Review: 127 Hours

Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: James Franco
Rating: ****

Perhaps the only thing more astonishing than Danny Boyle’s telling of this story is the fact that it’s true. Aron Ralston (James Franco) is an engineer who sets off alone on a hiking trip to Blue John Canyon without informing anyone. But things don’t go as planned when, after an accident, he finds one arm bizarrely trapped under a boulder.

The story is well-known, told in several TV interviews and an autobiography, Between a Rock and a Hard Place. It makes the director’s job harder. There’s no climactic suspense to work towards. No shock to evoke at the moment Ralston decides to hack off his arm to save himself after a five-day ordeal. If anything, there’s an uneasy anticipation throughout of that very moment. Yet, 127 Hours doesn’t just document the pain, the sense of impending death and the desperation of a truly brave man. It also manages to entertain.

Most of the film is shot in one cramped location. Boyle breaks it up with occasional flashbacks and expansive shots of the canyon. For the most part though, it’s just Ralston looking into the camera and talking. It doesn’t sound exciting, but Franco brings to the role an amazing ability to emote using just facial expressions.

Ralston, we learn, is a practical man. After chipping at the rock for a while, he realises it’s causing it to settle even more, so he abandons it. His understanding of inevitable death isn’t dramatic either. He simply records his struggle on a handycam, leaving his parents a memoir. His calculated effort to document things borders on the obsessive. So after five days, when he does manage to sever his arm, after breaking the bone deliberately, and sawing it off using a ‘made in China’ multi-tool, he has the presence of mind to take a picture. If we had been witnessing fiction, we would have blamed the director for going overboard here. But Aron Ralston exists. And he still treks.

It’s the incredible story of an incredible man. And it’s told skilfully. Boyle is far from the mad, crowded world ofSlumdog. Yet he is in his zone, capturing pain, suffering and the fundamental human instinct of survival. You feel Ralston’s loneliness, his desperation, you laugh with him as he displays a sense of humour under ironic circumstances, comparing his urine (that he will have to consume after water runs out) to Sauvignon Blanc. What you don’t possibly feel is his pain; but yet you grimace with him.

And when you walk out, you feel happy to be alive; for once, you don’t mind the crowded streets of Mumbai, even if the people around are strangers. Rarely does a film manage to do that.

- Sarit Ray

This review was originally written for gqindia.com (Click here to see...)

Review: The Green Hornet (2011)

Director: Michel Gondry
Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christopher Waltz, Cameron Diaz
Rating: *

The shortest review of The Green Hornet would simply have to read: rather random. The comic superhero genre in Hollywood is becoming a bit like the ‘90s Bollywood formula film (with better costumes and no Govinda, of course). It sells, so everyone wants to make one. Alas, Michel Gondry (the man who directed the sublime Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and the hilarious Be Kind Rewind), we discover, is no Christopher Nolan. And I’d be really surprised to see The Green Hornet get a sequel.

You’ve come to expect any movie with Seth Rogen to be funny. What you don’t expect it to be is tedious. The Green Hornet lines up all the set pieces of a classic superhero movie and tries to run them down with a bowling ball. You have a self-serious-superhero-meets-frat-boy in Britt Reid (Rogen); a role reversal between the bumbling front man and the punching-kicking-weapons-building Man Friday/side-kick (Jay Chou as Kato); even a mockery of the homoerotic bromance between the two (“He is my platonic friend,” says Reid). It works till a point. Before it degenerates into CGI sequences and randomly picked fights where a lot of glass is broken and entire labs and archaic press offices (Who has a printing press at the office anymore?) are trashed.

The source material is from a 1930s radio show that was adapted into a TV show that ran for a single season in the ’50s. The highlight of that show was Bruce Lee’s introduction to Western audiences as Kato. He became so popular that it was marketed as The Kato Show in Hong Kong. Gondry’s version gives Kato no such scope. Sure, he dominates every fight sequence, beats the hell out of Reid in a scene and rides a custom V-Rod Harley. But he is short-changed by Reid’s histrionics, long dialogues and general buffoonery. Cameron Diaz as the on-off secretary Lenore Case is nothing more than a cameo. The funniest act is by Christopher Waltz as the villain with a funny Russian name (of course), a bad sense of style and a worse sense of humour. He totes a double-barrel pistol and delivers corny lines with a straight face.

Some things in the film are cool, but are as insignificant as the leaf Kato manages to shape on the cappuccino foam, or the door-mounted gun on the classic superhero car.

Overall, it’s half-baked-slapstick-meets-masked-vigilante-exploits. And while the 3D doesn’t give you a headache, it doesn’t add value either. In the end, you’re left wishing you actually were Rogen in The Green Hornet (with his garage full of cool cars and gadgets). That way, you’d at least have had some fun.

- Sarit Ray

This review was originally written for gqindia.com (Click here to see...)

Review: Tron Legacy (2010)

Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde
Rating: **

You can tell the source material is from the Eighties. There’s a young Jeff Bridges (as Kevin Flynn), for starters, looking like an uncanny EA Sports avatar of the real thing. There are identity disks stuck to everyone’s back (understandable, as an outdated program developed before SD cards). And then, there’s an obsession with bikes as the ultimate definition of cool (in the real and virtual world), and a neon-sign gaming arcade wherein lies the portal to the virtual world.

As purely a CGI show, Tron: Legacy is a landmark. The 3D is top notch (though you may want to remove your glasses for a brighter first half hour that’s shot in 2D), the deadly-trail-spewing light cycles and the world of the ‘Grid’ look pretty darn impressive. But that apart, itplays out with the plot predictability of a video game that’s picked up some Hollywood set pieces. Without a parent to watch over him, the young Sam Flynn (Garett Hedlund) grows up to be a rebel (think John Connor in Judgment Day) with a healthy disregard for money and work (Bruce Wayne). That’s until he finds purpose, albeit in a digital world. There he kicks some ass on a light cycle, meets his dad [the older Jeff Bridges as Sam Flynn], falls for a hot programme called Quorra (Olivia Wilde), and eventually escapes the evil programme Clu (also Jeff Bridges) and gets out alive. In that order.

But the problem is perhaps not that Tron: Legacy feels like a video game. The problem is that the two-hour film doesn’t have enough high-adrenaline gaming moments. The tournament-format fight sequence and the light cycle chase are promising, but you wish there was more. The ‘vintage’ space cycle begging for another action sequence is wasted, and the once Ducati-riding cool programmer Sam Flynn has lapsed into inaction. You almost feel sad for the man who doesn’t know Wi-Fi. Tron, the character after whom the movie is named, has no role to play, and the weird digital-world nightclub owner Zuse (Michael Sheen) belongs in Total Recall.

The 1982 Tron was supposedly ahead of its times in terms of CGI, but wasn’t much of a film. The belated legacy might go down the same path—a cult favourite perhaps that’ll sell merchandise, and eventually get made into a game.

For a convincing parallel universe of the imagination, Avatar is cooler. And that’s saying something.

- Sarit Ray

This review was originally written for gqindia.com (Click here to see...)

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Director: David Yates
Rating: ***

How do we keep it going? Split it in two. The idea that Rowling’s Deathly Hallows is such a dense story, only two films can do justice to it works as a marketing strategy. As a standalone film, I’m not so sure.

It has the sharp, impactful start you’ve come to expect of theHarry Potter franchise, so get there in time, guys. If you miss the first 10 minutes, you might as well go home and catch the next show. The pace slackens as the trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione go on their Lord-Of-The-Rings-ish must-destroy-horcrux mission. And then, it just ends, without the salvation of a climax.

This is a movie for fans — you see it because you’ve seen the other six, you’ve read (and re-read last week) the book, and you’ve been on YouTube checking out the trailer a month ago. For those uninitiated to the world of spells, Voldemort, Death Eaters and romantic angles, you might at least want to read up on Wikipedia.

This is no longer children’s fiction. A meeting of the Death Eaters sees Voldemort use the killing curse on a Hogwarts teacher and feed her to Nagini. The familiar corridors of Hogwarts and the assuring presence of Dumbledore are gone, and the trio are out in the real world, traversing spectacular locations and CGI-created scenery. These are dark times, and the mood is literally maintained with dark settings; even the mornings are consistently smoggy. A storytelling session of the legend of the Deathly Hallows allows for a brilliant five minutes of animation.

But this movie is as much about magic as it is about raging teenage hormones. We’re not just talking sedate kisses between Harry and Ginny. The now-gorgeous Emma Watson makes for a stunning Hermione, and neither Harry, Ron, nor director David Yates can ignore that. There’s overt chemistry between Harry and Hermione, and that makes Ron jealous. That along with the classic tired-of-being-the-sidekick syndrome makes him desert the duo temporarily. His apparition also shows the two making out. It’s not real, says Harry, hardcore Potter fans might agree, but we’re not complaining. Hermione’s magically expanding bag also allows her to pack by far the best wardrobe — Burberry trenches included.

It’s the second horcrux down at the end, and Voldemort has just acquired something powerful. We’re seeking the same answer we sought at the end of Half Blood Prince—how does it end? For me, this one was an incomplete film. But does it work as a two-and-a-half-hour lead up to a climax? Hell yes.

- Sarit Ray

This review was originally written for gqindia.com (Click here to see...)

Review: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Director: Zack Snyder
Rating: **

Think 300. Then replace blood-spilling Spartan warriors with cute little barn owls, acting out the slow-mo fight sequences with apparently epochal consequences. It’s 90 odd minutes of pure joy, as far as the animation is concerned. Wish I could say the same about the story. This is what happens when Zack Snyder (of the 300and Watchmen fame, and anticipated Sucker Punch hype) makes a kid’s movie. The action is intense, the characters look capable of being dark and menacing; it’s almost a Frank Miller take on an innocuous genre but without the same brilliance.

It’s a morality tale of good over evil, good brother versus bad brother, and the coming of greatness of a common man, err, owl. A mercenary tribe is out to take over the owl world (read, evil) using an army of moonblinked owls (nocturnal bird equivalent of being brainwashed), and some mysterious material (owl equivalent of nuclear weapons, let’s say). The bad brother, Kludd, is taken under the evil owls’ wing, while the good brother, Soren, escapes and finds the fabled guardians (read, heroes). The guardians live in a mythical place that could be Na’vian Pandora. The ultimate showdown makes for a breathtaking 3D SFX orgasm, and you can tell that Snyder’s love for graphic action sequences takes over here, stopping just short of a bloodbath. Kid’s film, remember?

The trademark Snyder slow-mo action looks brilliant, and they would have been the highlight of the movie, if there wasn’t one every two minutes. Some of the best moments are Soren’s soul flight in the storm, and the laser-show-like climax. The voice talent is some of the finest—Jim Sturgess as the voice of Soren, Helen Mirren as the sorceress Nyra.

I’ve not read Kathryn Lasky’s books, on which this is based, but Tolkien’s influence is evident—the defeat of the super-villain has similarities to the first fall of Sauron.

Don’t expect this one to blow you away like Wall E, or even warm your heart like Up. Watch it nevertheless for the animated extravagance.

- Sarit Ray

This review was originally written for gqindia.com (Click here to see...)

Review: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Cary Mulligan and Josh Brolin
Rating: ***

Just how much is too much? On Wall Street, it’s not the question you ask. Money is earned for money’s sake. Everything else is just by the way.

Oliver Stone’s two-decades late sequel to the original Wall Street begins where he left off in 1987. Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is out of jail and has written a book predicting the latest financial crisis. But he’s really looking for a way to return to the top of the game, and he’ll manipulate anyone, including his daughter (Carey Mulligan), to get there.

Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf) is the new kid on the block – a sharp talent with the drive to get himself to the top too. Bretton James (Josh Brolin) is the proclaimed villain who plays dirty and eventually pays the price.

Since it is an Oliver Stone film, Wall Street brokers dress a lot cooler, speak in high rhetoric and ride fast bikes on weekends. And don't forget to throw in swanky mansions, swish parties and Goya paintings for good measure. There’s even a back story of drug addiction.

Nothing too new there, you might argue, especially since the basic characteristics of the game are the same as they were in the Eighties – it’s a dog eat dog world out there and money rules. Relationships, ethics and morals are for the faint-hearted, and success is judged only in terms of loss or gain.

But Money Never Sleeps does of course have some contemporary relevance, taking as its loose inspiration the demise of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and the ensuing financial crisis. In a bid to bring the story up to date, even the quest for alternative energy and the power of the blog have been thrown in. Things also get technical at times, with a bewildering four screens flickering with numbers and graphs.

What makes the film work is a stellar performance by Michael Douglas who slips right into Gekko’s Berluti shoes as if he’d never taken them off. Shia puts in a sincere performance and you’re almost ready to forgive him for his earlier offerings.

Think of the new Wall Street as one of those gambling movies where your final hand can make or break you. Wall Street is where the big boys gamble. And greed, after all, is primal.

- Sarit Ray

This review was originally written for gqindia.com (Click here to see...)

Review: Despicable Me (2010)

Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher, Kristen Wiig
Rating: ***

He looks like Uncle Fester with a beak nose, and speaks with a Russian villain accent. He bursts a kid’s balloon, and pretends to be a recorded voice when girls from an orphanage ring the bell to sell cookies. That apart, bad guy Gru isn’t all that bad. Plus, he’s got one hell of a flame-exhausting ride (take that, Batman) and totes a freeze gun.

And if Batman were indeed the epitome of cool, this guy’s got a cool(er) underground lair where Pacman-like, gibberish-talking minions do his bidding. Movies with Steve Carell (or even just his voice) seem to be incomplete without a spy or a 007 angle. So there’s a balding, hard-of-hearing version of the scientist who invents cookie robots and fart guns (when asked for a dart gun, that is).

But there are no out and out bad people in a kids’ movie, so Gru must be transformed. By the same three orphans who came to sell him cookies. He adopts them so he can sneak in his cookie robots to steal a shrink ray from his rival, Vector, the gennext nerd-turned challenger to the throne of the top villain in the world.

Gru’s ultimate plan for the greatest crime ever: steal the moon. So he builds a rocket in his basement (one up on Tony Stark this time), flies to space, shrinks the moon and brings it back. Easy as you like it.

Along the way, the girls work their magic on him, he grudgingly plays parent to them, and discovers he’s pretty good at it. There are enough good laughs to make the film work for you as well as the kids – while a visit to the amusement park gives the CGI team the perfect opportunity to show off their 3D skills (remember, this is neither Pixar nor Disney).

I must say though, I would rather have paid to see the movie in 2D than watch a dimmer screen while wearing silly 25-rupee paper glasses.

-Sarit Ray

This review was originally written for gqindia.com (Click here to see...)