Race (2016) Review

Race is a biographical movie about Jesse Owens who had won 4 gold medals at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.

The movie traces the journey of Jesse Owens from his college days to him winning the gold medals at the Olympics. The movie has its mix of drama and realism which lets the audience connect with the movie. The audience feels the same emotions as is being felt by the character. This is the best point about the movie. The movie has lots of drama in the form of hatred for the blacks in United States and Jewish oppression in Germany. The movie has tried to showcase both of these elements and they form an integral part of the movie. The movie also showcases the politics between the Olympic committees of US and Germany for Olympic games participation. All of this make this movie an interesting watch. With the character of Jesse Owens, the movie has tried to show the superiority of USA over the Nazi's. So at times it does not feel like a biography, but an effort to give a boost to one's ego. This is the only shortfall of this movie.

Stephen James essaying the role of Jesse Owens has performed the character really well and is very convincing as an Olympic runner. Jason Sudekis as Owens' coach is superb and Jeremy Irons as Avery Brundage, the Olympic committee member who gets US to vote for entering into the Berlin Olympics, is also first rate. This movie belongs to all these three characters.

Stephen Hopkins has given the movie the right look of the 1930s and has directed the movie very well. The movie is very tight in narrative and all credit goes to the director. He has been able to give the larger than life feel to the olympic scenes and this adds to the narrative of the movie.

Overall the movie is a worthy watch and one of the better biographies to have been made in the recent times.

Rating - 3.5 / 5

London Has Fallen Review

London Has Fallen is an action packed movie with the running length of only one and a half hours. However even with this advantage the movie does not have much to offer to the audience.

The movie is very fast in narrative and the events unfold so fast that if you blink you may miss something. However the movie has not much to offer with the storyline. There is nothing new in the story with the hero being a super man who kills a lot of people and saves the president. Again. If you talk of action, it is very good but falls short of innovative action sequences that we have seen in other similar movies like Live Free or Die Hard. Thus the movie becomes an average affair and one does not retain the sequences long after the movie.

Gerard Butler as the secret service agent in charge of the President's security, is good in his role. He has a very good screen presence in this movie like all his movies. He also has his jab of serious humour in this movie, which he is known for. This movie is a boon for Gerard Butler fans because you see him throughout the movie, doing what he does best. Aaron Eckhart as the President of USA is good, but his role does not have any layers. This does not give him any scope to show his acting skills. Morgan Freeman seems to have been wasted in the movie.

This is director, Babak Najafi's first English movie. Before this he has directed several Swedish movies, which I haven't heard of. His direction is poor in this movie. The action scenes have been well directed, but he has been hampered by a weak script.

Overall, the movie does not have much to offer other than action and Gerard Butler. One can go for the movie to catch the movie's action and if one wants to see London destroyed in seconds, he should go ahead and watch it.

Rating - 2.5 / 5

Jai Gangajal Review

Jai Gangajal is another movie from Prakash Jha that handles the social issue of criminal sentences by the public. At the outset I should say that this movie is not as good as Gangajal. I felt that the first half of the movie is pacy and good to watch. The second half is a bit of a let down as it does not give the main character of Priyanka Chopra much to do except recite dialogues on law and justice. If the character had been given more to do this movie could have been another feather in the illustrious cap of Prakash Jha. The script should have been tweaked for the betterment of the movie.

Priyanka Chopra's acting feels average due to the fact that she has not been given a very challenging role as an actor. Though she has done a lot of stunts in the movie but at times they do not look very convincing. This also makes the fight scenes look flimsy. Whatever scope was provided to Priyanka Chopra, she has done a decent job at that. However the movie belongs to the other characters. Prakash Jha himself as a police officer has given a very good performance. Ninad Kamat and Manav Kaul as the bad guys have also put in very good performances.

Prakash Jha as director however is not at his best. Though he manages to give the movie a constant mood of seriousness, but the loopholes in the script do not let the director give his best. The same seriousness may not be liked by many movie goers as the movie does not have light moments.

There are very few songs in the movie but they are poor and slow down the movie's pace. They could have been omitted which would have reduced the length of the movie, which at 2 and a half hours is a bit long for such an intense movie.

Overall thought the movie's intensity is right for the theme but it does not make the desires impact. However you can watch it if you are a Prakash Jha fan.

Rating - 3 / 5