Batman Begins : A review

"You always fear what you don't understand" Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins.

I remember borrowing this movie from my VCD library sometime in 2005, when I was still in school. All I knew about the movie was that it was about Batman and that it was a reboot of the series. Being a big fan of "Batman-the animated series" and "Justice League", I was quite eager to watch this Batman flick that had an intriguing title, viz. Batman Begins.

Almost all Batman fans know that Bruce Wayne, as a boy, watched his parents shot to death by the homeless man, Joe Chill and thus, became Batman. In hindsight, it seems that this story is hardly enough to explain why the adult Bruce Wayne became Batman.

So, Christopher Nolan, then known only for Memento (and Following), took up the uphill task of rebooting a series which had 4 movies(Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman&Robin). I would say these movies were mostly awful and did not portray Batman the way he should be (as a Dark, alert superhero).

I don't want to give away the plot(as always) and hence I will ask you to watch the movie(if you haven't already).

This movie is filled with a Mega-cast of Christian Bale(as BruceWayne/Batman), Michael Caine(as Alfred the butler), Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman(Leon, AirForceOne), Liam Neeson(Taken, Schindler's List), Tom Wilkinson(Rocknrolla, Michael Clayton), Cilian Murphy(Red Eye, Inception). It has several villains and each of the characters played by the above actors are all memorable. As with most of Christopher Nolan movies, this movie has multiple timelines and it has a dark-ish feel that is perfect for Batman. Gotham city is neatly divided into the rich and the poor and the Batman has trying times in the slum-like Narrows. And, I see the ideals of Batman clearly portrayed in this movie.

What else is new? Check out the Batmobile, called the Tumbler (pic on top). There is also a new Batman symbol as seen in the pic here. And the Batman is clothed completely in black and a no-nonsense type Batsuit for him. I would say this movie (missed by most) sets it up perfectly for The Dark Knight. So, if you have seen The Dark Knight, and liked it, there is no reason not to like Batman Begins.

Overall I like it just a bit more than The Dark Knight because I like the Batman more than I like the Joker. :P

Genre : Superhero, Crime, Thriller. Reboot. Classy dialogues.

My rating : All thumbs. Pure Awesomeness. 10/10.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This is a review of one of the all time greats(click to view list) , THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE UGLY.

The first thing you notice about this movie is the initial credits at the start, in a colorful setting that keeps revolving around 3 colors. RGB. The movie's title is shown as cannon ball shots - The Good followed by the Bad and then Then ugly. The three main actors are clearly identifed to be Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef(click to read wiki) and Eli Wallach(click to read wiki). Only on my second watch of this film I realized that that we don't really know who the good, bad or ugly are in the movie before it actually starts. It is only implied in the credits.

But Sergio Leonne(click to read wiki) is one clever director, he gives ample credit to his primary cast and specifically identifies the Ugly to be Tuco (Eli Wallach) and the Bad (after he commits a heinous crime) to be Lee von Cleef's character (called Angel Eyes) and with some style gives the title of good to Clint Eastwood (the man with no name). All this happens over the course of 30 mins of the movie and Sergio Leonne is just getting started. With some classy music from Ennio Morricone(click to read wiki), this movie is one of the best I have ever seen and I believe is the best movie in the Dollar (Man with no name) trilogy (other two being Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars more).

Basic plot for this movie is a treasure hunt for 200 thousand in gold. All three characters are headed towards where the treasure is hidden. That's all I will reveal about the plot.



This movie was released in 1966, as a Spagetti Western, mind you. So we see lots of the old western gunfights with several silent periods in the movie. But the best parts of the movie are also the parts with the best music. The music for this movie (and most of Sergio Leonne's movies) is provided by Ennio Morricone. I'm sure many of the people reading this article would have listened to "The Ecstasy of Gold" by Metallica. It is a cover of the song created by Ennio Morricone for this movie.

The most memorable character is Tuco, played by Eli Wallach. Tuco is the verbose, gun slinging marksman who kills some people while delivering gem-like dialogues, the most famous being, "While you are here to shoot, shoot, don't talk." Tuco is someone who tries to be the bad guy but ends up doing good things. So I will label him has the Ugly one here, though he is anything but the traditional ugly. Angel Eyes, played by Lee von cleef is a very scary character. He kills when paid to do it. He is a hitman for hire. He has the shiny cat eyes and is the closest thing to evil in the movie. So, I'll go ahead and label him as The Bad. That leaves the laconic "man with no name" Clint Eastwood as the Good. All in all, the movie would be incomplete without all 3 of these characters.

Personally, I want to thank Sergio Leonne for this movie as it was my first western film ever !!!
My rating is a double thumbs up all the way and a 100%..

Shutter Island

Shutter Island on Hesh Movie Recos Db (row 32)

I was asked by Chirag Heda (click to view facebook profile) to write a movie review of Shutter Island. It is a movie I watched in my final year in college and since I believe it is a good movie, I have fond memories of the movie and how it mind-f*$#ed me. 

So, Shutter Island was released in the US in early 2010 but was sadly not released in India at the same time. So, I remember the day when Dadis watched this movie and told me its a must watch and a clear reminder of Hitchcock. That caught my attention because as everyone knows, Alfred Hitchcock is one of the greatest movie makers of all time with ground breaking movies like Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window and Dial M for Murder.

Coming back to Shutter Island, it is directed by Martin Scorcesse (The Departed, Cape Fear, Taxi) and it is spearheaded by one of his favorite actors, Leonardo Dicaprio as Teddy Daniels. Other actors include Ben Kingsley(Gandhi, Lucky Number Slevin) who plays the role of the psychiatric head, Dr.Jon Crawley and Mark Ruffalo (click to go to wiki) as Chuck.

Since the genre of the movie, as I see it, is a mystery thriller, it would be unwise of me to let you in on the plot. So, I will say this, it is about Teddy Daniels, a cop trying to find a woman who has mysteriously disappeared from an asylum (which is on an island). There are several twists and turns in this movie, so once you start this one, don't stop till you see the ending credits.

My rating for this movie is a double thumbs up with a 9/10 rating.

The Iron Man movie series

Hello!

RKP has requested that I review the Iron Man series i.e. Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2 directed by Jon Favreau and with Tony Stark/Iron Man played by Robert Downey Jr. RKP has asked me to write this review knowing fully well that I'm very biased towards both Iron Man and RDJr. (Nice one, RKP/Ramaforu :P).

Anyway, I do not want to give away any spoilers to anyone so, first I will review Movie 1, followed by a review of Movie 2 and then a combo review of the series.



Iron Man 1

A Marvel comics production movie of a superhero who's not as famous as Spiderman or X-Men. So, it must have been an uphill task for Jon Favreau to make a good movie out of the character of Iron Man whose primary villain in the comic books is a magician/sorcerer called Mandarin. But, Favreau has a good plot(without Mandarin, thankfully) in this movie and I would categorize this movie as a stylish Superhero-action-comic flick.
As for Robert Downey Jr (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sherlock Holmes , Tropic Thunder), this is a fantastic comeback into the movies. He had disappeared off the RADAR for a while. Thi.s movie is carried by his slick, cocky acting with excellent dialogue delivery. Moreover, for a change there is equal focus on the superhero(Iron Man) and the man behind the mask (Tony Stark). The above pic shows the audience the interaction of Tony Stark with his computer interface (J.A.R.V.I.S) to give us Iron Man !

Memorable characters include Tony Stark, Obadiah Stane (played well by Jeff Bridges), Colonel Rhodes (again well played by Terrance Howard). Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Iron Man 2

Tony Stark is back as Iron Man in Iron Man 2. At the end of Iron Man 1, Tony Stark reveals his secret identity as Iron Man to the whole world in a press conference. I was shocked to see the superhero revealed so early in the series and I thought that Iron Man 2 would be the end of the Iron Man serious.
Seems I might be mistaken.
In one line, Iron Man 2 was as good as Iron Man 1. If you liked part 1, part 2 has more action, more cocky dialogues from RDJr and some more slick comedy. The plot thickens in this movie with all of Iron Man's enemies knowing his identity to be Tony Stark. All I will say about this movie is that it is a must watch if you liked the first one.

Memorable characters include a villain-ish role by Mickey Rourke (with a Russian accent) and Sam Rockwell (Moon). The chemistry between PepperPotts and TonyStark remains strong. Furthermore, a guest role by Samuel L Jackson adds some twist to the mix.




Iron Man 3?

Rumors are that Iron Man 3 is scheduled for release after the release of Marvel Productions SPAM of 2011-2012 i.e. Thor, Captain America and Avengers (where we get to see Iron Man, hopefully).

My overall rating for the series is a double thumbsup or a 10/10 !!!

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta
V stands for (in my eyes) a TRUE superhero. One that never takes off his mask and is always in the superhero role. I do not want to spoil this movie for anyone so I will not reveal who the lead actor is. The lead actor plays the role of V and does so, behind a mask, without any facial expressions. It is simply unbelievable acting with only dialogues.

Next comes the directors and screenplay by the Wachowiski brothers (The Matrix series, Bound). One can see the class they bring to the table. After the Matrix, I guess this is their next big film and they have not disappointed.

The characters are really memorable in this movie and apart from V, the role played by Natalie Portman reminds me of the one she played in Leon the Professional. Here she plays a character who questions the need for violence and is the moral-base for the hero's character.

Finally, it has a fascist feel to it and it is set in the future. So the setting is exactly like that of Equilibrium(click to go to the Wiki page). But thats where the similarity ends. Both are classy movies of their own genre.
Genre for V for Vendetta would be Action, Drama, Fascism, Anarchist.

All thumbs up from my end for this movie.

Fight Club

The 1999 movie, Fight Club starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt is one of My All-time Greats(click to view the list)

Why (you ask) ? I was recommended this movie and I didn't even know the genre of this movie as I started watching this movie in my hostel room in college. So let me fill you in on the details in this short (laconic) review.

Fight club is shown to the audience in the narrative of Edward Norton's character throughout the movie. It is an action packed, mind-blowing movie with Brad Pitt as the all-knowing Tyler Durden. He is one memorable character, as is Marla (Helena Bonham Carter). But, the both of them pale in comparison to the narrator's (Edward Norton) character.

This movie is a must watch for all Ed Norton and Brad Pitt fans. Add to that, it is directed by David Finchner (The Social Network, Zodiac, Se7en).

All thumbs here. A movie I would give a 10/10 !!!

Star Trek movie review

Hello

I know I'm late to the rat-race of blogging and I know its awful to come to a race on Monday when it started on Sunday. But, hey here I am. Let me start with a semblance of a purpose.



I am going to write a movie review for the first movie that I ever recommended on Facebook (facebook.com/anish.vijay).

The movie is STAR TREK (2009). Let me classify it first. It is a sci-fi action film and yes, it is a reboot of the old Star Trek series (that everyone is familiar with) and because I'm not a fan of the old Star Trek, I'm neither biased nor prejudiced. So, I will go on to say that it has a good strong plot and some great memorable characters.

I love the role of James T Kirk(human) played by Chris Pine, Spock(half Vulcan) by Zachary Quinto and Nero(Romulan) by Eric Bana (could barely recognize him in that fantastic make-up). Adding to that, the graphics are mind-blowing. All-in-all its a great reboot, reminds me of the Batman reboot(because with Batman Begins, Nolan gave the Batman a whole new meaning). With the Star Trek sequel coming some time in the next 2 years, I would hope that it will not be a let down.

Oh and Star Trek and its possible sequel are directed by J.J.Abrahams (LOST, CLOVERFIELD, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III, etc)

So, a full thumbs up from my end for this movie :)