Rajeev Masand – movies that matter : from bollywood, hollywood and everywhere else

July 15, 2011

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Felton

Director: David Yates

For ten years, it has all been leading up to this moment. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the final episode in the eight-part movie saga, culminates in the awaited showdown between the teenage wizard and his lifelong nemesis Lord Voldemort, who finally enters the gates of Hogwarts to seek out Harry. At roughly 2 hours and 10 minutes, Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the shortest film in the series, and understandably the most grim.

The new film picks up exactly where the last one left off, with Harry, Ron and Hermoine still searching for Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes, which they must destroy if the Dark Lord has to be once and for all defeated. Meanwhile Voldemort is in possession of the coveted Elder Wand, which he has stolen from the tomb of Professor Dumbledore and which will make him invincible.

In one of the film’s stunning early-set pieces, our trio of young heroes recovers a Horcrux after breaking into a vault at Gringotts, then makes a thrilling escape riding on the back of a fire-breathing dragon. Following this, the action quickly shifts to Hogwarts, where the mood is expectedly somber given that Death Eaters and Dementors loom large outside campus walls.

Even as you count down to the brutal confrontation between Harry and Voldemort, director David Yates ties up many loose ends along the way. Major secrets are revealed, including a shocking one involving Professor Snape, and much-loved side characters like Professor McGonagall and Neville Longbottom finally get their big moment in the spotlight. The Battle of Hogwarts is easily one of the most inventive set-pieces executed in the entire series, and Yates and his team of VFX artists once again exploit the opportunity to deliver some truly exhilarating moments.

Harry Potter, now wiser and older than his years, must contemplate the inevitability of death and the true value of friendship. Daniel Radcliffe bites into the part with a steeliness we’d only seen a glimpse of before, and delivers a mature yet vulnerable performance that touches the heart. His best scenes in this film are those in which he realizes the sacrifices he must make for the greater good.

Ten years ago, the casting of unknown child actors Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone seemed like a stroke of brilliance; but each has evolved into a polished young actor who owns his role completely, bringing a wide range of emotions and such depth to each character’s roller-coaster journey. Ralph Fiennes makes for a suitably fearful Voldemort, but it’s Alan Rickman who leaves a lasting impression for his delicious portrayal of the complex Professor Snape.

It’s impossible not to be overwhelmed in the final’s final scene, which brings its principal characters to a full circle since we first met them. I found myself holding back my tears in the end, much like one would while saying goodbye to old friends.

I’m going with four out of five for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It’s not merely a fitting farewell to a much-loved series, but also that rare summer blockbuster that marries an emotional, stirring story with jaw-dropping visual flair.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

July 08, 2011

Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P Henson

Director: Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks has pretty much made a career out of playing Average Joes, but even the most ordinary characters need interesting stories to merit a movie based on their lives. Larry Crowne, which Hanks co-wrote and directed in addition to acting in it, casts him as possibly the most boring, bland character he’s played on screen yet.

We realize less than five minutes into the movie that Hanks’ middle-aged character, Larry is basically a nice guy. For a sales clerk at a supermarket, whose job involves retrieving abandoned shopping carts from the parking lot and stocking supplies on high shelves, he’s unusually cheerful and has an infectious enthusiasm that he seems to pass on to his colleagues. But then he’s abruptly fired one day when management decides his lack of a college education has made him unpromotable.

Larry quickly signs up for community college, where he makes friends with a fellow economics student who gives him a slick makeover and also introduces him to her boyfriend’s motor-scooter gang, with whom he rides around the city and hits local diners every afternoon. He also gradually softens his cynical and unhappily married public-speaking professor Mercedes (played by Julia Roberts), who will predictably go on to become his love interest in the story. At the end of the film, Larry has got a job in the kitchen of a diner owned by his friend. He’s cleared economics, and he’s also got an A+ in public speaking…although it’s unclear if he got that grade for the charming but vacuous speech he delivered in class, or because the teacher is crushing on him.

Larry’s is not an extraordinary story. Hell, it’s not even that uncommon. So many older Americans go back to college to improve their lives. What makes Larry a somewhat interesting character is the fact that he’s a good man who draws mostly good people around him. But in the absence of a dramatic story around such a character, I’m still not convinced he makes for a compelling protagonist of a movie.

Mike Leigh’s unforgettable film Happy-Go-Lucky was pegged on a heroine who was irrepressibly cheerful, but Leigh invested much by way of character depth to hold up his slim plot. In contrast, Larry Crowne offers neither a memorable story nor a deliciously layered lead.

I never thought I’d say this about a Tom Hanks film, but watching Larry Crowne is less fun than watching paint dry. It’s a huge disappointment from Hanks, who previously directed the thoroughly enjoyable musical comedy That Thing You Do! Even Julia Roberts appears bored out of her skull going through the motions of this film.

I’m going with one-and-a-half out of five for Tom Hanks’ Larry Crowne. My advice to fans of the two-time Oscar-winning star: skip this one if you don’t want your heart broken.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

July 01, 2011

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitley, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Patrick Demsey

Director: Michael Bay

If all you want from the new Transformers film is to watch robots fighting for two-and-a-half hours, you won’t be disappointed. As far as spectacle is concerned, director Michael Bay raises the bar considerably with Transformers: Dark of the Moon, delivering some jaw-dropping action sequences that are further enhanced by the remarkable use of 3D. Most stunning of these is one in which a python-like Decepticon strangles a skyscraper by wrapping itself around it, spraying glass everywhere, and prompting the humans trapped inside to leap out of windows and slide down the face of the rapidly tilting tower.

Unfortunately, Bay doesn’t know when to stop. He overwhelms our senses with a relentless and deafening battle sequence between the Autobots and the Decepticons that lasts close to 60 minutes, and ends with the city of Chicago resembling a post-apocalyptic ruin. It’s exhausting; at times it’s hard to distinguish the good robots from the bad ones, and midway through the crash-bang-boom my eyes glazed over. But like I said, if all you seek is non-stop carnage, you’ve come to the right place.

Dark of the Moon opens with the preposterous back-story that in 1961 the first Moon landing was fast-tracked not so much to make ‘giant leaps for mankind’, but to investigate the crash of an Autobot spacecraft into the dark side of the Moon. It all proves to be part of an elaborate Decepticon plan to take over the universe and enslave mankind. Expectedly it’s left to Shia LaBeouf and the Autobots to save the world again.

Now even if you were willing to overlook the rotten acting by Rosie Huntington-Whitley (who replaces Megan Fox as Shia LaBeouf’s girlfriend), and the cheesy dialogue that Josh Duhamel is saddled with, how do you bring yourself to forgive Michael Bay for wasting such fine actors as Frances McDormand and John Malkovich who appear as the director of national intelligence and LaBeouf’s new boss respectively? Also a newcomer to the series, Patrick Dempsey shows up as a slick businessman working both sides of the fence; while John Turturro, returning as former FBI agent Simmons, brings the only laughs in this otherwise grim film that’s missing that sense of daft fun that made the first Transformers movie so enjoyable. Of the robots, Bumblebee is back, as is Optimus Prime trusted friend of the humans who welcomes the return of his mentor Sentinel Prime.

Although an improvement on the last film Revenge of the Fallen, this third installment in the series has barely any humor or emotion to speak of. Because these films are based on a line of children’s toys, presumably they’re meant to appeal to the 7-year-old in each of us. If you’re expecting more than just explosions and loud action scenes, prepare to be disappointed.

I’m going with two out of five for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. At a running time of roughly 2 hours and 35 minutes, you’re going to need a lot of patience to survive this one!

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)