(Movie) The American directed by Anton Corbijn

If you just happen to read the promotional summary of this movie which reads “An assassin hides out in Italy for one last assignment.”, and look at the poster, you would be forgiven for thinking that this is a Jason Bourne or a Neeson “Taken” type of swashbuckling movie…

If you sit down to watch this with an intent to lose your blues in an orgy of fast moving punches and adrenaline pumping chases, you would be sorely disappointed. And that is only because this is a case of bad marketing…

Because this is probably one of the best movies that I have ever seen. And it becomes one not due to any breakthrough theme or espousing some philosophy that multiple views to get the aha moment.

It does this by having a screenplay that almost makes it a visual O Henry short story - a taut storyline that leaves more questions than answers, by a character sketch that is as profound as it is multi- dimensional and yes having a background score that almost gives a dark poetic feel…It had the same feel as Uzak (Distant) does in most part…

At the centre of this extraordinary movie is perhaps one of the most (till yet) under-rated actor of our generation – George Clooney. Watch this movie, Up in the Air, Syriana, Michael Clayton, Oceans series, One fine day and the sheer extraordinary range of Clooney comes through. And this movie is given its quality by his sheer presence.

Labels: adaptation, book adaptation, Crime, drama, movies, psychological, thriller

posted by Protik Basu @ 1:16 AM 3 Comments

(Movie) X Men – Origins: Wolverine directed by Gavin Hood

Ok…The only reason I watched this movie even after getting unfavourable reviews was because I am a big fan of the X-Men , the graphic novel and the trilogy, both. Unfortunately, I should have heeded the reviews…this movie lacked depth. Absolutely.

What I had liked about the X-Men was the underlying philosophy – of how when we are different, we have to fight for our place or succumb. And when you add meaningful action in between, that makes for an exciting package. One more thing that I liked about the graphic novel characters (which was reflected in a good measure in the trilogy as well) was that all the characters had shades of grey.

This movie lacked all that I liked above. It never really tugged at your heart. It did not set off the adrenalin rush. The characters were plastic and one-dimensional. And the script just goes haywire at times, with loose ends which never get tied up.

Hugh Jackson grimaced and slashed his way through this one without really making a presence. The sensitivity and the humour he displayed in the trilogy was very infrequent. I think the only acting I liked was that of his brother played by Liev Schreiber, though he struggled with the poor script. The characters were all underdeveloped, according to me. The makers tried to bulldoze their way through with action.

Didn't work with me…

Labels: action, adaptation, movies

posted by Protik Basu @ 7:27 PM 0 Comments