Pirates Of The Caribbean-On Stranger Tides - Review

Pirates Of The Caribbean, A Franchise which laid its foundations way back in 2003 and since then continues to enthrall audiences worldwide. It had created a distinguished fan base for itself who literally live by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow played none other than one of the greatest actors to live on earth Johnny Depp(In My Opinion). So its natural that expectations will be sky high for any movie arriving from this franchise. I too had the same expectations being a fan and after watching it I felt completely satisfied. It has all the elements which you expect from a good adventure movie.

This time the man behind the curtains is Rob Marshall, acclaimed for his works Nine, Memoirs of Geisha etc. Following the steps of Gore Verbinski who gave us the previous three movies all of which were brilliant is not easy and some critics panned did him down but in my honest opinion he did a great job. He brought his own style into the franchise and executed this one with panache. Not at any place I found the movie to be boring or dragging.

Talking about the cast, we have a star studded one here. With the familiar characters of Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp and Kevin McNally returning we have the new additions of Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz. No need to mention here but i still will that Depp again steals the show. Though this movie has a multitude of characters but he stands tall as Captain Jack Sparrow, a character tailor made for him. He always gets into the skin of this multilayered character and gives a brilliant performance every single time. Penelope Cruz enjoys the position of the single female lead this time and woos the audience with her no-nonsense cum Hottie act. Geoffrey Rush and Ian Mcshane shine in their respective characters of Barbossa and Blackbeard pitted against each other. Rest of the cast provided a good support.

The Movie was good in all the Technical Aspects. A Movie of this scale needs fair usage of CGI and the makers did that efficiently. One wouldn't be able to say that the movie relied only on special effects but the Plot and Screenplay were also good. The background score is lively and the original theme which is hugely popular is kept in this movie also. Cinematography was excellent as the lush forests, swamps and seas looked great on screen.

My Final Word is that franchise fans and Depp fans shouldn't miss it any cost. Though it could not match upto its predecessors but still its a decent addition to this great franchise.

Rise of The Planet of The Apes - Review

Initially when I first saw the trailer for this one, I wasn't much impressed. I thought here again is a creature feature(For the record I nowadays don't have much liking for this particular genre). I didn't have much expectations until the reviews and response started coming for this one which touted it to be the best summer movie of 2011. Good ratings all over forced me to watch this movie and yes as a final outcome I was more than impressed. It proved me wrong in the sense that All creature features are same.

This movie is the reboot for the much acclaimed Planet of The Apes franchise (Tim Burton one sucked though). It is the origin story about how the Apes began to rise to power and about a man who is bent on curing Alzheimer's and raising an ape who has been past on the genes of the cure from his mother and what the effects this has on this one ape named Caesar.

I was thoroughly surprised during watching this movie. The character development was really good. Each of the character's emotions and actions were properly displayed on screen. Even the cgi created apes displayed the required emotions and didn't looked computer generated at all.



Coming to the performances and the cast, The cast was really good here and each of them did a good job. James Franco as the scientist who wants to cure his father's disease by developing a medicine and also loves his pet ape and her fiancee, it is a character with which we all can feel connected and he did an excellent job portraying it. There wasn't much scope for Freida Pinto but none the less she provided for a good support. Tom Felton did what he was best known for in the HP series, being evil. It was good to see the lad in a different role this time. Brian Cox, John Lithgow were also good in their respective roles. But the scene stealer here was the ape 'Caesar' who was actually played my the motion capture actor Andy Serkis. Just brilliant. You can clearly feel his expressions, his wrath, his joy, his rebel nature. This is clearly an example of smart use of motion capture technique blended with CGI.

Director Rupert Wyatt was not a much known fella out there, but this one will surely prove beneficial to him. His direction was great and almost perfect. He handles the story with care The thing i liked the most is that the runtime was perfect and everything was balanced in the short runtime. The cinematography was superb and the aerial shots were taken brilliantly. Background music was good and was perfect for the theme of the movie.

The Bottom line is if you are looking for a different sci-fi action, then give this one a watch even if didn't particularly like this sub-genre and i am sure you won't be disappointed. Its one of the better commercial movies from 2011.

Lord Of The Rings - A Review, A Tribute

Lord Of The Rings 

If you are a movie lover, chances are that you have heard this name tonnes of times. Even for an average Hollywood goer its a familiar name. Therefore I also was familiar with it from my childhood days but never got a chance at that time to witness these masterpieces. So when i started my journey into the deep realms of World Cinema, I got to knew that this trilogy is considered as a genre definer. So its but natural that I wanted to watch it, but due to the long run times I always skipped watching them. I regret now that Why I skipped.

In December 2011 I finally decided to watch the 3 movies sidelining all tasks and due to constant recommendations of 4 of my good movie loving friends. Now I am truly grateful to them for showing me this path. This movies literally passed my Expectations by 100s of miles. All of them equally Epic. You just cannot let your eyes off from the screen while watching those great characters which IMO are some of the greatest characters created in the History of Mankind. The effect was such that I didn't slept completely last night.

Never had I witnessed such a tale which focused on every emotion, every character equally. Love, Friendship, Courage, Deceit, Lies, Betrayal, Anger. It had all. The characters are such that they will never leave your mind. The ones that affected me most are Aragorn, Legolas, Gollum, Faramir, Sam, Gandalf, Eowyn and of course Frodo! The  level of depth that was given to these characters is magnificient. I felt each of them inside me. Such were they potrayed that you can feel their dilemma, their happiness, their emotions.  They reflect the people around you.

Now if you look at Peter Jackson, you already know that he is a big director. But at that time he was a lesser known one, recognized only for some gory horror movies. The level of maturity and responsibility with which he handled these movies is an achievement. Bringing such a big novel onto screen is a very very difficul task but he did it with aplomb and poise.

Talking about the performances singling out an actor would be an insult to all others. The cast was such that it literally summoned all the superstars from the Hollywood. There is Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, John Rhys Davies, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto. Elijah Wood's portrayal of Frodo proved to be to his big ticket in Hollywood and he rightfully deserved it. Andy Serkis's Gollum might be one of the most treacherous and deceitful characters you will ever witness in movies. Viggo's Aragorn and Orlando's Legolas gave you hope and courage, John Rhys Davies's Gimli provided the required comic moments. Ian McKellen's Gandalf gave the fatherly love and provided as a mentor to all in difficult times. Liv Tyler's Arwen taught you Love, Miranda Otto's Eowyn a brilliant mix of courage as well as the womanly traits and Cate Blanchett's Galadriel provided a sense of hope, affection and motherly love. What i want to say is that each character was important and gave a different angle to the plot.

The movies were larger than life in every technical aspects. The locations looked believable and the age of middle earth was portrayed magnificently. The battle scenes looked epic in all senses. The CGI and VFX use was done smartly and even for 10 years back, they looked brilliant. The Background score beautifully blended with the situations and the occasional songs only added to the splendour and feel of these works. Cinematography was so effectively done, that you feel yourselves among the locations. Its a pity that I didn't watched it in theatres.

At last I would only say that everybody interested in cinema should watch and treasure these masterpieces. LOTR movies are true epic masterpieces. They may lead you through difficult times and also can be rewatched a number times with your friends, families and loved ones. Just watch it as a single movie rather than 3 different parts and make sure you have a big screen and a good sound system available, in that way I am sure you all will enjoy it much more.

Introduction!

This blog I dedicate firstly to one of my best friends from school time Vishnu S Pillai, without his constant motivation i wouldn't have started this blog. He recognized my interest in movies and writing reviews and gave me the advice to start this blog.
Also I dedicate this blog to all of my friends and movie lover friends who gave me recommendations and views on movies and are always ready to help me.
With this I start my journey into blogging.