanitarian gesture.

They reach China and warmer weather but their joy turns to horror as they see images of Stalin posted everywhere. They’re not safe in China either, and soon move on across the deserts towards India. But deserts bring their own unique torments.

It’s a heart swelling story of courage and fortitude, but it is not without elements of horror. Wherever man is turned loose in nature, horror is just around the corner, especially in the Russian steppes and Asian deserts. Mother Nature is the most violent character of all, and there is no denying her power over life and death.

Weir has made a film that gets directly under the skin. He gets extraordinary performances out of his actors. Colin Farrell is such a strong one that he flies off the screen. Weir’s unerring eye for beauty brings us to witness the wonder and awe of the other side of Mother Nature – the beauty of the unspoiled natural world. The threat and the majesty are equally potent, and feel so real that it’s hard to shake the feeling afterwards.

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Green Hornet: Movie Review

Those who expect the worst for The Green Hornet will be in for a treat. The superhero film, starring Seth Rogen and Taiwanese star Jay Chou, is filled with light-hearted fun and humor, while also balanced with action. As expected, the movie never takes itself too seriously.

The Green Hornet follows Rogen as Brett Reid transforming from the wealthy, slacker son of a Los Angeles newspaper mogul into a superhero. Chou plays Kato, a mechanic and martial artist, who guides him in his adventures.

Rogen, who co-produced and co-wrote the film, continues his slacker movie appearance in this film, and it works well. The Green Hornet isn't the typical superhero with a traumatic, dark past, but instead is a spoiled, playboy 28-year-old and Rogen is able to create this persona well.

On the other hand, Cameron Diaz isn't as effective in this film, but understandably so. She plays Britt's hired assistant, Lenore Case. Diaz doesn't actually do much in the film -- she mostly idles about and looks pretty -- but her lack of a role doesn't necessarily hinder the movie.

Overall, the film is thoroughly modern and current. The shooting style is loose and free, reflecting the movie itself. It's packed with action and comedy that enables the audience to never take it too seriously.

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The Dilemma Movie Review

The overall Rating of The movie The Dilemma is generally getting a lot of average reviews, so far as early reviews come in. Plot of the movie:Since college, confirmed bachelor Ronny and happily married Nick ,have been through thick and thin. Now partners in an auto design firm, the two pals are vying to land a dream project that would launch their company. Starring: Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Channing Tatum. Here are some favorable reviews, as the ones you’ll find below.

The ugly emotional mess is so respectfully handled that the story resonates far beyond its comic designs. -Chicago Reader What The Dilemma ultimately does best is create a platform for Vaughn to drag that iconic character of his into full-blown adulthood. -Los Angeles Times The Mixed but favorable reviews in the media.

What distinguishes The Dilemma in this genre is its resounding unfunnyness, its emotional dishonesty, and the general unlikability of its cast of characters. - Philadelphia Inquirer This tonal mishmash cripples The Dilemma almost immediately, though there are many other speed bumps, including Vaughn’s irritating, fast-talking prattle.

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Movie Review: Country Strong

Another Country Music Star Trips And Can’t Get Up. The best thing about this 112-minute, PG-13 rated Music/Drama/Redemption flick is that the audience will get to hear some pretty good country music. It seems like Hollywood can’t seem to cool it with making more movies about all the music stars whose lifestyle destroys their lives. Last year brought the world “Crazy Heart.” In 2005 “Walk the Line” was the best of this genre. In this year’s version it’s just not very believable probably because the heartbreak wasn’t about an actual country or pop music heart breaker.

The main character in this show was Kelly Canter, a six time Grammy Winner and country music legend who was portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow who always looked beautiful and perfect even when in a rehab clinic, pole dancing in the worst bar in town or stumbling around like the proverbial drunken sailor. In that same dive she was surrounded by Hell’s Angels who while they looked the part, were totally domesticated and seemed more like stage props or scenery than rowdy bikers brawling with each other at their favorite drinking hole. When the drunken country singer swinging and swaying on the bar and serenading them while bumping and grinding was suddenly kidnapped by Garrett Hedlund, as Beau Hutton, the drunken Hell’s Angels just went back to their beer chugging and staring off into space in a stoned haze. Not one of them even grumbled that their free entertainment was being dragged away. Realism didn’t play a big part in this flick.

Tim McGraw does a good job underplaying the role of James Center who is Kelly’s husband and agent. Leighton Meester plays former beauty queen turned country singer and songwriter Chiles Stanton. She doesn’t seem much like a beauty queen. Her acting would have benefited greatly by more intense directing.

The movie was filmed mostly in Nashville masquerading as various Texas locations. The movie does have its moments. The tears will flow here and there, but something is missing. The film has been too sanitized. Everything looks like a stage set. Everyone looks too perfect for what is being portrayed. The very large supporting cast and musicians do a professional job. There is a very touching scene shot at a Make A Wish Foundation Project. The camera is right down on the floor with the actors in that scene.

Other silly things offset the power of the good scenes. When the Kelly Canter bus is driving down the highways and byways with two minivans behind it carrying the rest of the crew and musicians, only only a single car length separates them all. They were probably bunched up to make it more obvious they were all part of the same music caravan, but since the highway is usually deserted, that would have been equally obvious if they vehicles had all been driving with enough separation between them so as not to telescope into one bloody mess if the bus had blown a tire. This movie is filled with annoying distractions such as the highway tailgating. Too bad!

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Movie Review: True Grit

Excluding 2005’s Serenity - and given that film contains a spaceship, purists most likely will exclude it - there hasn’t been a single Western I’ve really enjoyed at any point in the last twenty years. In fact, I can’t think of more than a slightly mutated handful that have even been made, which is strange given the stock Hollywood invested in the genre for the fifty or sixty years prior.

Perhaps the changing face of America is responsible for so few such stories being told – after all, why explore America’s rugged past when the country has enough darkness to plough through in the modern age. Or maybe it’s that cowboy stories almost assume relic status when offered CGI 3D surround-sound mega monsters from outer space. Either way, the Coen brothers’ True Grit isn’t a new Western per se, instead taking John Wayne’s 1969 film of the same name and restoring some of the sacrificed grime provided by Charles Portis’ original novel. You might view the Coen’s 2007 outback opus No Country For Old Men as a halfway house on the way to the duo’s attempted restoration of the genre - yet their new work is a film that’s both more action indebted and classically otherworldly in tone.

Because while True Grit marks the brothers’ first collaboration with Jeff Bridges (who is excellent as one eyed U.S. marshal for hire Reuben ‘Rooster’ Cogburn) since 1998’s still unique comedy The Big Lebowski, as far as Coen brothers movies go, this is a film that takes few risks. Like so much of their filmography it still contains set pieces so filled with intrigue they feature more narrative than many films do in their entire running time (there’s a great scene midway through the film involving a corpse and a stranger on a horse that’s as brilliantly odd as The Man Who Wasn’t There’s Billy Bob Thornton and the flying saucer). Yet True Grit is much more of a measured, stylistically flawless love letter to the genre than any attempt to evolve it. Be reassured purists, I can confirm there is no spaceship.

Whether you’ll consider True Grit as an early contender for film of the year, as many are already calling it, depends on whether you like the genre (this is a film made by people blatantly head over heals in love with spurs and Stetsons) or if you’re content with being taken on a journey through old America that never really arrives at the brave new world you might expect the Coens to take you to. I would go as far to say as it’s an excellent piece of filmmaking and the best western of the last twenty years – but then there’s not that many to choose from.

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Season of the Witch – Movie Review

Nic Cage and Ron Perlman appear in this ho-hum re-imagining of ye knights of olde on a quasi-religious-quest chestnut, but there’s no saving us from this medieval torture.

Hampered by a script that doesn’t rise to the occasion, Season of the Witch instead tip toes down a well-trodden path, more video game than film, easy and unchallenging, less The Name of the Rose than, say Tangled.

The film holds the kernel of an interesting story suggesting that witches were responsible for the deadly 14th century Black Plague that wiped out an estimated 30 – 60% of the population of the known world. The resulting panic found groups of people brutally eliminated including women suspected of being witches, which at that time, was any one at the other end of an agenda.

More likely a black rat flea from China caused the plague, but where’s the drama in that? So women had to be killed so the good believers could pat themselves on the back and know they murdered for God and sanitation.

Cage and Perlman play a pair of long-time friends and knight/adventurers, finally sickened by their complicity in the ongoing wars of Europe, Asia and Africa and the lives of innocents that they’ve taken. They re-dedicate themselves to God but abandon the church that sponsored their bloody adventures; they are captured and imprisoned as ‘deserters’ to face certain death.

There’s a young girl chained to the ground of an adjoining cell who shows signs of ongoing torture but they’re not surprised - she is accused of witchcraft.

The king, who is dying of the plague, grants the knights their freedom on condition that they transport the witch to a remote monastery where she will be tried and if found guilty, and that would be highly likely, killed.

Their journey through the deadly Wormwood Forest is hazardous to the band (that now includes a priest, a knight wannabe and a guide) and signs and suggestions point to witchcraft used to endanger their sanity and lives.

Every cliché in the book is thrown at us – marauding attack wolves, things that go bump in the night, infighting, mistaken identity, insanity, the Jungian scary evil woman, and the omnipresent rotten footbridge that collapses just as they make the other side with their horses and wagons intact.

Cage makes a half-hearted attempt at sincerity, but his internal actor does the work by rote and he seems unengaged. Perelman seems to wink at the silliness of it all. Claire Foy plays The Girl at all kinds of pitches, to portray her various sides - the evil witch, the demon, the poor victim, and the human, living girl and does an okay job. But the script fails her as her story isn’t developed, despite the fact that her character and all she stands for is the center of the film.

The film’s major problem is that there is too much ground to cover, too many side characters who need explication, so that none are particularly well defined and our sympathies don’t find a place to roost.

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No One Killed Jessica review: Feel the rage with Rani & Vidya

Movie No One Killed Jessica: Director: Rajkumar Gupta: Cast: Vidya Balan, Rani Mukerji, Neil Bhoopalam, Myra, Mohammed Zeeshan AyubSonia Chopra The film doesn’t start with the Jessica Lall murder case immediately. In fact, it beats around the bush for far too long.

Rani Mukerji’s Meera Geyti is a firebrand TV journalist and her voiceover starts the film. The character talks about Delhi and how she hasn’t yet managed to figure out the city. But she does feel the city is drunk on power and “everybody’s a somebody in Delhi”.

Geyti is covering the Kargil war and ticking off curious air passengers who thank her for the entertaining coverage. We like her immediately. Her character is delicately nuanced (even if slightly exaggerated) - whether it’s smoking on the terrace of her home, shouting for pickle at dinner while watching the news, or her straightforward manner of talking.

She’s a delight, and more so is Rani Mukerji essaying the part. A powerhouse actor anyway, Mukerji raises the bar giving one of her career’s most honest and memorable performances.

Equally evocative is the underplayed performance by Vidya Balan as Jessica’s sister Sabrina. While Mukerji’s story track comes alive only in the second half of the movie, Balan is present throughout.

The story slowly veers towards the fateful night when a minister’s son and his friends shoot model Jessica Lall for refusing to serve them a drink. Sabrina finds an ally in an honest cop (Rajesh Sharma, fab), but the odds seem stacked against them.

The film then trails the case over the years with witnesses threatened, justice delayed, and ultimately denied. But Sabrina, who is all set to give up, finds a new ray of hope.

One of the most priceless scenes of the film is where the murderer’s ghoonghat-clad mother tells her minister husband “kuch bhi karo, mere Monu ko kuch nahin hona chahiye”. But did this important (it speaks volumes about the murderer’s upbringing) scene need to be repeated thrice?

Repetition is a recurring issue in the film. The fact that Geyti mistakes the Jessica story to be a simple case is also reiterated several times.

Another sore point with the film is the portrayal of high-society as caricatures. It is hard to believe that a socialite would sit in a police station and ask for the AC to be switched on.

Rajkumar Gupta, who directed the film Aamir in 2008 doesn’t want the viewer to be bogged down by the subject. His effort in injecting drama and tempo in the storytelling makes the film accessible to a mainstream audience. But the pace slackens at times.

One of the film’s stronger points is Amit Trivedi’s addictive music whether it’s the Dilli Dilli or the Aali Re song. Disappointingly, the songs aren’t propped up the way you expect after watching the promos.

But on the upside, there are some superb touches like Sabrina’s journey of meeting the witnesses portrayed through food, the awkward scene between the parents of the perpetrator and the victim, and the candlelight march. The performances by the central cast are superlative, and equally praiseworthy is a massive performance by the supporting cast.

No One Killed Jessica is not as audacious and pacy as the promos would have you believe. But the film manages to do one very crucial thing: it evokes your sentiments. You feel empathy, rage, helplessness, and triumph at every step of the way with our two female heroes. So even if there are a few flaws, the film moves you. And nothing is above that. A must-watch!

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Bhoot And Friends Movie Review

It's Christmas and New Year time. Kids have holidays and there's merriment all around. There's a certain joy, a magic that fills people's hearts during this period. A perfect time to release kids film. Last week, we saw TOONPUR KA SUPERRHERO and this week it's BHOOT AND FRIENDS.

Don't get petrified with title BHOOT AND FRIENDS. Though it sounds like a horror film, it isn't. No doubt, Jackie Shroff plays a bhoot, but he's a benevolent bhoot. A couple of spunky kids are also a part of this kids adventure flick.

Raghav (Makrand Soni) has just passed with 52% marks in his school examinations, much to the dissatisfaction of his mother. Along with his friends, he goes to his granny's place at Saharanpur for his vacations. All's not well in Saharanpur as there are many ghost stories doing the rounds. After a few days, the kids accidentally meet a ghost (Jackie Shroff) and find themselves involved in a treasure hunt. But they aren't alone as a tarnished angrez also has his eyes fixed on the precious treasure.

Director Kittu Saluja builds up the narrative pretty well. Its intriguing quotient is high, keeping you involved in the proceedings. You want to get to the bottom of the story. But the graph dips slightly when the animated back story is revealed. The treasure hunt is an exhilarating ride. The climax is replete with engaging moments. It also delivers some important, non preachy messages to kids and even parents, to accept kids as they are.

The area in which the film falters is lack of humourous moments. They are in short supply and in a kids film you certainly expect more. Also, it's baffling to see how the goons on a jeep are not able to chase kids who are on cycles. The editing is passable with some continuity lapses. The few songs that are there are mediocre.

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Best 10 films of 2010

ANOTHER year in the movies has come to an end and it’s time to take a look back at the best that 2010 had to offer. Here, in no particular order, are my top ten films of the year:

INCEPTION

A VISUALLY stunning, gripping, take on dream landscapes as the heist movie template gets turned on its head. Director Christopher Nolan is at the top of his game and Leonardo DiCaprio continues his rise to greatness.

KICK-ASS

FROM the comic by Coatbridge’s own Mark Millar, this took the superhero movie to exciting new places. Laughs, tears, a pumping soundtrack and a little girl spouting the foulest language since Goodfellas; what’s not to like?

THE RUNAWAYS

THE pleasant surprise of the year. Wasn’t expecting much from this tale of 70’s teenage singers Joan Jett and Cherie Currie but the attitude drips off the screen and Dakota Fanning puts in a mesmerising performance.

THE LOVELY BONES

THIS wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I loved it. Newcomer Saoirse Ronan is great as the murdered girl watching over her family from heaven but its Stanley Tucci as her killer who excels. He should’ve won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

TOY STORY 3

THE best animation of the year and a fitting (possible) end to a superb trilogy. It’s touching and, at times, incredibly tense. And who would’ve thought a cuddly teddy would be one of the best screen villains of the year.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

DON’T be put off by the subtitles, this Swedish crime thriller based on the late Stieg Larsson’s best selling books pulls you in and holds you tight till the end. Lead Noomi Rapace is a star in the making. David Fincher’s ‘Americanised’ version has a lot to live up to.

MONSTERS

A LESSON that you don’t need a massive budget and big name stars to create an effective creature feature. The effects are excellent but its the underlying messages and likeable leading pair that form a near classic.

SHUTTER ISLAND

MARTIN Scorsese’s take on Dennis Lehane’s novel deserves repeat viewing. Some of the most striking images of 2010 merge with another top turn by Leonardo DiCaprio as a man on the psychological edge.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

DIRECTOR David Fincher and stars Jesse Eisenberg Andrew Garfield made the birth of Facebook more memorable than it probably was. Garfield in particular is fantastic. ‘Tech-speak’ may go over the head but you’ll never be this gripped by frustrated nerds again.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1

Harry Potter officially grows up in one of the franchise’s best entries. Its never been further detached from the children’s market but magical clashes, deaths and some stunningly creepy baddies leave you begging for Part 2 to arrive sooner than July 15, 2011.

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