Friday 9 October 2015

The Walk Movie Review

The last time I came out of a theatre and said, “Wow, the 3-D for that film was something!” was probably after I had watched Avatar on the world’s biggest screen (Prasads IMAX) in IMAX 3D in 2009. And now after watching The Walk, I revisit the good olden days where 3-D films were exciting and rare! (And mind you, I loved the 3-D experience in spite of it not being an IMAX experience, as we Hyderabadis do not have an IMAX theater anymore)

The Walk comes out as a film that you would least expect to score highly in 3-D experience category, as it is not basically an action or adventure or a fantasy film but rather a simple true story of an incredible man’s unbelievable act of walking on a high wire between the World Trade Centers back in 1974.

The director, Robert Zemeckis, who directed some of my all time favorites like Back to the Future Trilogy, Polar Express, Forrest Gump and Cast Away, brings not only this act to the big screen in the most glorious way but also the heist like planning that went behind in pulling off this stunt back in the 70s in New York. The movie adopts a different narrative style where Philippe Petit (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt) addresses the audience directly here and there. That might not be something that everybody would enjoy but I most certainly did. In fact whenever the narrative was on, I felt that the movie almost had a poetic aura to it.

The movie beautifully transcends from the ‘poetic phase’ to the old fashioned heist phase of a movie and then again back to the poetic phase of the final act. The movie had layers to it in terms of story telling and the movie portrayed the layers of emotions running high behind the man, Philippe, brilliantly. 

Don’t expect a fast paced, out and out entertainer, as the first half takes it time to establish the character. But the build-up, the back story, the simple but witty dialogues, the cinematography that captures 70s of Paris and New York, everything, carries the feel good factor throughout the film and culminates in an epic thirty minute final act that was visually breathtaking. Trust me when I say this, that entire sequence on the high wire couldn’t have been any better. It is immersive cinematic experience at its best with direction, acting, visual effects, and editing peaking in tandem.  

Joseph Gordon Levitt as the French guy trying to bend into a New Yorker with an American accent is convincing and that is also a source of intentional comedy. Ben Kingsley in his small but prominent role is a delight to watch as usual. And all the actors chipped in with pretty decent performances themselves.

In short, the movie might be on the slower side in the first half (even though I didn’t feel so) but the last thirty minutes of the movie more than makes up for it as it is truly stunning and the entire film carries the feel good factor. It is inspiring and it most certainly needs to be experienced in 3-D.

My Rating: 150/150 (Worth every buck!)  


Friday 2 October 2015

The Martian Movie Review

“Yay! Space science fiction again FTW!”

I was excited for Gravity. I was ready to jump off a cliff for Interstellar. Strangely for The Martian, even though I looked forward to it, I wasn’t as excited as I should have been, considering my love for science fiction and space adventure. Was it because of the simple Premise?

Will he or won’t he? (Make it back to the Earth) That was it. That was it about the movie. That much was definitely made clear from the trailer. So, a Cast Away on Mars? Meh.

But let me tell you this much with certainty, when I walked out of the theatre I knew that this was arguably the best space adventure movie. This movie is a testament to what great writing in terms of the screenplay could do to any film (You! Young aspiring film-makers out there- don’t miss this one for this specific reason folks. Screenplay is everything!). You can be on mars, you can be on earth, you can be in a different galaxy, you can be on Everest, you can be on a sinking ship in the Atlantic, you can be racing around in cars, or you can be in a haunted house, but all that matters at the end of the day is the writing and execution. And The Martian truly, truly shows how it’s done in spite of a paper thin premise.

The movie is about a guy who is all alone on a planet fighting for his survival. Has to be depressing right? No! It isn’t depressing at all. It is absolutely a fun ride! There’s a lot of humor. There’s a lot of tension. I was literally on the edge of my seat for quite a few moments, because they were so gripping. Even at 144 minutes, the movie just kept up its brisk pace all through. The screen time shifted wonderfully well, from Mark on Mars, to NASA back here, to his crew members aboard Hermes making their journey back to earth. I will say this again, I have rarely been this impressed with a Screenplay of a film. Delightfully tight!

Ridley Scott the director, man behind films like Alien, Gladiator and Black hawk down, executed this movie phenomenally well. There is so much ‘science’ in this movie (not the Interstellarish science, not to worry!) and it is made sure they are all explained extremely well and the movie definitely does not make the audience feel dumb (Trust me that’s a lot of effort :P ). The movie has amazing cinematography. Earth felt like Earth. Mars felt like Mars, I mean, based on all the pics that I ever saw of Mars, that’s always how I imagined it would be and that’s how it is. Red, desolated, dusty with rocky terrain.

The casting of the film! Phew! Great actors all of them. So obviously, they delivered liked they always do and Matt Damon does what Matt Damon does. Knocks you out with his performance. I am a sucker for performance driven movies. This movie has plenty of that. In fact I am a sucker for thrillers and comedy too and this movie ticks those boxes too.

The Martian is one of the best that I watched this year. This film was not just about the exquisite art in terms of the acting, direction or writing, it was about what a film offers to the audience, and this film has that to its credit. It has got everything to offer. The movie was thoroughly enjoyable. And I would probably end up watching this movie, at least, two more times with my friends. And hence, the rating:

Rating: 450/150. Simply Spectacular!

Do check out the trailer for this film, if you haven’t: