Tangled

The story of this animated flick is based on the beautiful fairy tale of the strikingly beautiful Rapunzel who had long hair and lived in a tall tower where a witch had locked her up since she was a child.The movie has the Disney touch and is bound to get one and all enchanted.

The story begins with Rapunzel being kidnapped by the evil witch Mother Gothel after she discovers that the little girl is blessed with healing powers from a magical flower. The powers are said to grow in the golden hair of the beautiful little girl. Now since the powers of the magical flower had to be kept away from the world Rapunzel is locked in a tall tower. As Rapunzel grows up to be a beautiful teenager her hair grows to an amazing length of 70 feet.


Things change rapidly as one day a bandit Flynn Ryder climbs the tower and is then kept captive by Rapunzel. She only allows him to go on the deal which she strikes with him. Thus, wanting to run away from the prison like tower with the bandit who had climbed over into the tower she tells him to take her to the place which dazzled with floating lights that seemed to be so attractive to her whenever she was allowed to see it ever year on her birthday.

Thus begins the wonderful journey of the girl and her new found life and what adventures she goes through .The entire animated film has been given a very contemporary touch and the storyline has been slightly altered from its original pattern to suit modern thought process and logic.

Rapunzel voice over by Mandy Moore and Delaney Rose Stein as the baby Rapunzel are both quite competent and convincing in their performance. Donna Murphy as the evil witch is also excellent. Other characters are also very much believable and adorable. Indeed a great watch.

The Dilemma

The Dilemma is a movie based on the storyline of best friends Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James) who are also partners in business. The two set up a design house and while trying to make it big in their business deals and catching up on a big project sooner or later.

All goes on fine until Ronny discovers one fine day that Nick’s wife Kevin James (Winona Ryder) was into the kissing thing with another man Zip Hanson (Channing Tatum). Ronny searches desperately for answers until he discovers that Nick has a big story of his own going on behind everybody are back.


The hilarious situations of Ronny trying to find a way to tell Nick about his wife and her cheating ways makes the entire movie into a complete laugh riot.

Despite the first promo of the movie falling into some sort of entangle due to the use of the word Gay in an inappropriate manner, it was sorted out after the word was taken off. However, the movie itself has the term as it was originally incorporated into it.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

Not all movie can be made into good sequels. Perhaps this is the thought director Michael Bay missed while directing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The movie seemed to be directed by the aliens rather than Michael Bay as the story falls apart in the first hour itself and seems like the director tries to forcefully establish it. He can’t even put a coherent series of shots together in the entire movie.

All Bay seems to know is action that never stops and seems to be obsessed with it throughout the movie. Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman share the writing credit for apology of a script. The actors in the movie seem to have come out of a sitcom and it is the robots which entertain the audience. It will be difficult for Michael Bay to live up to the standards set by this movie!

Sam Witwicky(Shia LaBeouf) had saved the planet from the attack of the aliens in the first sequal and in Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen he is trying to forget that he discovered a robot alien race. Sam is now interested about his education and starts going to the college. He also holds onto his sizzling girlfriend Mikaela Banes(Megan Fox)

The Autobots are still on earth and have now allied with the US military. They are working together to protect the earth from further Decepticon attacks Unfortunately, as Optimus Prime solemnly intones, "Fate never calls on us at the moment of our choosing." The Decepticons are on the move again, with the very ancient and very evil Transformer - The Fallen - masterminding a diabolical plan to destroy the Autobots

The Fallen's aim is to destroy the Earth itself and secure the future of his race. Soon earth turns battleground for these ancient robotic foes to wage war. Sam Witwicky sheds his student self and once again takes up the responsibility of saving the human race from these aliens. While Sam be able to save the human race from The Fallen?

Shia Lebouf is highly repetitive throughout the movie and doesn't seem to be the same actor as in the first sequel. He is anything but impressive in the movie. Other characters hardly find any significance in the movie. The robots make superstars like entries and at times outshine the actors in most sequences.

The only thing noticeable in the entire movie was the graphic works. It has surely improved from the first part. The drama is short on a variety of military bases, and throws in several robot-on-robot battles for good measure. In the end the story finished Optimus Prime comes back to life( Killed in the Start by megatron) with the help of sam witwicky and defeats The Fallen Like a Hero and covers up all the action he missed during the movie.

The Surrogates

Disney produced Hollywood movie The Surrogates is a semi sci-fi thriller. The movie, which features Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike in lead roles, is based on a comic book miniseries written by Robert Venditti. Although the film seems to have borrowed heavily from Blade Runner, The Matrix and Total Recall, it has an identity of its own.

These days, man is passing by the corporate-controlled world. He is growing more and more dependent on online avataras. He does not come out from his home. He wants to do everything online. He is getting addicted to the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. In disguise, he wants to see what everyone out there feel. In the course of technological development in future, man might create his cybernetic avatars/surrogates to do all his works, which might lead him to trouble.

The film The Surrogate is all about this. The movie is set in a futuristic world, where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots. In this era, crime is virtually non-existent. The movie is not only a disturbing look into the future, but is also a powerful commentary on the world we live in today. The movie touches poignant subjects such as gender roles, technology, American consumer culture and advertising. Meanwhile, it also focuses on telling an exciting science fiction crime tale.

The movie The Surrogates has two plots. The main plot of the film is Greer attempting to find out who is behind the weapon that killed the inventor of surrogates along with its original self. The subplot deals with Greer"s wife Maggie Greer (Rosamind Pike), who never unplugs from her surrogate and lives a false life as a surrogate stylist.

When the film opens, it has been 14 years since Lionel Canter (James Cromwell) a college student, who developed a high-tech surrogate phenomenon. The movie starts with the mysterious murder of his surrogate as well as his own self. Both the brains are fried and liquefied.

FBI agents Tom Greer and Peters (Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell) start off the investigation on the murder. Greer sends his surrogate, but it gets fried and destroyed in during a chase. As the mystery of a conspiracy unfolds Greer himself comes outside in his human form in order to solve the crimes. He does an investigation on the weapon called BD gun, the MacGuffin, which destroys the surrogates and their operators.

Director Jonathan Mostow has come out as a capable genre technician while exhibiting his wit and graft through the movie The Surrogates. The film"s action is top notch. Especially, the chase scene that involves a helicopter crash is really marvelous. But Jonathan"s flimsy narration seems to have failed in handling the elegance of its overall conceit.

However, the director has made a right choice for lead role of the movie. Bruce Willis, who is a versatile actor, has given a credible performance as FBI agent Tom Greer. He has managed to carry whole responsibility of the movie on his back. The movie also has a fairly strong supporting cast which includes James Cromwell, Radha Mitchell and Ving Rhames.

In a nutshell, The Surrogates is a thought provoking semi-action movie. The director has come out with an interesting concept, but he has failed to execute in onscreen.

The Step Father

Director Nelson McCormick, who was earlier helming TV serials, entered the big screen through the remake movie Prom Night. Now, he has come out with another remake movie with most of its characters being the TV actors like Nip/Tuck's Walsh, Gossip Girl's Badgley, series veteran Ward, Damages's Turco, The Closer's Tenney, and ER's Sherry Stringfield (except Heard). The movie is nothing but a TV movie quality remake.

Veteran TV director Nelson McCormick's The Stepfather is a remake of the 1987 cult classic, which was directed Joseph Ruben. Donald E. Westlake had penned the original screenplay and Terry O'Quinn had played the lead role as a serial killer. Now, the remake features Dylan Walsh and Sela Ward in lead roles.

JS Cardone, who had written the script for remake Prom Night, has now once again reworked the original screenplay for The Stepfather. But the script of new Stepfather is astonishingly dull and it is so relentlessly dumbed down the original. Cardone has lifted many sequences from other movies.

The original movie has an enduring reputation as a suspense thriller. Although the remake is considered as generic thriller, it does not provide thrill to the audiences. It is a bland movie. The scattered murders are perfunctory and the suspense is nonexistent until a climax as overwrought as it is predictable. There are no surprises or revelations, but just the playing out of the inevitable conflict between David and Michael.

Wayward teenager Michael (Penn Badgley) comes back home after spending a year in military boarding school to see his mother Susan (Sela Ward) and his insanely hot girlfriend Kelly (Amber Heard). But he finds his mom is engaged to a new man called David (Dylan Walsh). David goes out of his way to make Michael feel welcome. But suspicions unravel his nasty track record of marrying widows and divorcees and then killing them and their kids.

NIP/TUCK’s Dylan Walsh is good in the title role. But he is nowhere near Terry O’Quinn when compared to his canny charming/crazy performance in the original. Sela Ward is also pretty good as his wife Susan. The real star here is probably Penn Badgley of Gossip Girl. Amber Heard fares better as his insanely hot girl friend.

However, the movie The Stepfather utterly fails to create interest among the audiences with its predictable screenplay. It can be a negligible horror film.

Shrek Forever After

Shrek is back this time in 3-D. While some might call it an unwelcome thing feeling that the oversized green ogre has already overstayed his welcome with feckless second and third chapters. But for many, this fourth installment of the Shrek franchise will be an extremely entertaining enterprise as this one is not only smart, imaginative but also an exceptionally hilarious sequel that wraps up the series.

In this film, Shrek (Mike Myers) is feeling the pressures of fatherhood and the mundane nature of daily life and his marriage with Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz). He longs for his days as a bachelor ogre. When Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn) comes into his life and offers him a deal to relive his bachelorhood, Shrek takes the bait. This sets into motion a sequence of events in which Shrek never existed and Rumpelstiltskin becomes the king of Far Far Away. It’s up to Shrek to fix the past so he can fix the future.

The fourth and final installment of the Shrek series has a tremendous amount of heart. Writers Klausner and Lemke have been able to capture the spirit and warmth that made the first two movies so wonderful, and if Shrek's journey doesn't get you feeling a little emotional, then you have to be lying to yourself. The action scenes are well shot and fast paced, and the imagery is further enhanced by the crisp and vivid animation, which absolutely pops in 3-D. And although not all of the humor hits the mark (the dancing scenes with the Pied Piper are a bit tacky), enough of it works that it shouldn't bring back those bad memories of “Shrek the Third.”

And there's not enough you can say about remarkable voice talents of Myers, Diaz, Murphy and Banderas, who have settled nicely into their roles. Dohrn is also equally impressive as the unpredictable Rumpelstiltskin. These actors really bring their characters to life, which makes it so much easier to lose yourself and be immersed by the narrative.

After a disappointing third outing, this "Shrek" brings the cycle of fairy-tale-themed films to a fine finish.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I, Harry faces new troubles; he must collect the Horcruxes that evil Lord Voldemort has left behind to vanquish him. Little does he realize that the final Horcrux is Harry himself. Killing the Horcrux will make him loose all the powers, which make him so much alike the ‘Dark Lord’ himself. He has no idea, where these are and he has to destroy them all, even without the faintest idea how to do so.

Directed by David Yates, this movie does not allow Harry and his friends to experiment. There is absolutely no room for trials and errors. With the ‘Dark Lord’ rising in power again, Harry and his team has to ensure that they use all the tricks up their sleeves and magic to vanquish Voldemort. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a thrilling roller coaster ride, which forces you to sit and watch, even though you may have read the novel.

However, the film has been termed both exciting and scary. The lead characters look suave and carry the film with style and give a very ‘mature’ performance. There was a mixed response after the movie’s release. Many parents did find it to be inappropriate for their little ones because of the scary scene and the smooch, which turned out to be a full blown adult kiss.

The performances of other characters look more menacing than ever. With brilliant sound effects and excellent cinematography, one feels as if he/she is a part of the movie. Step by step, the filmmaker very beautifully drops hints as he unveils the mystery slowly and steadily leaving you satiated yet desperately anticipating the second and final chapter of 'Deathly Hallows'.

Overall, the adventures unfold with not a dull moment and which makes the viewer want to see the part II as soon as possible to know how Harry and his friends ultimately win over the evil forces. It is certainly the 2 hrs and up movie deserves a watch

Gulliver's Travels

This is perhaps the worst silver screen edition of the 18th century novel written by Jonathan Swift. Jack Black, who plays Lemuel Gulliver in the Friday release, disappoints throughout. The actor may have given Hollywood some wonderful performances in films like Kung Fu Panda and King Kong, but Jack Black tends to forget that not all stories want him to play a geek! For that matter, the humor in the 2010 version of Gulliver’s Travels also fails to impress.

Lemuel Gulliver here is a mailroom worker who is very much in love with Darcy Silverman, a newspaper travel editor. To express his love, Gulliver sets upon a travel from where he will return to pen his own experiences. Lemuel Gulliver sets upon a journey to the Bermuda Triangle and accidentally reaches the land of Lilliputs when his ship wrecks. It is here that Lemuel Gulliver starts enjoying the taste of being a true hero when the Lilliputs shower the towering man with love and respect.


The Lilliput kingdom considers Gulliver, the savior of their little world. Will he emerge as the real hero that he brags to be or will Lemuel Gulliver fall short of the Lilliputs’ expectations? Gulliver’s Travels shows some high class drama, comedy, fantasy and even love, but still fails to draw the attention of the audience. Running for a duration of only 95 minutes, Gulliver’s Travels may force you to leave the theater halfway into the film!

The Green Hornet

Director Michel Gondry delivers a watchable superhero satire in The Green Hornet which draws inspiration from a plethora of superhero films. This film is not good enough to spawn a franchise but is still decent enough if you go to theaters without any over-ambitious expectations.

Seth Rogen portrays the lead role of a media heir Britt Reid, who realises that his media empire is replete with criminal elements that need to be wiped out. Then he and his human weapon Kato embark on a quest to fight the nemesis. Green Hornet is slightly different from other superheroes in the sense that he puts on a veil of villainy in order to fight his adversaries.

The film has been on the receiving end of some negative publicity after its delayed release and hence it has nothing to lose but everything to gain. Gondry conjures up some seriously hilarious moments as he pokes fun at some conventional superheroes.

The film is more about a great camaraderie between Rogen and Chou than about anything else. The duo look appealing when they share the screen but are otherwise flat. Rogen, at times, succeeds in making your belly wobble with some good humour but it is Chou and Waltz who arrest your wavering attention.

Actress Cameron Diaz plays the candy floss and has nothing substantial to offer. Overall, the movie is a mixture of slapstick comedy and action. It does not promise much and stays true on that count by not delivering anything exceptional. If you have some extra bucks, you can go for this one. Or else, just let it be a miss!

127 Hours

Director Danny Boyle's much-hyped movie 127 Hours, was released on November 12, 2010 in US. The Hollywood thriller has got positive review from 93% critics in US. James Franco's performance has received lots of appreciation from them. Moreover, the movie has snatched several nominations in Oscar, Bafta and Golden Globe awards in the categories like best story, best screenplay, best actor and best music. It is a bravura piece of film-making that captures the resilience of the human spirit. Truly! It deserves all these awards.

The film 127 Hours is an action movie with a guy, who cannot move. It is movie made on real-life incident of Aron Ralston and is an adaptation of Ralston's book 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place' James Franco's acting is the main attraction of the movie. AR Rahman music score, breath-taking cinematography and excellent storyline are its other highlights.


When most of the Hollywood deals with imaginary science fiction, Danny Boyle can not stop himself from making movies on real incidents. In his previous, the director has heavily focused on physical pain, mental paranoia and personal treachery faced by the hero. Now, he has returned with a same subject in 127 Hours too.

The movie is all about mountain climber Aron Ralston, whose remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crushes his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Canyonlands National Park of Utah. Director Danny Boyle re-creates this true story of survival with incredible brio. By using flashbacks, hallucinations and kinetic editing, Boyle transforms a necessarily static situation into a collage in which we get to see a man pondering his imminent demise and discovering whether he has what it takes to save himself.

Aron Ralston (James Franco), a mountain climber, embarks on a wilderness jaunt in a Utah national park without informing anyone where he was going. After a frenetic couple of hours on a mountain bike, he continues on foot and meets Megan (Amber Tamblyn) and Kristi (Kate Mara), who are lost. But in a freak accident, he is literally stuck between a rock and a hard place trapped by his forearm between a boulder and a cliff-face. Over the five six days, with no sign of rescue and his water having run out, the brutal solution to his ghastly predicament became increasingly clear.

Promising actor James Franco has delivered a hair raising performance that matches Danny Boyle's technical brilliance with a mesmerising depiction of Ralston's strange internal journey. AR Rahman's music has also boosted the strength of Boyle's gory conclusion. The amputation scene is the handiwork of makeup artist Tony Gardner and his team. It is made with medically accurate in every minute detail. Multiple cameras are used to shoot the entire scene. Camerawork is really excellent in this scene.

All in all, 127 Hours has neither a message, nor a metaphorical meaning. It just deals with terrible story of Aron Ralston's magnificent survival. But it is an exciting, touching and visually compelling film.

Sucker Punch

Hollywood movie Sucker Punch is a passion project of director Zack Snyder, who has produced, directed and co-written the story and screenplay with Steve Shibuya for it. It is an interesting fantasy film, which is completely an original flick by Snyder. It has been done with a great in-depth and is definitely a visually stunning film, which is fairly impressive to watch.

Sucker Punch, which has been rated PG-13, has the plot within the plot within the plot. It is a fantasy world within a fantasy world within a fantasy world. It is a mess on many levels and is a fairly hard film to review. There is a main plot very loosely dispersed throughout the movie, but it is so muddled by the other layers that it is very hard to tell what is actually going on.

Sucker Punch is all about how a girl named Baby Doll, who has been lobotomised due to her stepfather's greed and how she escapes from the asylum. Snyder, who helmed such techno-thrill adventures as Watchmen, lets his imagination run riot again in this ultra-violent potboiler that unravels like an expensive video game. He has worked extra hard to insert high outlook into every single. His brain is geared towards directing and visuals.

The mother of Baby Doll (Emily Browning) dies leaving behind her estate to her two daughters in 1955. But Baby Doll is institutionalized by her stepfather at the Lennox House for the Mentally Insane after accidentally shooting her sister while trying to prevent him from molesting them. He even bribes asylum’s orderly Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac) to lobotomise her before she reveals the reality. She has five days before the Doctor (John Hamm) arrives to lobotomize her. She befriends Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung) in the asylum. How she escapes from there along with them with the advice of Wise Man (Scott Glenn) will form the rest of the story.

Zack Snyder has been in his characterisation and has given enough scope to explore its strength. Although all character looks like an angel does not appear to be in real wold, each has its own strength and credibility to make the audience sit back and watch the movie till its end. The director is also successful in tapping out the right kind of acting from all the actors like Emily Browning, Oscar Isaa, John Hamm, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung and Scott Glenn.

Sucker Punch has sound technical elements Larry Fong's cinematography is excellent. The plot is just something that is there to explain the visuals in the same way that a video game and the camera never stops moving. There is never a scene without multiple things going on and it is hard to follow. It is like watching the world through the eyes of a hyper-active kid. Tyler Bates and Marius de Vries' music is mind(less)blowing. William Hoy's editing is also commendable.

Overall, Sucker Punch is a fantasy world. It is a video game and has massive fights, which do look great. Moreover, it has a message that each human being has some tools, but he/she has to decide what is worth fighting for. All the character and scenes are symbolic. It is a mindblowing entertainment and Snyder is to be commended for attempting to do something totally original. It is a visual feast.

Your Highness

Director David Gordon Green had mixed the genres like comedy and action in his previous film Pineapple Express and was successful in winning the heart of movie buffs. Following the trend, he has done another movie called Your Highness, which has also equal share for both lewd up comedy and blood-drenched action. But in Pineapple Express, the jokes match with the story and the characters are likable. Whereas in Your Highness, there is not much to like about the characters.

Your Highness is an epic- comedy adventure set in a fantasy world. The story of the movie is quite messy and lacks comprehensive narrative. The story revolves around two princes, who set out on a daring mission to rescue the heir apparent's fiance before their kingdom is destroyed. The one-liners are hilarious in the first half of the film, but in the second half, many situations are annoying and predictable.

Danny McBride and Ben Best have penned script for Your Highness, which obviously has some funny moments. But many comedy scenes look like childish humor, which will not have long-lasting power. In many scenes, the jokes seem to be lazy and laughter arises from the adolescent punchline or a tweak on old English and the sheer absurdity of the characters.

Fabious (James Franco) and Thadeous (Danny McBride) are two very different sons of King Tallious (Charles Dance). Fabious is the stereotypical dashing prince, while Thadeous (McBride) is a chubby and lazy one. Fabious' fiance Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) is kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux). How the brothers rescue her from the clutches of Leezar will form the story.

David Gordon Green's casting is solid in general and the chemistry between characters is impressive. But most of the characters will not become closer to viewers' heart and will be forgotten the moment they are off screen. The dynamic camerawork, special effects and production design are very impressive and the film certainly looks epic-like using the country of Ireland as its backdrop. The movie has lots of entertaining moments, but it can be enjoyed once and forgotten.

The Fast Five

Director Justin Lin is back with the movie Fast Five, which is the fifth entry in the series of The Fast and the Furious. His latest venture is an exceptional sequel, which is even better than the original film. The action scenes look highly unimaginable and far from reality, but they are really fun to watch.

The plot of Fast Five is a fantasy and does not resemble real life. It is a film about crass materialism, masculine sentimentality and extreme violence and these aspects have been exaggerated to the point of caricature. Relentless car chases, great setting and action sequences are the major attractions of the movie. In a way, Chris Morgan's goofy script and ridiculous action are disappointing aspects.

But these two aspects do not deter the viewers from enjoying the movie because it has no pretensions other than to be a perfect car-chase film. It is all about two guys who steal expensive cars for a living and are forced to do this in Brazil because of America's draconian anti-stealing policies.

Notorious street racer Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) are wanted by the FBI for all the mayhem they perpetrated in the previous installments. They flee the US for Rio de Janeiro, where they decide to steal one last car to line their bank accounts. The easy money score goes badly and along with the FBI, a Brazilian kingpin (Joaquim de Almeida) also starts chasing the antiheroes. But Dom, Brian and Mia assemble a crack team of old colleagues to beat the kingpin at his own game by stealing all his money.

The characters in this franchise are larger than life. Justin Lin has retained most of the lead heroes of previous film and this helps him to go right into the meat of the story instead getting in to the introduction of each character first. He is also successful in tapping out the right kind of performance from each actor.

The major highlight of the movie is its action scenes and they are marvelously energetic and well-choreographed. There are two solid chase scenes in it. They are stealing cars off a moving train in a sequence and a chase scene on foot in which Dom, Brian and Mia have to elude both Reyes’ criminal gang and Hobbs’ law enforcement team. Stephen F Windon's camera work is superb and the CGI effects shown in the film are extremely clever.

In a nutshell, Fast Five may not have an interesting script and it may run like an atomic clock, rumbling past calcified performances and logic free stunts, but it keeps the viewers' interest in the film awake till its end. It is a must watch movie.