prabhat_kataria

When it comes to entertainment, Tom Cruise is the one guy you can count on. His last release, Edge of Tomorrow, is a spectacular example of intelligent entertainment, with not a dull or lifeless moment in it. The last MI was the best action flick of the year. The reason it worked so well was that none of the action was forced and everything seemed to be in a flow.

Not so much in this one. Even the most publicized stunt, with Cruise hanging on the airplane in mid-air seemed too hurried and poorly executed.

The plot seemed repeated and predictable.IMF in trouble, Ethan is the lone wolf..the one man army, throw a sexy female agent and a villain who talks funny, too many Beemers, multiple intelligence agencies with secrets of their own, and there you have it !

The only thing constant in the film was its flaws. Hunt running down a narrow pathway while a guy shoots him from behind with a machine gun from point blank range and ...guess what. Misses! The same with the bike chase scene. Too forced and too clichéd. The casting was pretty much the same. New women, same guys, a villain so big that he controls major international happenings and disasters, can start wars with his actions, yet personally goes to murder a movie store clerk cum IMF sub agent while exposing himself to the 'living manifestation of destiny' ( cant believe that was an actual piece of dialog, uttered by the wasted Alec Baldwin).

The only standout was Simon Pegg as Benji ' when the cuss am i gonna get to wear a mask' Dunn. The action in some scenes was mindblowing. The underwater scene was done well. Rest all ranged from mediocre to rubbish.

McQuarrie and Cruise have had some fruitful collaborations in the past. Edge of tomorrow, Valkyrie, Jack Reacher all good movies. MI5 is the odd one out i guess.

Hope they come up with something new next time, not like this recycled James Bond wannabe mediocre-fest.

I'll be honest here. I wasn't a big fan of 300. The script was pretty basic but what worked was the production values, the action, casting and .. the dialogues. That it what made it the moderate entertainer that it was.

Now comes the sorry sequel. Here you'll find a short list of things that make this movie un-watchable --

The story- Its like 300 all over again, minus the intensity and masculinity. Its terrible. There is no innovation , clearly the writer and director were short of any inspiration that could make the story adequately satisfying on any level. There was a kind of side story involving a father and son which was probably the worst part of this distasteful movie. By the end , i didn't care what happened to anybody as long as it happened quickly .0/10

The dialogues- So amateur, so freaking juvenile. Probably due to absence of script, the actors (oh the wretched actors!, will come to that later) were made to improvise and blurt whatever seems to be right-ish.

Example-

Warrior: There will be death and destruction!

Themistocles: Yes... (long pause)

Themistocles: There will be.

And not to forget ,SEIZE THE GLORY!!. 0/10

The casting- The actors ,all of them, even Queen Cercei, were just going through the motions. The lead guy was seriously miscast. He tried to pull a Butler, but failed...epically. Eva Green tried to do what she could with what she had, but she never had enough. Her scenes became monotonous after a while. The side actors could easily have been crew members who were given roles just to get on with this crap-fest. The only strong character , i.e Xerxes was given about 6 minutes of screen time. Its almost as if Zack 'The Hack' Snyder wanted this movie to fail, and fail it did. 2/10 (only for Rodrigo Santoro)

The production- Now this is what made the original...well mediocre. I honestly believed that the movie will stand out in this department. Now heres what i observed. Although made on a budget of 100 million, the effects were god-darn terrible. At times it felt like i was watching a TV show. Spartacus has 20 times better production value than this mess of a movie. The battle scenes felt like the opposite of epic. Has this director ever shot any action scene before, let alone a battle! I think not. I've seen better choreographed fights in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and i believed that about sums it up. 00/10

The direction- Probably a first timer, a clueless director just trying to follow a blind man's footsteps. I am not saying that a good director might have been able to pull it off, but this guy just added insult to injury. 0/10.

The climax - Don't care. Just Frickin end it and i'll be off. 0/10

And the absolute worst part-- There's gonna be another one. When people will forget how bad this was , Mr Snyder will lay another crap on us. YAY!!

Don't watch it. Please. Or if you're so darn inclined to punish yourself, i'd suggest you go easy on yourself and just watch 2 back to back recent Adam Sandler Movies.

When i first heard about the show , i thought to myself that with a premise and cast like that , what could go wrong with this show? Well there could have been a lot of things. For example the plot may have been overdone or under thought , direction may have been all over the place , but the first episode proved that it was not to be so.

The plot looks delicious...yes it does and the neat direction just purely compliments the smooth design of the show. Even though story telling is non linear at times , but it has been managed very well with subtle dialogue and the growing suspense. It does get dark at times but handles all its complications with ease.

The casting is clever...very clever. Both Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are brilliant actors and at the same time have a certain mystery about them that is Perfect for the show. They have a firm grip of their respective characters and seem dissolved in them.

This show is NOT just a regular cop drama or a clichéd murder mystery. It is much much more and has already proved so in the first episode. Much is expected from it and the future looks bright for True Detective.

UPDATE ( Episode 2-6 ) - Now 6 episodes have gone by and i believe my views have changed a little. The richness of the show in the first couple of episodes completely PALES in comparison to the speed, smoothness and uniqueness in the latter episodes. From the 4th episode is when the show actually picked even more momentum and proved its worth as possibly the greatest thing on television at the moment. McConaughey is truly having the golden period of his career. The future (probable) Academy Award winner (For DBC) is at his freaking best as Rust Cohle. Harrelson is brilliant as the angry and flawed Marty Hart. I liked this show. But now i am addicted to it.

With 2 more episodes of the season to go , one can only expect the best from this fast-paced , beautifully crafted show.

So far, an obvious 10/10.

Final update: ( Episode 7 & 8 )-- Well the series ended last night on a very thoughtful note. Up until the 7th episode, the show had picked up so much speed and given us so much to think about that i was expecting a little too much from the last couple of episodes. Who wasn't.

*********** If you haven't seen the series , please Don't read on*********

The 7th episode was truly amazing as it set the stage for Rust and Marty's final adventure of the series. There was too much anticipation for the final episode, but did it deliver. Yes and No, depending entirely on how you look at it. There were no unusual shocking twists and there were no unrealistic happenings. It was quiet a daring and a brilliant end to a show that explored beyond any other show's reach. But to be very honest, as a single episode , the finale wont stand out. But as an entire series , i believe we have been treated to one of the best television series ever made. The writing and direction have been top notch. Acting has been flawless. Am gonna miss it.

10/10