The Adventures of Tintin:The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

Rating: 3.5 blistering barnacles/4

A collaboration such as this should try in order to go wrong. With Herge providing the story and the story-boarding, Spielberg's creative investment going into the action and special-effects, and Peter Jackson overseeing the production, this part-action, part-comedy is a complete success. Tintin fans were apprehensive, though, because the one they have come to love was a two-dimensional figure (visually, at least) whereas the movie gives them a near-human interpretation. Being a fan myself and having watched the movie, I can affirm that this Tintin preserves the original Herge's spirit, doing it with an additional Spielberg rub off; there is a slight IndianaJonesey-feel to the overall movie experience.

Though the movie is named after one, the story is actually a mash of three books : Secret of the Unicorn, Crab with the Golden Claws, and Red Rackham's Treasure, which isn't surprising because one book would have been insufficient material to work with and would have had some characters robbed of their background story. The globe-trotting and trouble-seeking journalist and his pet dog start off their big-budget Hollywood debut here with a treasure-hunt that pits him against pirates, and their descendants that takes them from Europe to Africa and a first acquaintance with Captain Haddock, Tintin's funny side-kick for all the adventures to come.

The funniest scenes are mostly those lifted from the comics : Captain Haddock's thirst and his 'billions of blue blistering barnacles' are intact, Thomson and Thompson still bumble the way we love them for, Snowy is as expressive as a dog can get and Castafiore's songs that literally resonate. However, when the action is on, the original comics give way to the director's imagination. The special effects and the action scenes are a spectacle in involvement. Two episodes, one being a clash between two pirate ships and another a chase through Moroccon streets are as involving as action gets. These two justify the decision to use 3-D and motion capture. We jump down the buildings, we duck from gun-shots, and when footing is lost, it is our heart in our mouth.

Super 8 (2011)

Rating: 3.5/4

Super 8 is E.T.(1982) and Stand by me(1986) for our time with a bit of District9 (2009) thrown in to generate a few thrills while maintaining the dominant feel-good mood. By lifting a few shots directly from the Spielberg classic and also getting him to produce it, director J.J. Abrams has affirmed that the similarity is intentional. The sure-handedness with which he crafted this movie is what makes the movie almost as enthralling as its predecessor.

**Spoilers**

Joe is a high-school kid who lives with his Deputy Sheriff father having lost his mom in an accident. He spends time helping his friend Charles make a low budget zombie movie along with four other friends including Alice whom Joe has a crush on. One night during a shoot, they witness a freak accident that gets them involved in a Air Force aided government cover-up. Their previously calm suburb suddenly turns hyperactive with a slew of events; the Air Force amassing soldiers to apparently capture a monstrous alien, inexplicable thefts of machine parts, missing people and pets. Joe and his friends try to make their movie in the midst of this chaos convinced by Charles that it would add 'production value' to their movie. But when one of them goes missing, the kids start off an investigation on their own while the army starts evacuating people to satisfy an itch - an itch caused by all the fire power at their hand.

**Spoilers End**

The special effects are dazzling, not that we expect anything lesser from a Spielberg production, but the creature effects and one particularly devastating event that occurs early in the movie - one that manages to shock the audience and one that seems to go on and on - is definitely worth a mention. But no matter how splendid the visuals are, the real charm of the movie is in its depiction of childhood which the director has molded into an endearing and colorful affair. The insecurities, perceptions, infatuations and innocent jealousies are spot on and the earnestness with which they are played out is hilarious. To these kids, the monster-on-loose situation is but an opportunity to capture Air Force personnel in the footage for their movie, and to Charles and Joe, the movie work provides an opportunity to win Alice's affections. Sure there are villains to be found, there is one particularly condescending Air Force Colonel who is hell bent on maintaining secrecy and has no qualms silencing trouble-makers, but we do not root for his death. Had he been rendered as a devil-incarnate psychopath, a stand-off between good and evil would have transpired and the movie would have lost its warmth and sweetness in the midst.

Two-thirds into the movie when all the questions have been answered and the creature shows itself completely after nearly 1.5-hrs of tease, I found my involvement in the movie swaying, but that is not very long before the climactic clash and a superb short-film played along with credits. I found myself and other patient viewers walking out with a smile

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is the new HBO series based on A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels by George R.R. Martin. It is being aired today for the first time in India at 6.30 p.m.

This is not a review of something that I have not watched. Being half-way through the superb first novel and having a stack of the remaining ones on my bed-side I guessed that its okay to write a heads-up for those who may miss this grand fantasy epic otherwise.

The story is set in the age of kings on a realm consisting of seven kingdoms ruled by noble lords whose allegiance is to their one king, Robert Baratheon. Much against the wishes of his wife and queen, Robert asks his closest friend and ruler of the North, Lord Eddard 'Ned' Stark to go with him to the South and become the Hand of the King - a position next only to the King. Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime, a knight of the King's guardians, are Lannisters, the richest and the most power hungry of all the noble houses and rulers of the West. The plot here on follows four main threads - one involving Ned's activities as the Hand and his secret investigations into his predecessor's death and a possible plot to overthrow the king, another involving Ned's wife Catelyn Stark's hunt for retribution against the Lannisters, a third one that follows Daenarys, a young lady of noble origin wedded to a barbarian lord in the East raising an army enough to sweep out the Seven Kingdoms, and a final one involving the Wall in the North - a seven hundred feet high structure guarded by the Black Knights that keeps the realm protected from the Others of the Haunted forest in the unchartered and unmapped lands where even the bravest of men are wise enough not to loiter.

In this medieval epic that has a scope on par with Lord of the Rings, alliances fall and the most unlikely ones form, loyalty and morality need a perspective to be understood, guardian angels are the four-legged carnivorous kind and the ultimate enemy is the one that hasn't been around for almost a decade and is not of man's making... Winter is coming.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Rating: 3/4

Four Harry Potter movies in a row and director David Yates has crafted what is visually his best HP movie. With a color palette restricted to darkest of shades and a score to accentuate it, he has created an atmosphere of gloom that plays a role almost as important as the plot itself. The visual effects are, if not entirely original, spectacularly vivid. However, the movie itself can be slotted slightly below Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince. This has more to do with the bifurcation of the story than with movie craftsmanship. Deathly Hallows Part2 is thin plot-wise and interesting sub-plots in the book do not make it to the movie. I am pretty sure that a 3-hour Deathly Hallows movie in one-part would have made for a better experience than a 4.5-hour two-part one.

(Spoilers ahead)

The story picks up right where it left us in Part-1. Harry, Hermione and Ron are continiuing on their destructive quest for horcruxes. A thrilling break-in into Gringotts and a telepathic eavesdrop later they get a horcrux and a lead about another hidden at Hogwarts. Harry's return to Hogwarts sparks open war between Snape and McGonagall. Snape escapes apparently to join Voldemort who has amassed all his followers for the attack on Hogwarts. McGonagall takes charge of Hogwarts' defenses comandeering anyone willing to fight. Considering the the amazing build-up to the central fight, the fight itself is a bit of a let-down because the focus shifts to the less interesting Horcrux hunting trio. By the time the Horcruxes are disposed off, Hogwarts' defenses have fallen and the fighting is almost done. We are shown that Lupin, his wife and one of the Weasley twins -people we have come to care about - are dead, without any hows or whos. Fortunately the major plot twists are pretty well handled. Snape's story is rendered very well which make his flip-flop between good and evil believable. The tragedy of the unsung hero of Hogwarts hits us with great intensity especially in the epilogue where Harry tells his son, Albus Severus Potter, who he was named after. The whole Harry-the-Horcrux revelation which was a shocker to the book-folk is likely to at least surprise the movie-folk too.

The most often heard complaint is that the climactic Voldemort vs Harry bout is wrapped up pretty quickly. I say, give poor Voldy a break - he has been dying one Horcrux at a time since as early as Chamber of Secrets.

For most Potter-fans the release of Deathly Hallows the book was a landmark event, the movie is mostly a curiosity; they just want to find out how it all translated to screen. But, they are 'all' going to find out, which is why Harold, the most popular Potter, is ruling the box-office in the muggle world right now.

Delhi Belly

Rating : 3/4

So it has finally happened; a mainstream bollywood flick with few holds on profanity and vulgarity- no beeping over 'fuck' or its derivatives, the arse is off taboo list, crudeness is hiked almost to the point of celebration and, in occasion, used as a plot-device. It is a pleasant surprise that this movie made its way out through the censor board.

Unrelated chains of events with unfortunate but hilarious consequences, criss-crossing randomly and culminating at one shoot-out at the end of 1hr 30 mins- thats Delhi Belly in single breath. No, its not a Guy Ritchie film, but DB's writer and director are definitely influenced by Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. The template is copied but the dark filling is thankfully a fresh brew. Three friends/roommates - Tashi, Nitin,Arup - have a bad start when they forget whose turn it is to move the buckets to under the tap one morning. Meanwhile, a gangster is having a bad day too when he has to search for a delivery that hasn't reached him. A series of coincidences and mix-ups later, the trio unwillingly join the hunt while trying to survive the chase.

The gangster's emotional arc - frustration at his inept teammates, patience when cajoling a girl, coldness when torturing a middleman, resignation when he isn't allowed to do room service for quality reasons - all conveyed with a straight face contributes to some of the best laughs. Imran's Tashi feels as fake as his black-eye. He stands out as a guy reciting someone else's funny lines. His only good scenes in the movie are when he is fully covered up or when he doesn't speak much. His friends - Nitin and Arup - however, are very believable and provide the rest of the comedy, given the same screen time as Imran. In fact, Nitin's Disco Fighter revenge is the most original and my personal favourite comic episode in the movie.

What I found a little hard to understand is why the writer and/or director wanted everything to work out perfectly well for the threesome in the end, so much so that they were brutal to everyone else who might even hint at trouble.

The screenplay is not clever enough to pack any surprises, but thats easily excused because it takes us where we expect to reach, bloody cheerfully.

X-Men First Class (2011)

Rating : 3/4

Bad is delicious, Good is just adequate. This is exactly how I felt after watching this prequel to the X-Men movies. The Good side has the peace-loving mutant Charles Xavier (soon to be called Professor X) urging for self-restraint on mutant powers. The not-so-good side has the holocaust survivor Erik Lansherr (a.k.a Magneto) who revels in his superpower while on the vengeful trail of Sebastian Shaw, a deadly mutant who killed his mother and currently seeking world domination. See what I mean? Even with significant screen-time, Xavier isn't half as intriguing as Magneto or Sebastian.

It is 1962 and the Cold War is at its peak with the Cuban missile crisis pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war. Sebastian Shaw(Kevin Bacon), an ex-Nazi scientist and a mutant, is making sure that nothing stops the war that assures human extinction. He believes that what kills the humans will only make the mutants stronger (Doesn't it sound like the popular quote 'what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger'). Unlike Hitler who foolishly tried fighting the USA and USSR, Sebastian pits the biggies against each other. With an ingenuity more diabolic than his mutant superpower, Sebastian makes a superb super-villain whom Kevin Bacon portrays with ease and visible glee. Sebastian however makes one mistake during his days as a Nazi scientist in a concentration camp in Poland - in an attempt to incite a Jewish kid's magnetic powers, he kills his mom. The kid, Erik Lansherr(Michael Fassbender) survives the holocaust and is out for blood. Erik's search for Sebastian and the passionate ruthlessness with which he doles out punishment to the people in his way are among the film's most rousing episodes. His path crosses with that of a telepath,Charles Xavier(James McAvoy), who befriends and trains Erik along with other mutants to control and enhance their powers as they prepare to face their common enemy.

The dense plot which fits nicely into the X-universe built by this movie's predecessors gets top marks. It is with a warped sense of satisfaction that I watched the irony unfold - Magneto filling up Sebastian's void after killing him, ending his friendship with Xavier and the rest having to choose between the two of them. Having watched the sequels (X-Men, X2) the ending isn't a surprise, but its effectiveness is not diminished. After all, they all had their reasons and in Magneto's own words, peace was never an option.The last time I had this feeling was while watching Revenge of the Sith.

What prevents this movie from being a solid entertainer is that it seems to have been affected by short lapses in imagination. There are numerous places where there movie slides down to mediocrity and a few times to downright silly. The mutant training sessions are necessary but apart from the beautiful locations they are shot in, they come across as nothing but bland. Rose Byrne's CIA agent is just a pretty plot-device. There is a scene where she disguises herself as an escort to spy on a Colonel watching him through a crack like James Bond did in his early movies. Didn't we come a long way from that kind of thing? Then there is a mutant girl who flies and spits fire in the most ridiculous way that I wont even waste my time describing how (I cheered when she fell). I wouldn't have complained had it been some low profile director but it being Mathew Vaughn, the man behind the insanely entertaining Kick-Ass and Layer Cake, my expectations are justified.

Bryan Singer, who directed the superb originals X-Men, X2 elected to play producer this time. He is not let down by what Mathew Vaughn delivers. Its just as delicious but with a few bitter seeds strewn over.

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Rating : 3.5/4

When evil prevails, when dark days are here to stay, when the good are on their way up and when all hope is lost, you can count on the the Dragon Warrior for deliverance. Mind you thats not much of a comfort because, he may be the Dragon Warrior, but until the nick of time he still is every bit the same stupid fat voracious cuddly squishy panda called Po(Jack Black). And thankfully so, if you ask me. Ain't that what we love him for? Who needs originality when familiarity is this much fun.

The movie begins with a prologue about how Lord Shen(Gary Oldman), son of an Emperor, embraces the dark side to prevent a prophecy foretelling his undoing, from coming true. He uses his spare time, during his banishment from home, to create the one weapon that evokes submissiveness through fear. Just as Po is beginning to live his dream as the Dragon Warrior, staying with his kung fu idols - Tigress, Monkey, Viper,Mantis and Crane - and everything around is boringly peaceful, Lord Shen not-so-subtly returns home to make things interesting.

If Panda-1's Tai Lung and Master Shifu reminded you of Darth Vader and Master Obi-Wan^*, Panda-2's Lord Shen is bound to remind you of You-Know-Who. The prophecy, the parents.. the similarity is so obvious that Po might as well be called Harry Po or The Panda Who Lived. But I'm not complaining because any similarity ends there. Every time there is an attempt at poignancy by someone or a grave situation pops up or a grim tone tries to seep in, leave it to the Panda to reduce everything into a rip-roaringly hilarious affair the very next moment. Armed with unintended irreverence, immunity from sarcasm and abysmally low self-esteem, this Panda is going to hurt your innards. Visually, theres so much to savour in so little time. Gongmen's city, where most of the action takes place, is beautifully vibrant and artistic. Theres so much happening in the co-ordinated and expertly choreographed action sequences that we are bound to miss a few things. Slo-mo is used to good effect, serving the dual purpose of hiking up the 'coolness' and also making sure we dont blink and miss something that shouldn't be missed. The voice cast is joined by a couple of newcomers among whom Gary Oldman as Lord Shen stands out. His deliberate and unhurried delivery of lines, well- accentuated by pauses, oozes menace. When Lord Shen isn't talking, he shows us how deadly a peacock's dance can be. So any doubts about a peacock making a worthy nemesis are sure to be dispelled once Gary Oldman and the animation wizards take over.

My complaints are but minor ones - Why is Master Shifu barely there on screen? Why din't they increase the brightness enough for 3D? The 3D itself was good though. Nevertheless, this movie is filled to the brim with worthy-sequel stuff. So snug in your thermals and head to the cinema.. this one's severely cool

^* Star Wars : Jedi Master Obi-Wan trains a young Anakin Skywalker to become a Jedi. However, Anakin turns to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader and eventually kills Master Obi-Wan