Fast & Furious: Hobbs and Shaw Review

Fast & Furious: Hobbs and Shaw is a spin off from the Fast & Furious franchise with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham reprising their roles from the franchise. So let us see whether this movie is worth a watch without the bankability of Vin Diesel.

Hobbs and Shaw is a fast paced action entertainer in the same genre as Fast & Furious. And like its predecessor franchise relies a lot on over the top action and stunt sequences. While the action is really fast paced and innovative which keeps you at the edge of the seat, but the story is like a regular action movie in the Misson Impossible genre which we have seen a lot. It has nothing new and we can guess how the story moves ahead. The witty exchanges between the characters do provide some entertainment between the action scenes, but it not something we haven't seen before. Due to this even though the movie entertains, but it does not engage you. This is just another attempt at making money through the Fast & Furious franchise. At 2 hour 16 minutes the movie is a bit longer and that makes it feel like a drag. Better editing could have made the movie more enjoyable.

Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham are good in their action sequences - that is what they are known for and that is what they give to the movie. Vanessa Kirby does provide some good moments and is a perfect foil between the two male actors. Only Idris Elba seems to have made some impact through his acting in the movie. He is really believable as a super human being even in front of Dwayne Johnson. He deserves all the credit for this.

David Leitch has been able to make an entertaining movie, but has not been able to achieve something special like his previous outings. Though he does have a knack for putting together good action, but needs to improve on showcasing the human touch between his characters.

Overall this is an entertaining movie which is a one time watch with your friends. So go and enjoy this thrill ride without using your brains.

Rating - 3/5

Spiderman: Far From Home Review

Spiderman: Far From Home is the first MCU movie to be released after Avengers: Endgame and it gives the audience a glimpse of how the blip (that is what MCU is calling the period from snap to the unsnap) has affected the people, which the audiences no doubt wanted to see. Thus it is no surprise that the movie is currently dominating the worldwide Box Office. Following up immediately after the success of a movie of humongous proportions is a tough task. So let us see if this movie has the ability of stand on its own feet or needs the support of Avengers: Endgame to be successful.

Far From Home begins some time after the events of Endgame and in the first few minutes introduces audiences to how the world is adjusting to the blip. Once that is taken care of it quickly gets down to business and sets up the story. There were a lot of predictions going on regarding the story of the movie. While some of the predictions were bang on, the movie still manages to amaze you with its story and script. The movie's story keeps moving forward at a fast pace and you get one interesting scene after the other that keeps you engaged. There is a lot of action in the movie and the action scenes have been choreographed really well. I was really impressed with how a swinging Spiderman has been woven into the action. This is the most innovative Spiderman action that we have seen in all of the Spiderman movies released till date. I am very curious to see where they can take this from here to keep surprising us. The visual effects in the movie are again spectacular like most MCU movies and the background score is also very good. One such example is the use of background score from the first Iron Man movie when Peter Parker is working in the same way that Tony Stark used to do. That one got the audience really excited, and I must say I have never seen the audience get so excited with the use of a background score. Full marks to the team for including that particular background score.

The acting in the movie is very good. Tom Holland really owns the role of Peter Parker and has brought out the best version of him yet. Zendaya as MJ is fabulous at presenting the awkwardness of the character and this is again the best version of MJ for me. Samuel L. Jackson is good as Nick Fury, again. Jake Gyllenhaal is also good in the role of Quentin Beck. All the other supporting actors (Cobie Smulders,Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon and Marisa Tomei) are good in their respective roles.

John Watts has done a really good job at making this an interesting movie by his presentation and style of story telling. He is really making a superb Spiderman Trilogy and should also direct the third Spiderman movie. This trilogy may well up end up to be one of the best trilogies in MCU.

Overall, this is a fabulous movie, even for a non MCU fan and does not need to rely on Endgame's success. So everyone should go and enjoy this movie with friends, family and loved ones.

Rating - 3.5 / 5

Article 15 Review

Article 15 is a movie based on Article 15 of the Indian Constitution which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. The movie stars Ayushmann Khurrana, who is back with a movie after the commercial and critical success of his previous two movies, Andhadhun and Badhai Ho. His movies are known to be entertaining along with having unorthodox stories. So let us see whether this movie lives up to those expectations.

Article 15 follows the story of an IPS officer who investigates a report of three missing girls from a village in UP, and discovers the ugly tentacles of discrimination being faced by the lower strata of society in the area. The movie has a hard hitting premise and the first half of the movie introduces the audiences to the discriminatory practices being followed, and it does so in a crisp and entertaining way. The second half takes you through the investigation and whether the lead character can unearth the evidences to put the wrong doers behind the bars. While most of the second half is good, it does begin to confuse towards the end, as it stops being a movie about discrimination and more about a politics of rich and poor, which hasn't even been tackled very well in the movie. In the second half the discrimination is just brought out by people recalling old incidences through the dialogues, and it does not directly connect with the main case gong on in the movie. Even with this poor scripting towards the end, the movie does leave the desired impact on the audience. Had the script in the second half been better, it would have become a far better movie.

This is a different kind of movie for Ayushmann Khurrana who usually does comedies or light hearted movies. But even in this genre he has portrayed the character very convincingly, thus telling of his acting prowess. There is not a main villain in the movie which does baffle a bit, but there is a horde of good actors in supporting roles which kind of makes up for it. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub as the rebel, Kumud Mishra as a police officer risen from the lower strata of society, Manoj Pahwa as the corrupt officer and Sayani Gupta as the sister of one of the missing girls have all done good in their respective roles. Good acting is what raises the bar for this movie.

Anubhav Sinha is the director of this movie. Somehow while watching the movie it does not seem that this is his movie, since it is very different in style from his earlier movies. He has come a long way since his Tum Bin (2001) and Ra.One days (2011). He has maintained a continuous tension among the characters and in the situations throughout the movie and thus the audience is glued to their seats to find out what happens next. After Mulk, this is his second movie tackling a sensitive subject, and he has done a good job at directing it. Lets see where he goes next with his direction.

Overall the movie is a good watch, but do not expect it to entertain you like a normal Ayushmann Khurrana starrer. So go ahead with your thinking hats put on for this one and enjoy the movie.

Rating - 3 / 5

PS: If you enjoy watching videos, you can go to my YouTube channel below where I have put up a review of the movie.

https://youtu.be/SDmAgf6fahw

Toy Story 4 Review

Pixar is back with the fourth installment of its successful Toy Story franchise and like the other movies of this franchise it is also a feel good movie with lot of action and emotional moments.

This movie is certainly for kids of all ages and also for the adults who were kids themselves when the first two parts had come out. This is a movie to be enjoyed by both the kids and their parents. Like all Pixar movies it has many themes like neglect, caring for someone, self belief, friendship and ultimately learning to live for yourself. Inspite of carrying so many different themes, it is also entertaining. The movie is short in duration and thus feels really fast paced. However the plot is similar to the previous movies in the franchise, in that, the toys are lost, then they interact with new toy characters, learn new things about themselves and ultimately are re-united. Thus there is not much new in the movie that we haven't seen previously, but only new locations and some some new and interesting characters. But something new that I found in the movie is that the toys let humans hear them. Some innovative going on there.

The voice overs are just perfect. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have been doing voice overs for the main characters of Woody and Buzz Lightyear for over 20 years, and they sill sound the same. Christina Hendricks is also good as Gabby Gabby and Keanu Reeves has also perfectly voiced a character called Duke Caboom. I saw Reeves's name only on the credits and had no idea that it was his voice.

The director of this movie is Josh Cooley who has previously worked as storyboard artist for various movies including The Incredibles, Up and Inside Out and had previously directed only animated shorts. He has done a good job at putting together the story, the situations and the characters and I feel like we are going to see more work from him in the future.

Overall, Toy Story 4 is a great movie for all the kids and fans of the franchise. So if you have a toddler, why are you waiting. Just go to a movie theater near you and enjoy this movie.

Rating - 3.5 / 5

Men In Black International Review

Men In Black International is the fourth movie of the Men In Black franchise and it is the first movie which does not star Will Smith. While the first part was good and introduced the world the Men In Black Universe, parts 2 and 3 were a bit lacking in their story and execution. So lets have a look at whether the fourth installment is any good?

The movie is similar in story to the first Men in Black movie where the main character is a new recruit and he/she partners an experienced agent. The movie tries to rekindle old memories like how the new recruit reacts when seeing the different aliens, the same way that the first movie did. But it does not work in the same way for a person who has seen the older movies like it does for a person who is seeing this franchise for the first time. While the movie is fun to watch, but it relies on the same old formulas set in the first movie, and thus does not offer anything new. The only good thing about the movie is that the story has been molded in the way of a James Bond movie of the 90's with a twist at the end. This brings some newness to the movie, however you can easily see through the twist of the movie and thus even the surprise element does not give you a high. Even the ending of the movie is not as good as it was for the first installment and thus by the end of the movie you do not feel that you have seen a very good movie. There is nothing new provided in the movie and thus it does not impress. However one of the most memorable scenes is one in which the makers have tried to remind us that the lead hero, Chris Hemsworth, is Thor, by giving him a small hammer. That ends up being the most funny and memorable scene for me.

Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are at their comic best and their chemistry is something to watch out for in the movie. Liam Neeson is also good in his small but important role.

The director, F. Gary Gray, has done a good job at making this a fun movie to watch. His directorial finesse can also be seen in many of the action and chase sequences that are there throughout the movie.

Overall, while this is fun movie to watch, it offers nothing new to the audiences. You can however go ahead and watch this movie for all the good comic elements that have been included in the movie.

Rating - 3 / 5