maheshkoneru Reviews

Terminator Salvation (2009)

PLEASE bring back James Cameron and a Mr. Arnold

[5/10 · 28 May 2009]

Well, for those of you who haven't yet seen the movie, I have some advice. Go without any high expectations and you may just be able to sit through the movie without cursing yourself...

As for the movie itself, this is one major disappointment...It had all the right ingredients..good cast, nice story line(the concept at least)and a chance to redeem the franchise after T3... But sadly, Terminator Salvation fails to capitalize on any of these....

The big flaw with this movie is the lack of a central leading villain...there is no one personal BAD terminator that relentlessly pursues you out there...T1 had Mr. Arnie.. T2 had Robert Patrick playing that superb bad ass T1000 liquid metal terminator..

and even T3 had Krista Loken as the TX

Unfortunately, in Terminator Salvation,all you have is Skynet and droves of nameless,faceless and relatively easily expendable terminators... Thats not what the Terminator Franchise is all about people...

Sure, some of you may say that the storyline doesn't allow for a single stellar terminator and some may even point to Marcus Wright( Portrayed brilliantly by Sam Worthington by the way). But thats not it..Within the same storyline you could have had a starring evil terminator...

Christian Bale is another big flaw...This is quite possibly his worst performance to date...He sleepwalks through the role and there is no conviction at all..not even when he says the iconic "I'll be back"...In fact, he was so completely overshadowed by Sam Worthington that I felt he would have made a much better John Connor.....

To be fair, there are a few scenes in the movie which are genuinely good...but they are few and far between...This is not,I repeat,this is not a worthy successor to the Terminator Franchise...

Casual viewers may like this movie and that may explain to some extent the incomprehensibly high rating this movie has..But for the legions of fans who grew up on the original T1 and T2 that had a certain Mr.Arnie in it, this is one big letdown....

Get back James Cameron and get back Mr. Arnold..If he doesn't want to act, then you have shown us that he can be brought back to the screen with graphics..do it for the whole movie if you have to...

Otherwise, there is no salvation for this franchise and for the droves of hardcore Terminator fans out there....

Go watch this movie if you have nothing much to do over the weekend and if you are not a Terminator fan...Otherwise, its better you stay clear of this one...

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)

Rab ne is a lot of fun...don't miss this one

[8/10 · 14 December 2008]

Rab ne is an absolutely entertaining film. Have no doubts about that...

But before I go on to review the film, I would like to say a thing or two about the so called professional reviewers of our online media. Each genre and each storyline will have a different yardstick depending on what the film is setting out to achieve. Don't go looking for logic and 'intelligence' in a film when its primary motive is to make people laugh and have a good time.

And I will host a grand party the day rediff ditches Mr.raja sen.

That aside, Rab ne is a film which will make you feel good and happy and Shahrukh absolutely deserves credit for this. His performance as Mr.Surinder is an absolute delight to watch and the mannerisms will leave you in splits of laughter. And then, the performance as Raj is the icing on the cake.I wont say anything more about this as it will spoil the experience for you.

Shahrukh Khan, take a bow.This is amongst your best performances to date.

The new face of the film, Anushka deserves special mention for the way she acted and carried off the role of Taani. There is innocence,charm,a certain vulnerability and tenderness in the character but at the same time she can be quite a force to reckon with if provoked. And Anushka lived in the role. For a debutant, its amazing.

Vinay pathak as usual was his excellent self as the best friend of Shahrukh and their moments on screen are truly rib tickling.

'Haule Haule' song is very good and so is the background score. It adds weight to the film and to the comedy. All the other songs are pretty decent.

The way the city of Amritsar was shown is also very nice and the rich production values of yashraj films is clearly visible in each and every frame.

And finally, for the director. Welcome back Mr. Aditya. We missed you and we hope that you make movies a little more often than you do.

Maybe, the ending could have been handled slightly better but then its not a major gripe. Some parts of the story may defy conventional logic like the way Shahrukh manages to juggle his different 'careers'. But as I said earlier,these kinds of films are not about logic or intelligence.They are about making you laugh and have a good time and in that Rab ne is eminently successful.

All in all, Rab ne is a very feel good film that you can go out and watch with your whole family. 100% Paisa Vasool film

Death Race (2008)

Good car chases but could have been much much better

[6/10 · 21 August 2008]

Death race is a typical action movie that doesn't make much sense if you really start picking out the loopholes in the plot, but it definitely does entertain you if you like big bangs and fast car chases.....and the movie has got lots of them....

Jason Statham has really been growing as an actor over the years and it shows in this movie....This guy has a natural screen presence that you have to watch out for....

The movie is totally dominated by Statham and Joan Allen..and she looks much better than she did in the Bourne franchise....there is not much to say in terms of dialogue between the two of them though....

Nice action sequences and decent car chases are the only redeeming points of this otherwise lacklustre movie....

Watch it if you like them, but if you ask me, I would go watch the Dark Night again any given day....

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

Decent watch but the magic of the earlier versions is missing.

[6/10 · 31 July 2008]

The first and most important thing I would like to say is that Rachel Weisz is missed terribly in this version. Her beauty and and charm are just not present in this heroine.

Having said that, The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a decent watch if you can ignore the illogical and often stereotypical storyline. For folks who want a fun time and don't mind the lack of depth in the script, this movie is just fine.

The special effects are good and the battle sequences are pretty decent. Plus there are some good Jet Li moments in the film. Michelle Yeoh looks pretty ravishing in the beginning of the movie.

Brendon Fraser does not impress as much as he did in the earlier versions and the same can be said of the rest of the cast.

Take a lot of popcorn into the theater and watch it on a big screen with good sound effects. That might just be able to spice up this offering.

Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

Tremendous movie. A visual treat.

[10/10 · 15 February 2008]

There are good movies. And then there are great movies.But very few are truly epics. I can very confidently say that Jodhaa Akbar is going to be an epic.

Do not be daunted by the 195 minutes runtime of the movie. At no point in the movie will you be aware of the time. The performances put in by Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai,along with the ethereal music provided by A.R.Rahman and the stunning costumes by Neeta Lulla are going to blow your breath away.

No Indian cinema has ever evoked such a strong mixture of emotions in the audience as this one. Each and every frame of the movie is a treat to the eyes. There is richness and grandeur in every aspect of the film.

'Jashn-e-bahara' and 'Khwaja mere Khwaja' are superbly shot and executed songs. And then 'Azeem oh Shan Shahenshah' is one song that will remain etched in your memory long after you leave the theater.

The scenes where the Emperor Akbar tames the wild elephant and the sword fight between the royal couple are truly memorable. The battle sequences are captured very well.

The initial mistrust between Akbar and Jodha bai and the subsequent budding romance are handled brilliantly.

Hrithik is superb as the Emperor Akbar and I doubt if any actor of his generation could have handled this role as well. And Aishwarya Rai as usual looks stunningly beautiful.

All in all, a tremendous movie and I am going to strongly recommend this to all my friends.

Thank you Ashutosh for Jodhaa Akbar.