Movie Analysis : Drishyam 2 (Amazon Prime)

Directed by : Jeethu Joseph

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12361178/

His mind has taken a pledge to protect his family. We cannot win.

Spoilers ahead.. 

Six years has passed since Georgekutty (Mohanlal) saved himself and his family from the incident that lead to the death of Varun - Prabhakar (Asha Sharath and Siddique) family's son. Georgekutty is owner of a movie theatre now and also has been working on script based on his own life for past some years. But things haven't changed yet, the police are still looking for clues that may lead to the body of Varun and Georgekutty's family living with the threat looming large over them. 

My first malayalam movie, had to watch due to the kind of reviews it was getting and for first 30 so mins I was wondering what made people love this, the proceedings were slow and not leading anywhere. But that was so intentional, if you stay patient then everything gets connected in many twists that follows, a good 2nd act and just brilliant final act specially the final 20 mins. 

I am guessing the 1st movie had same storyline as Hindi one as I had only seen the latter. Majority of the 1st act is about how Rani (Meena) lives with that night incident trauma so much still effecting her that she has to ask her neighbour Saritha (Anjali Nair) to come over for sleep everytime Georgekutty stays out. Also, the elder daughter Anju (Ansiba) suffers from seizures and the dreams about what happened to Varun. We also are introduced to Saritha's abusive husband, Sabu (Sumesh Chandran) and Jose (Ajith Koothattukulam) who happened to kill his brother in law on the same night when Georgekutty was busy burying Varun in the police station.

The moment the reality of some characters is told, is when the movie's pace picks up and never really stops after that. We are on edge of seat thinking, will the trap work and the body will be found, and if they do find the body, will Georgekutty survive or does his mind workout a new plan? All these questions get answered with some very good surprises. 

The writing team really did well, putting in 'luck' and 'copyright' angle so that you can't argue how the hell is this possible because Georgekutty himself thinks it might not work, he's just taking a chance and hoping God is with him. Also, what works is how he feels about Prabhakar's family's loss - guilt he can't let off. Personally I never felt anything over Varun's death so I was always on Georgekutty side in both films. 

Love the reaction on everyone's face when Jose tells where the body is. There's also two resembling scenes from earlier film, one is the interrogation where Georgekutty family is standing in a line and he again tries to narrate same story of '2nd and 3rd Aug'. And other is the final scene of his slow walk having survived yet again but will still live in the shadow of what if something might come up again. I am not sure if Drishyam3 is possible, maybe would be too much of extension of same case, but would be something if director Jeethu Joseph could pull it off again. 

My fav moment is the look on Georgekutty face when a body is discovered and without saying anything Rani learns about the truth. And then the entire guesthouse sequence where Prabhakar family and the Inspector are joined by producer of Georgekutty's film and he reveals the script while we keep cutting to the court scenes, 'I fear this is start of something' dialogue uttered as we slowly realise the sharp mind of Georgekutty at work again (might give a great competition to Professor from Money Hiest). 

Apart from the slow 1st act, which I won't really say is a problem, it very much plays a big part to how much we end up enjoying the rest movie. One issue I had was with overdose of reaction zoom in shots, I don't know if thats a regular thing in Malayalam industry, but its something I don't like. Also, I was thinking if Sabu and Saritha could had a moment or dialogue or something when Georgekutty walks past them in the end. They clearly despite betraying, had the kind of emotions neighbours of Georgekutty had for his family when they beat the constable in end of last film. 

Love the use of only track 'Ore Pakal', a soft slow song that beautifully highlights the kind of traumatic life Rani is living these 6 years, not able to come out of the past.

Everyone chips in with good performances, with ofcourse Mohanlal stealing the show, specially everytime he emotes with those eyes and stares. 

Doesn't quite get that 'What the.. Wow' moment when we learnt where Georgekutty buried the body in 1st film which was always going to be hard to beat, yet many times in this sequel we cheer up finding how he is going to avoid a jail term with his plans. Drishyam2 is a wonderful sequel, makes good use of new characters connecting to the previous film, plays out the trauma family lives and how Georgekutty is always calm and few steps ahead of everyone yet again.

Please tell me, hindi version of it, starring Ajay Devgan would be coming out by next year or so. It has huge hit and plenty of taalis in theatres (if corona is gone by then) written all over it. 

My Rating : 8.5/10

Mini Review : Wolfwalkers

Directed by : Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5198068/

Why do you want to be a human? Being a wolf is way better. I will show you.

Spoilers ahead... 

Robyn Goodfellowe (voiced by Honor Kneafsey) wants to help her father Bill Goodfellowe (voiced by Sean Bean) to hunt down the forest and kill the wolves, as task given to him by Lord Protector (voiced by Simon McBurney). Despite been told to stay away, Robyn is stubborn and quietly sneaks outside following her dad but ends up by chance meeting Mebh Og MacTire (voiced by Eva Whittaker) who is a Wolfwalker, meaning she is a wolf when asleep at night and a girl in the day. Soon Robyn becomes good friend with Mebh and realizes a truth about herself that leads her to ensure her father and Lord Protector don't succeed in their mission.

I am not a fan of 2d animation which is one of few other reasons why I found this movie just about decent despite its high rating. Felt the cliches and stereotype scenarios were too much to ignore, for instance the story is predictable knowing where it will be heading, then there's the annoying father-daughter relationship where Bill keeps ignoring what Robyn wants to say and forcing her to do chores, or an evil Lord Protector whose hatred for wolves is never explained and oddly he has put gates to avoid children out or wolves in, when they both can easily run through it for the pattern gates have.

I liked the friendship Mebh and Robyn form, their first meeting is fun to watch and so is the my fav moment when Robyn learns her true identity with lovely background song of 'Running with the Wolves'. Mebh character worked for me most, while Robyn was mix of good and annoying, more for the way her character is written. Would had been nice if Bill learned the reality and teamed up with Robyn much earlier. Also, doesn't quite explores the Human vs Animals angle.

Some touching scenes, beautiful visuals and fun moments aside, Wolfwalkers turned out to be okish one time watch only. 

My Rating : 5/10 

Mini Review : Greyhound

Directed by : Aaron Schneider

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6048922/

Restore the relationships you have damaged and fill me with peace.

An allied convoy lead by US Navy first time commander Captain Krause (Tom Hanks) is crossing the North Atlantic in 1942 with the aircraft help not coming anytime before 48 hours making them fully vulnerable to the German's submarine wolf pack relentless attacks.

Think of Dunkirk shown through just one way, i.e land, or sea or air, how un-interesting that would be? Or Border with just either Sunny's scenes on land leading to the final attack. Thats how I felt watching Greyhound, its a pretty good thriller for people like me who have no idea about this historical event but I wanted more than the non-stop orders Captain gives to his team from start to end using unknown navy and ship terms. 

There's no character development and no shift to any other narrative at all, only a small 2-3 mins hint of romantic angle between Krause and Evelyn (Elisabeth Shue). Same happens with Captain and the cook Cleveland (Rob Morgan), whose interactions are short and lead to nowhere in the end. I would have enjoyed even if they showed some German point of view scenes rather those very unreal phone calls. Even the background score used for German u-boat felt so bollywoodish and bizarre. 

The sea burial was one of few scenes that felt a good relief from the war barrage. Tom Hanks is good as always portraying beautifully the confidence and yet the scare inside 'will I succeed or end up costing lives of my people' in his mind. If only his character was built more, the connect would had been possible. 

The war scenes despite getting tiring after a while, was still engaging enough. I am being lenient and giving this extra star, its a movie that will work more for those who either know about this history or who don't mind a war film with non-stop attacks.

My Rating : 5.5/10

Mini Review : One Night in Miami

Directed by : Regina King

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10612922/

Everybody talks about they wanting a piece of the pie, well I don't. I want the goddamn recipe.

Spoilers ahead...

On the night of Feb 25, 1964, Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) wins a boxing bout against Sonny Liston and arrives at a hotel to celebrate with his close friends, Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr). What was supposed to be a victory celebration turns into some heated debates between them regarding the civil lights, their responsibilities towards the community and leading the way to empowering the black people.

Very much like Ma Rainey's blackbottom, this film too is based on a play and thereby while watching you get the feel of watching a play specially the entire hotel room sequence. 

It felt a very disjointed movie, some scenes work here and there, love the one involving Jim Brown and the white guy who gives him warm welcome at his home and behaving like he is always there for anything Jim wants, only to later decline him entry inside the house because he is black, oh the irony.

Cassius Clay's boxing scenes didn't work at all, felt it was shot ameaturishly or maybe was secondary so didn't get the importance it otherwise would had. 

Takes a while, but when the 4 guys (I hardly knew anything about them in real, was a surprise to me to learn that Muhammad Ali had changed his name and converted into a Muslim) finally meet at the hotel, is when the film feels heading somewhere for atleast a while. Their conversations which start as their personal thoughts soon develop into interesting debatable angry conversations, with Malcom X going against Sam Cooke accusing him for not making right use of his singing and the power of words, and rather been a slave to white people instead. It soon shifts on Clay's conversion and if he really wants it or was Malcom in any way influential. There's Jim who is unclear if he wants to keep playing football or become a movie star. And then Malcolm who is having his own troubles within his 'Nation of the Islam' as he intends to start his own organisation. 

Its hard to take sides with anybody, almost everyone's perspective felt right to me. I enjoyed all 4 performances, but Leslie Odom Jr act worked most for me including that last song he performs. Also, I was wondering if Lance Reddick had come from the sets of 'John Wick', continuing the same role and similar style. 

One Night in Miami, is one of those rare films that has a strong 2nd act, but very few worthy moments to enjoy in rest parts. Still a nice directorial debut from Regina King. 

My Rating : 6/10

Mini Review : News of the World (Netflix)

Directed by : Paul Greengrass

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6878306/

'I guess we both have demons to face, going down this road.'

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) moves from town to town with a unique profession of reading news from across the world. He happens to accidentally come across a 10 yr old girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel) in Wichita Falls, Texas as he finds out her parents are dead and she needs to be sent to her aunt and uncle many miles away. Captain takes the responsibility as they both set on a long journey which will be full of obstacles and also result in their bonding. 

Its a premise thats done a lot, even similar to our very own 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'. Despite the predictability and very well knowing where we may be heading, its a film that delivers due to some honest good performances and the direction of Greengrass who keeps you engaged through variety of problems put forward, be it how Captain interacts with Johanna because they both can't understand their languages (she's from Kiowa community). Then the evil guys who try to snatch her away from him as she helps, and the misery doesn't end when another town guys go after them. 

What I like is the sweet bonding properly developed over time making us love that final scene even more when Captain does what we feel he should be doing for Johanna. I don't know if this is fictional or a news reading profession actually exists in real, I may be interested if so. .

The pace is the only hiccup I felt, maybe could had been more tight and trimmed by few mins. Also, it takes some time to like character of Johanna.

Another likeable performance by Tom Hanks with good support from Helena Zengel, its the journey they both follow that makes this a lovely watch.

My Rating : 7/10 

Mini Review : AK vs AK (Netflix)

Directed by : Vikramaditya Motwane

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651796/

Tu aisa waisa chu**** nahi hai, Tu chu**** ka Ranveer Singh hai. Ekdum Top.

Spoilers ahead...

Anurag Kashyap (film-maker) and Anil Kapoor (actor) have a heated arguement at a talk show resulting in Anurag spilling water right over Anil's face with the media present there. Anurag's reputation is further spoiled as a result with the running news on TV about Anurag's next films getting shelved without him even knowing. Its then when Anurag with help of his assistant Yogita Bihani (camera-girl) decides to show Anil who is the boss as he kidnaps his daughter Sonam Kapoor (actress) and gives him till sun-rise to find her or she will be dead. The rules are, he will all the time film Anil searching her, his phone has to be always on loudspeaker and cops shouldn't be involved. 

A very interesting premise, something not tried in our industry before I think.. and I haven't seen such story film in Hollywood too yet though some have been made. I was hooked on it right from the start, its always fun when stars are willing to take personal insults in the movie. Here, Anil gets called mr India for his films go and disappear without anyone knowing, or the comments made on his acting style by Anurag. And Anil hits back with how Anurag is known for his abuses and not good film-making, there's even a great dialogue where he compares him to 'Chu**** ka Ranveer Singh' (the english translation in Netflix changed Ranveer Singh to Chris Hemsworth for some reason). Also, you see Anurag getting confused with Anurag Basu (has happened few times by even media) and Madhur Bhandarkar. 

There's also a very fun Harshvardhan Kapoor (also playing himself) who is been hammy when he tries to give his own version of 'find sonam' script, and the hilarious moment when he asks Anurag to cast him after been fucked by his last Bhavesh Joshi disaster. 

The entire police station scene is full of laughs, and also the stage scene where Anil has to dance for his fans and only then they will help him out. Love that long chase sequence involving Anil and the taxi driver who is the clue to where Sonam could be. 

Anil Kapoor is in super duper form, unlike the accusation given in the film, he actually is giving one of his best performance in here, incidentally last time I enjoyed him this much was in 24 1st season where he was finding his kidnapped daughter too. While Anurag Kashyap entertains with the fun he is having making Anil run to his tune. 

I think the film messed up at the end, if only it went for a open ending and stopped right at Anil's dialogue at the hospital. The spoon-feeding and those never ending 'Kashyap sabka badla lega' kind of lets the film down for me in those last 10-15 mins. Also, I wanted some more insults coming or maybe few more celebrities could had been included to make it tougher for Anil not disclosing the real kidnapping of Sonam.

Leaving asides the problems with the final act, AK vs AK experiment works very well, Motwane delivers another enjoyable film, after a little disappoinment with Bhavesh Joshi and the underwhelming Trapped, this one works a lot for me. 

My Rating : 7/10 

Mini Review : The Life Ahead (Netflix)

Directed by : Edoardo Ponti

Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10627584/

Some people say that everything is written and nothing can be changed. But I wanna change it all and go back to the beginning, when nothing was written.

Madame Rosa (Sophie Loren) gets asked by her doctor Coen (Renato Carpentieri) if she could keep Momo (Ibrahima Gueye), a 12 year old street kid who he feels under her guidance could become a better boy. He had just robbed Madame Rosa, but she agrees and thereby we see their bond develop while Madame Rosa's health keeps deteriorating.

Its an adaptation of a novel and remake of 1977 version which I haven't seen and couldn't find the film anywhere to watch. Reading from some reviews, I understood that the current version changed things around, which are actually the reasons why the film turns out to be just watchable despite been having potential for many touching moments. 

The problem is no character development, the bonding between Madame Rosa and Momo develops too rapidly, I would have liked it take more time which is why that sunrise sequence at climax despite been beautiful didn't really invoke feelings as it was trying to. The entire Momo's drug dealer angle was un-necessary, we could had been told he's into that and decides to leave it, rather than the entire how he starts and develops interest in it. There could had been lot more scenes between Momo and Hamil (Babak Karimi), their interactions were good to watch.

Also, no past history is told about Madame Rosa, except for that code on her hand suggesting she is some sort of survivor. I found Lola (Abril Zamora) act pretty irritating too. 

What worked was Ibrahima Gueye performance, and his scenes with Iosif (Iosif Diego Pirvu). Sophie Loren's act was bit of mix for me, I think the below average writing messed it up than she did. Also, loved the background score and the music used, specially 'Io Si (Seen)' by Diane Warren with wonderful lyrics from Laura Pausini, comes right at the end credits. 

Its watchable, but just misses the mark on the emotional level. 

My Rating : 5/10