Tron Legacy : a movie with light and darkness

Rating : 2.5/5

Tron : Leagacy, a sequel to the original Tron that released way back in the early eighties.......though i haven't watched the original,but i must say the effects r surely better....
Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges),the head of a software company called ENCOM and also the creator of the Grid, a digital world disappears mysteriously and 20 years later,his son Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund,of Troy,Four Brothers & Eragon fame) is still haunted by his disappearance.one day,on the receipt of a message from his father,Sam visits his father's arcade and and he finds a secret underground lab which belonged to his dad.....
typing in some commands, Sam is suddenly transported into the so-called Grid...where he captured and is dressed up into Light suits,with coloured highlights and is given disc which stores information and serves as a potential battle weapon.....he is then pitted to fight against many opponents called programs....eventually he is brought in front of the so-called ruler,a man named Clu (Jeff Bridges) who looks just like Sam's dad,but he claims not to be....then after a gruelling Light Cycle (wish i had one,ultra-cool) matches,Sam is reunited with his dad with the help of Quorra (Olivia Wilde).....
Kevin, then revels to Sam about the Grid and how it was created by 3 people- Kevin,Clu & Tron.....and that the portal to the outside world only stays open for a while,and about the evil plans of Clu......Sam,Kevin and Quorra then make a getaway for the portal before it's closure,with Clu and his Army at their heels.......

First off,don't go for the Legacy with a bag full of expectations,keep that bag a little lighter (better off,keep that bag at home)....though its just a 2 hr flick,it gets to you many a times....with the scenes shifting from a lot of light to a lot of darkness.......and the 3D part of it is the worst.....they even mention before the movie starts-some scenes have been shot in 2D,but keep ur glasses on from the start itself.....and it gets darker with the glasses on.......

acting department,Jeff bridges is nothing great...but his other half,Clu (also played by Jeff Bridges) is good.....Garrett Hedlund as Sam,a young guy is pleasant and not irritating like other young guys on the block....
the best part-Olivia Wilde,she looks stunning........ravishing.......Michael Sheen (from Frost/Nixon,Twilight fame)also plays a small role in the movie and he is plays a crazy character.....

the light suits are great ....excellent design...with every character having different coloured suits...the Clu's army,with all the soldiers in the orange coloured suits is a great scene......the light cycles are a treat,excellent concept and i still wish i had one of those.......but they appear only during first half .....
the first half contains all the best sequences,the cycles ,the disc fights and the story.......
the second half is the weak point of the movie.....the story goes haywire....the only sequence that keeps u engaged here is the bar fight scene wherein Michael Sheen's character makes a appearance!!!!!
Watch it in 2D,if u can and save the money on the glasses ....or contact me i will give u mine for free........
Tip: watching animation movies in 3D is far better, i think ;-)


IMDB (Tron [1982]) :  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/
IMDB (Tron Legacy) :http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/

Lalettan & Big B : Kandahar

Rating : 3.1/5

Major Ravi brings back Major Mahadevan for the 3rd time....it all started with Keerthichakra(2006) and then Kurukshetra(2008)...and now KANDAHAR(2010)......

Its the first time Big B is in a Malayalam film ,and the 2nd time with Mohanlal in a movie(after Aag).Mohanlal is introduced early on this time,with the movie starting with him getting of a aircraft at the nagpur air base.

a few minutes later we are transported to the flashback portion...the entire movie is a flashback except the first 5 minutes and the last 15 minutes...



Big B,Mohanlal & Ganesh



This movie basically tells the story of a Surya Sharma(Ganesh,who acted with lalettan in Unnaipol Oruvan) who has just passed out from the flying school in Bangalore and is hellbent on getting a job,but his father Lokanath Sharma(Big B) who is a respected man,doesn't agree on using influence to get him a job....One day,when Surya gets into a fight with some locals,Mahadevan(Mohanlal),intervenes and later on suggests him to join the army and not waste his talent getting into fights....

parallel to this,Surya's Muslim friend joins hands with some jihadis to attain wealth and power,despite several oppositions from his mother(K.P.A.C Lalitha),he leaves town for Kandahar... the first half then shows the training days of Surya and His Friend parallelly,showing the hardships they both face...

the 2nd half is where the real story kicks in....the hijacking of the Air India flight from Mumbai to Delhi.....Surya is now working under Mahadevan and as their first mission they go to Kashmir to kill immigrant terrorists crossing the border.after the killings,Surya recognises his friend from among the dead....

Soon their team is ordered to report to the Delhi Airport for dealing with Hijacked Flight.the hijacked flight bound now for Kandahar stops at Delhi for refueling....during this time Mahadevan and his team enter the aircraft.....after which the story is more or less predictable......

First off, this one is better than its predecessor(Kurukshetra) which was pathetic.Big B has done quite a bit of a role for no fee and that's remarkable.....Mohanlal doesn't have that big a role,but he gets a few punch dialogues......Ganesh is good........the supporting cast has nothing much to do...except the terrorists(who r OK).....for its 120 minutes runtime,its a good effort that puts forward the message of not fearing,achieving things in life by working hard for attaining it....



The Legends



the movie is shot in variety of places - Ooty,Dehradun,Kashmir( i think),but not in kerala......the songs r few,but fits in well..Sonu Nigam's track plays during the end credits (which i think is the best track in the movie)....Major Ravi himself plays a small role in the movie....the movie also has it's light moments(one in the army camp when Surya is frog jumping)....and touching moments especially the scene where a small boy on board the flight intimidates a terrorist.....

the faults of the film r few compared to previous movie in the series....the major one-----one Mahadevan & Surya try to land the aircraft,one can easily spot that the aircraft they r trying to stop is a toy one......

Bollywood and Mollywood Legends sharing the same screen space is nice to watch....

Overall the movie is worth a single watch......but make sure to watch it in a theatre so as to get the feel of the movie whenever lalettan appears on the screen and the audience start clapping and cheering the Universal star ;-)

Trailer of Kandahar : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMX3dZOaTMQ

My 1st Review : The Shawshank Redemption

Bingo's Rating : 4.1/5

Red & Andy 's Growing Relationship

Some days ago i lost my faith in IMDB ratings......but after i watched this one last night(wanted to watch it long back),i regained my faith in the ratings.....A 9.2 rating in the IMDB 's list of Top 250 Movies....and yes Redemption has the 1st position.....
Adaptation of Stephan King's Novella ( 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption'),actually part of his Book "Different Seasons"......and its not the usual King stuff with all the horror!!!
The movie is centered around two main characters - Andy (played by Tim Robbins) and Red (played by Morgan Freeman).Set in the Late 40's,the movie starts with Andy sitting in the front seat of a car,drinking some type alcohol straight from the bottle and eventually taking out a revolver and some bullets wrapped in a piece of cloth....the scene then changes to a court-room where Andy is being held guilty of killing his wife and her lover with a gun.....Andy claims that he didn't do it,but all in vain......and eventually he is sentenced to 2 life sentences back to back at Shawshank(a prison)....
from here on Red narrates the story(just 10 mins into the movie).he describes the prison,why he is called the "the person who can get anything",and his first view of Andy,when he enters the prison.the story then moves on and shows how the new prisoners cope with their new lives,their hardships,their cells,their leisure time,etc...Andy at start is a reserved type,but as time passes he opens up and gains the trust of the other inmates,guards especially the Captain of the Guards Byron(played by Clancy Brown),the Prison Warden Norton(played by Bob Gunton) and the others.....eventually Andy starts doing the taxes for all the guards,warden,and others,he sets up a big library,educates the inmates,carves chess pieces from stone,and passes more than a decade in Shawshank......90 minutes into the movie,the story changes colour....
and the real deal kicks in.......and that's the part one really enjoys...the last 45 minutes of the movie-the turning point,the chance of 'HOPE'.....(that part u guys have to watch,that's the beauty of it ;-) ) .
Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman fit perfectly into their roles,its like it was tailor made for them.. . .throughout the movie,their bond of friendship increases and one actually gets the feel of it..The Warden is a Bible abiding man (and tells the prisoners to do the same too),but he has different layers beneath him,just like an onion.....and the captain of the Guards is damn cruel!!!! some scenes are very touching,especially the one in which an old inmate who has spent 50 years in Shawshank gets parole, but he is reluctant to leave the place - they call him "Institutionalised".........and the old man's life in the outside world after that , is really moving.....(in case u forget,his name is Brooks).another scene that add's effect is Red's repeated rejection of parole during his tenure in Shawshank.....A special mention towards the performance lo the Prison Warden Norton,watch out for him..and the young gun prisoner who has a small role in the flick....

Mr.Brooks

Though the movie initially starts on a slow track,it makes up for it towards the end,especially during the last 50 mins of the runtime.This movie was released in 1994,directed by Frank Darabont(the director's first film).Though the movie wasn't a financial success ,it got the much required critical acclaim and 7 Oscar nominations(didnt win any due to Hank's Gump) including Best Picture & Best Actor(Morgan Freeman) Nominations....this director made 3 more movies after this,2 of which were adaptations of Stephen King's Novels-The Green Mile and The Mist....
My only regret after watching the movie - - 'Why Didn't i watch this earlier?' But Better late then Never........
Those 136 mins were enjoyable!!!!!!!Recommended!!!!!!!! a good holiday watch.........



IMDB Chart of Top 250 Movies :http://www.imdb.com/chart/top
IMDB Page :http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/
Trailer :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYSt1FjGOVA

My first Post ......Well obviously its a movie review.....

It can be easily understood from the title that this blog caters to the world of movies,films,cinema or anything related to it.....

though my posts or reviews on various flicks may not be regular or periodic in nature,i will make sure that i post my views on a flick whenever i watch one and whenever i get access to the net.....

during the past one year i had an habit of texting my reviews of movies i had watched in the theatre to my friends and loved ones...but nowadays that feels to tiring ..........and people complain a lot - some don't receive the complete message,some don't bother reading it whole,etc,etc......

so that's why i have turned to the net mode of texting my views and reviews.......

so i hope u all enjoy my posts,please do comment on them expressing ur own views on that particular movie......