Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Review

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them introduces a new world of J. K. Rowling Wizardry and makes for a compelling watch for all Harry Potter fans.

This movie presents the world of wizardry in America much before the time of Harry Potter. Thus this movie has a lot of new things to explain which did not exist in the Harry Potter world or were not shown. This makes the first half of the movie a bit slow and tedious to watch. Even though you can see the story moving forward it does so at snail pace, and the audience seem to be getting disengaged with the movie in the first half hour. All this after the spectacular beginning and a good first 20 minutes or so. The second half is a bit more engaging, but due to the loss of audience's interest it does not matter. The movie may have been made a bit crispier. Thus even thought the movie is well written, the script suffers and this has affected the movie. 

The cast of the movie has done an average job with no one standing out. Eddie Redmayne as the hero is fresh, but does not shine on screen. Colin Farrell is the most recognised name in this movie and he comes off as a dull character, without having too many emotions. Thus he too falls flat on the audience. The best actor in the movie is Johnny Depp, who no one was expecting and even in the shortest role possible he has shone the brightest.

David Yates has directed the movie. The parts where he has introduced the audience to the many magical creatures have been directed well, but the other parts lack in imagination. Thus even though the movie is about magic, nothing magical seems to be happening in the movie. Had the movie taken the visual route of Doctor Strange, it would have been a very interesting watch.

The best thing about the movie are its CGI effects. However just that without proper direction cannot make a movie very good.

Overall the movie is an average fair and a Harry Potter world fan can go and watch the movie.

Rating - 3 / 5

Doctor Strange Review

Doctor Strange is a much awaited movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe which takes you a step closer to The Infinity Wars story by introducing an Infinity stone. The movie has been successful in keeping the Marvel heights in line with other movies from the MCU.

Based on the Marvel Comics of Doctor Strange, this movie follows Doctor Stephen Strange from his days as a successful doctor to being incapacitated because of an accident to his becoming a world saving sorcerer. There is plenty that is good about the movie. The first is that the story is intriguing with the plot explanation starting from scene 1 and all the character including Doctor Strange being woven into the plot, rather that the plot being woven around the character of Doctor Strange. The movie is fast paced, but at times it feels that it is moving too fast in the scenes where Doctor Strange learns mystic arts. A bit more time to show how he learns would have been easier on the audience. However the movie has been able to bring out Doctor Strange's and Mordo's dilemma beautifully which add to the good points of the movie. The best part about the movie are its special effects, which are really mind boggling and very well done. The movie should be watched in the IMAX form to enjoy the scenes to the fullest. All of the action scenes have been showcased brilliantly and you cannot move your eyes away when the action is happening. The movie has woven humour with action, which is seen across all Marvel franchises, and it keeps the mood of the movie light. The villain in the movie certainly could have been better, as he does not feel like very powerful, and is easily defeated. However the way he has been defeated has been well thought through and that is why it does not look like a weak point.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange is very good and has brought in all the quirkiness to the character that is associated with him. Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One is convincing while Chiwetel Ejiofor is ok in his serious role. Rachel McAdams has a small role with not much to do in the movie. Mads Mikkelsen as the villain, has been shown very monotonous and thus no opportunity to act. Overall on acting the movie sways to and fro from good to poor.

Scott Derrickson. the director has done his best job till date with this movie. Though his other movies were also successful they were low budget and thus lower costs to recover. This was a movie which was a real test of his ability as a big budget director and he has proved his worth with this movie. Even though this is his best movie till date, it can certainly be said that he still has some way to go before becoming someone like a James Cameron or a JJ Abrams.

Overall the movie is a great watching experience on the big screen and all, whether comic book fan or not, should go and watch this movie for a mind boggling experience. Some scenes are bound to remind you of Inception.

Rating - 3.5 / 5

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Review

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is the second movie that released this Diwali and of the two movies, it is certainly the better one. This is a love story directed by Karan Johar which touches you at the right places for most of the movie.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is a movie about love, or as said in the movie, "One sided love". The first half of the movie is very pacy and introduces you to the characters and takes the story forward. The second half introduces the character of Aishwarya Rai and the movie continues to race at the same pace. However the latter half of the second half is a bit slow and may seem to drag a bit. This is the only poor thing about the movie. This part of the movie could have been shortened a bit by about 5 minutes to not feel draggy. At around 2 hours and 40 minutes, this movie is entertaining to watch and has all the elements that the younger audience will enjoy. This movie is an example of a movie where all the characters serve a purpose. This is because of the super tight script which does not leave many loop holes and this makes the movie very smooth to watch. I could not find many flaws with the movie except maybe the last half an hour. This is certainly a movie which will be liked by the younger audiences.

Ranbir Kapoor has once again given a superior performance, though is not his best performance. He can however be seen to be repeating himself a bit as you can see glimpses of his character in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Tamaasha. Anushka Sharma is easy on the eye and has acted her part well. Fawad Khan is OK in a small role. However the major points go to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who has played a beautiful divorcee and looks very stunning in the movie. Though she appears only in the post interval portions of the movie, she leaves an indelible mark on the story. Like in all Karan Johar movies you get glimpses of many actors in supporting roles. In this movie too you can see supporting roles of Lisa Hayden, Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan. Overall on the acting front, this movie comes out on top.

Karan Johar is an established director whose best work till date has been Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the script that he had written for Kal Ho Na ho was superb, though he did not direct it. After these two great movies, Karan Johar has been able to show his class in this movie. The script written by him made it easy for him to direct the movie as the movie does not slack at any place except maybe towards the end. This is perhaps his second best movie till date after Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. This is certainly a job well done.

The movie has mostly been shot in foreign locations which make the scenes look very beautiful. The cinematography is beautiful and it has been able to capture these locations beautifully. The music of the movie by Pritam was already on top of the charts, with the songs Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Bulleya, Channa Mereya and The Breakup Song. These songs have also been woven very effectively into the story and thus make you like them even more. However the background score could have been better as it does not feel matching the mood of the movie at a few places.

Overall this is a movie which will gel with mostly with people ranging from teenagers to people who are around 30 years of age. If you fall under any of these brackets you should go and watch the movie. It is both enjoyable and emotional.

Rating - 3.5 / 5

Shivaay Review

This Diwali week has seen the release of two much awaited Hindi movies. Here is my review of one of them - Shivaay.

Shivaay tells the story of a daredevil mountaineer who falls in love with a Bulgarian tourist and the story traces what happens afterwards. The movie has lots of elements like love, father - daughter relationship and action thrown in. While there is a love story it has not been very well developed in the movie. You do not get how the two characters fall in love. The father - daughter relationship that has been shown is good but it too lacks a good storytelling due to which you are not very engaged in the relationship. The action sequences are all over the top but the movie fails to explain how the mountaineer is able to beat up so many guys at once. Does he know any martial art? No idea. Poor scripting and screenplay has once again let down a movie which could have been great. Barring the last 30 minutes, the movie is not very engaging and thus the audience is lost at what is happening in the first 2 hours and 20 minutes. The story is certainly new, but it has been told very poorly. The problem is that there is very poor connectivity between one scene and the next. The scenes seem to start abruptly due to which the audience is a bit lost about what is happening.

The actors on this movie have done a poor job. Ajay Devgn has not done justice to himself as an actor, but with so much action thrown in it was bound to happen as he is also donning the role of a director. He has not been able to handle his multiple roles and responsibilities in this movie. The other actors also have done an ok job but nothing to remember.

Ajay Devgn as the actor is bad, but he as the director is worse. This is his second movie as a director but he has not been able to bring the intensity required in the scenes. Poor script has also not helped him.

The music of the movie is average with the best of the lot being Bolo Har Har. This song has been effectively used in almost all action scenes. Background music of the movie also not very great. The only good thing bout the movie are the locations where they have been shot, and they have been shot beautifully. The action is very good and the stunts have not been seen before. However the movie has a lot of VFX, a lot of which appears tacky.

Overall what could have been a great movie turns out to be a dull affair. Watch this movie only if you do not have anything better to do.

Rating - 2.5 / 5 (I was thinking of giving this movie 2 stars. However I gave an extra .5 for the last half hour.)

Inferno Review

Based on the third bestselling book of the Robert Langdon series from author Dan Brown, this was a much awaited movie for all the fans of the series. The last two movies had mixed reactions from both critics and audiences alike. Let us look at how this movie has fared.

The movie is a thriller where Robert Langdon has to solve the clues in time to save half the earth's population from death. The format of the movie, which is based on the book, is the same as the last movie. So on the plot front not a lot of difference can be observed from the last movie. The movie has a good pace to it, with the story moving ahead and all the plots unfolding fast. Even though it is a good point for the movie, you cannot help but feel that something is amiss. In trying to bring the book to life, the director has made too much of an effort, and thus the movie lacks depth, both in screenplay and execution. The ending of the movie doe not live up to the expectations that the movie had created all along. Thus the movie lacks a solid late punch and this again feels like something is amiss. The best part of the movie is the twist towards the end. But for the people who had already read the book, that would not have been the best. Thus for people who have already read the book, the movie does not have much to offer.

Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon has done a good job at potraying the character for the third time on screen. Felicity Jones has failed in showing the two different kinds of character. While she is good when she is shown vulnerable, the other part which is strong does not come through very well. Our own Irrfan Khan in a short but important role has played his part well. Overall acting in the movie is mediocre to good at best.

Ron Howard is an award winning director. However in all the Dan Brown movies, he has not been able to showcase his best. Even in this movie, he has not been able to bring the intensity of the story to the screen. Thus he has not done his best job, what we know he can.

Overall the movie is watchable if you have not read the book. If you have read it, then I do not recommend watching the movie.

Rating - 3 / 5