Reviews

Malaikkottai Valiban tells the tale of an unstoppable wrestler later revealed to have a supernatural ancestry, and his acquaintances. Although the plot is interesting, premise is new, the film lags like a snail. Adoor Gopalakrishnan makes movie faster than this. Overuse of slow-motion has gone from boring to irritating by the time film crosses 1st hour. Every character moves from one of frame to the other end mostly without dialogues over a span of 30 -40 seconds. Pace of the film is absolutely pathetic. Could've cut the slomo portions, and made a bit crisper, it would ve been an hour and a half long movie but well paced. Mohanlal is on a good track after Neru with his performances as compared to Monster/Arattu. Hareesh Peradi and Danish Sait too performed the eccentric characters well. Cinematography was great "each frame a painting". Music was average, didn't help with keeping audience engaged. Action choreography was cartoonish and immature especially for a fantasy story that needs convincing. Unbeatable wrestler is a plot which had unlimited potential for fight choreography and shot like its on a zero budget. Lijo needs to reconsider his mind set. "No plans to change/impress" won't work if the film is boring. Lijo only will sit and watch his own films if he's not adaping to the audience expectations. All he had to do was to pace up the screenplay. A man who made Amen/Jallilkattu need not be lectured regarding fantasy and fast paced action. But here we are. Thanks for the utter disappointment Lijo.

Salaar is very much Ugramm on a bigger canvas and tribal background. Prabhas indeed has made a comeback as Deva, Prithviraj has done a good job as well but Neel lost his magic touch.

The first half is excruciatingly boring that you wish to have a fast forward button. The build up of Prabhas character for almost 2hours was painful to watch, and by the time Prabhas breaks out his first fight audience had lost interest. Second half is where the film actually starts, picks up pace and keeps you engaged.

Neel and Gowda has crafted out a world in a black and white pallette as usual. Basrur does put in his work but until the last half and hour it seldom makes an impact.

The film is boring till interval and post interval shifts to a higher gear but ends too soon with no satisfaction. KGF saga still remains the best of Neel. And unlike KGF Salaar may not feel good apart from big screen since it lacks a tight screenplay.

Neel needs to do better considering he made KGF. Hope Salaar 2 has better screenplay.

Falimy is a low budget film with a good story line. Malayalam industry has been churning out average family dramas like public tap water. Either it is non existent or it flows. This , like the usual family films from a decade doesn't give anything inspiring nor entertaining. An average event in a regular family has been shown with no extra spices. Jagadeesh, Manju Pillai, Basil Joseph has done good performances as members of a dysfunctional family. Although the film does not have any lag and events keep happening, film doesn't keep you entertained, at all except a few comedy parts that work in bits and pieces thanks to the three leads.

Falimy is just a one time watch. Definitely not a theatre watch. Watch on OTT if you've time to spare.

Atlee much like his master director Shankar who made Hindustani/ Nayak/Aparichit is known to make movies that question the system. Either a vigilante fighting criminals or an underdog who fights the capitalists.

Although Bigil was disappointing and Mersal was average, Theri very much exposes his vigilante mindset.

In Jawan, he mixed up all his usual plots put it out on a typical template format he uses for his Vijay films but on a bigger canvas, better visuals and stunts and quick paced edit in what manifests not just a love letter to SRK but a celebration of action masala films.

This is perhaps the most wholesome entertainer Hindi film industry had in almost a decade. Reminds us of the industry that gave action flicks like Sholay.

Atlee did infact packaged in his usual format and with the cast and crew it does feel like a Tamil masala film but with a charismatic Shahrukh Khan in the lead.

Anirudh's songs were a hit and miss with some entertaining and some just below average. But the background score was phenomenal- Anirudh excels in his usual game- elevates the action set pieces to a much higher level.

Action choreography and cinematography was spot on- stunning visuals and well coordinated fights keep you engaged.

Atlee wins on his Hindi directional debut - like a King, with the King.

Vichithram is a horror mystery that is let down by its sluggish first half and a disappointing climax.

The film starts painfully slow by introducing multiple lead casts, their daily life and drags it for more than an hour with random incidences in their life that holds no relevance in the story. The film tries so hard to keep audience engaged with poor writing. Forced comic elements have been added yet it fails pathetically.

Infact the entire first hour can be skipped.

The film picks pace post interval wherein it enters a usual "Family moves to a haunted house" premise.

Multiple jump scare scenes that usually works are the strong points of the movie, although it gets predictable by the end.

The film ends as complete disappointment by the end as it shifts from a horror to a family drama.

Why so many characters have been added in the plot is a mystery.

Shine Chacko is the only one who carries the entire film which is sad.

Most of the drama happens with no proper reason and an average making makes it even hard to watch.

Stephen Sommer's "Van Helsing" is a modern adaptation of the classic monsters we all know.

The film tells the story of a protagonist who's "cursed" to vanquish evil where prayers and exorcism is of little effect and needs a "stronger" approach.

Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale were phenomenal as Van Helsing and Anna.

This also has a version of Dracula more charismatic, charming , handsome yet beholds all the evil within him.

The cinematography, the lighting, the sets, the visual effects and stunts were spectacular.

Alan Silvestri's scores makes the film feel more epic than it actually is. With almost 115mins of soundtracks, it has one of the longest music scores in modern cinema and that indeed helps.

This film may be of poor standards for critics and reviewers.

But for every common man, this is a masterpiece.

Has been etched in the memory since the first watch.

The ending of a film is as important as its beginning and this indeed has a well made one.

Maverick is not just a sequel nor just another action flick of Tom Cruise The film in itself holds close the soul of the original while surpassing the prequel in visuals, action, screenplay and the emotional involvement.

This is definitely a true '"mission- IMPOSSIBLE" film where the makers achieved the impossible with grace.

Jerry Bruckheimer films are always the pinnacle of production quality and they did prove again that 4 decades hasn't faded their dedication.

The fighterjet sequences on big screen was a audio video visual treat which we don't see much nowdays in the CGI pile pumped out every year.

A not to be missed sequel perhaps a better film.

The best of Tom Cruise in a decade.

Anthakshari is a new take on the cat and mouse game of cop and culprit. As the name suggests, the lead played by Saiju Kurup is a cop who favours the singing game of Anthakshari over hard punches on his criminals. An unexpected murder attempt on his family guides him to an unknown serial killer at his work over decades.

Quite compelling, very engaging at times, this is a good script made well but suffers from mediocre camera quality, sound design, and even the sets that reminds of an amateur film production.

This film deserved a better budget.

KGF Chapter 2 is bigger, bolder, better and densely packed engaging screenplay and ofcourse dialogues that elevate emotions.

Especially considering it as a genre of Indian action film for the masses, this film not just surpasses expectations in quality of writing and making. It in itself sets a benchmark far beyond anything seen before.

The soundtrack is phenomenal and aids in conveying the apt emotions at the right time esp the switch of soundtracks between violent action scenes and the mother-son flashbacks.

Action scenes is as good if nt better than prequel.

Essentially KGF is the story of an ambitious strong mother and a fierce son determined enough to defeat the world to keep his promise to her.

One of the finest well made action films in world cinema.

Naradan is a story revolving around the news media and its current temptation to revolve around ratings and mockery. Although the story is interesting, the direction is amateur. Ashiq Abu who made the beautiful Mayanadhi with Tovino couldn't recreate the magic again.

Tovino did a good job but has his limitations which he couldn't cross. The character demanded a better actor- Fahad, Prithvi or the big Ms would've suited better. Anna Ben who had her moments in previous films was a failure. Both Tovino and Anna at present has star value but the ability to act doesn't resonate with it.

Indrans was spectacular as munsif judge and Renji Panicker as lawyer was ok. Both of them were the only saving grace of the film. The ending was abrupt and disappointing.

Music and editing department of the film was pathetic. The entire film had lag between lines and at times felt like an art film made by a kid with phone camera.

Naradan had the potential to be a compelling political thriller but ends up as a wet cracker. Even the good script couldn't make up for average acting and bad making.

Amal Neerad is a film maker well known for his dramatic cinematography and slow motion shots with little to no emphasis on plot. Big B, Iyobinte Pusthakam, Kullante Bharya and Varathan were the good ones in his armory.

Bheeshma Parvam is definitely his best film to date. Lessons he learnt, mistakes he made and the wisdom he achieved all culminates into this two and a half hour drama that never, even for a second makes you look away from the screen.

In this Godfather themed film, Mammooty is an ex mumbai gangster now settled in Kerala to manage the family businesses and occasionally be a helping hand to the wronged who ask for his help.

In a film with more characters than usual, each one has their own life, importance in plot and not just an one man show.

Along with the style quotient , Amal Neerad infact did put in good effort for plot which pays off.

This film is an exception for Mammooty's recent action film franchise that this indeed has good stunt sequences compared to anti gravity cringe worthy shots from Great Father, Abrahaminte Santhathikal, Mamankam etc.

Definitely a good come back for the Mega Star who suffered a series of disasters in past decade.

Hoping the same magic for sequel to Big B.

Mohanlal, of late has lost his talent to detect good scripts. The film Aaarattu although set up on a generic Indian masala action flick, it lacks its serious tone midway with dialogue sand references to the star's previous films.

The references keep on going to an extent that it turns irritating.

Mohanlal may have shed his sloth like acting and reclaimed his energy post "Marakkar" and " Big Brother", but the script is garbage.

For a man who penned "Cid Moosa" "Runway" "Twenty Twenty", this is rock bottom. Udayakrishna seems incapable of bringing in quality to his scripts post his break with Sibi K Thomas who also isn't doing well. Pulimurugan, Masterpiece, Aarattu.. Udayakrishna needs to reevaluate his thoughts and ego.

With all the film references, jokes that doesn't hit anywhere and a lead full of energy with nowhereto go, this is Mohanlal's version of "Shylock" This film is barely watchable thanks to Mohanlal and Siddique. The action sequences were well choreographed although it suffers from excessive anti gravity. Rest is pathetic.

Rahul Raj's BGM felt good initially, but listening on loop made it unbearable.

Maybe a good watch for Mohanlal fans.

Avoidable for movie lovers.

Uncharted the movie is exactly what it aimed to be. A fun action film.

The film plot is as generic as it can get, with the likes of Indiana Jones and National Treasure films.

A team of experts chasing after a long lost treasure and a rival gang hunting for the same via a slightly different route.

Unlike most other films, the characters in this film do have their own past and motives. The script is predictable since a hundred similar movies were made prior and its difficult to introduce something new to the equation. Yet, this does have its own sort of fun with action sequences and a few comic scenes.

The cast and music are the big plus in this film and Ruben Fleischer directed the keeping the viewers interested.

Tom Holland with all his acting and stunts try best not to be Spiderman. And there's Mark Wahlberg who's not even trying to change. He's still the same since a decade. But here he wears a smile and keep it cool throughout. Even if it isn't hilarious the combo scenes of Tom and Mark are fun to watch.

Overall this is an one time watch and forget film. Best viewed in IMAX.

"Hridayam" is a well written, well crafted musical journey of life. The past present and future are told seamlessly.

Vineeth Sreenivasan- his writing and direction- has come a long way from "Malarvadi Arts Club" and "Thattathin Marayathu" yet still maintains the spark that made us love his work. His films too are travelling through his life. More mature thoughts and more serious approach towards life.

His films ooze happiness and optimism- here too, it just makes you feel emotions suppressed inside and gives hope for future.

Hesham Abdul Wahab- the music composer deserves an applause. His 14 songs flow through the film as a single stream with the story. That was something magical.

The cinematography too was bright colourful and full of life- apt for the film

This film is a mix of all right ingredients baked into perfection by a master chef.

Not to be missed.

The Expendables was good. The sequel was great. This one is disappointing.

The story is decent but the execution was laggy, boring and painfully long. It lacks the quick story telling the prequels had- a necessity for an action film like this.

The film began quite well, but it travelled through some rough patches and hit a mud pile towards the end. Addition of newer characters was needed for the story but it was very boring to watch- even after having a stellar cast including Gibson and Ford.

A few cuts could've made this bearable.

Patrick Hughes failed in what Stallone and West succeeded.

Easily the worst in series. Should've done with a better script and director.

Better to watch either of the prequels again.

"The Expendables" was a dcent action film. The sequel here is done on a larger canvas, has more actors and surprisingly far better than the other two.

Directed by Simon West, the film does showcase better quality in story and direction as well as character depth.

Action scenes were better this time- with more hand to hand combats that blatant gun shots. Jason Statham, Jetli , Scott Adkins , JCVD and even Stallone did great stunt works.

The film is more engaging and better edited.

Easily the best in series.

Simon West deserves an applause. He should've directed the third film too.

"The Expendables" is a typical action flick that reminds the 80s and 90s Hollywood. With an ensemble cast, Stallone did a good job in bringing together the action stars from retirement. The plot may be a predictable one, but the screenplay and direction was interesting. Although the attempt to give depth to characters failed, the audience could connect to the story.

Jason Statham and Jet Li give a good few minutes of hand to hand combat scenes, while rest of the cast rely on guns and muscles. Stallone, for his age did a phenomenal job. He tried to recreate gore and blood spills he succesfully did in Rambo 2007- which does hit the mark but the impact i=wasn't as good this time. Cameo with Bruce willis and Schwarzenegger was fun.

The film is not perfect. But it does deliver what it attempted- A good enjoyable mindless action film.

Bro Daddy is a simple story narrated well with a mild humour in it. It is definitely not an out and out comedy entertainer, but a fun film.

The film is not a one man show but relies itself on shoulders of each cast member involved. Mohanlal, Lalu Alex, Prithvi, Kalyani, Meena and Kaniha has done their own roles really well.

What makes it a better treat is the return of Mohanlal the actor and his facial expressions. Post "Odiyan".. films like Ittymani, Big brother, Marakkar were complete disappointments when it comes to acting for Mohanlal. This film however shows the better parts of him. The energetic mohanlal that entertained the industry for decades can be seen here.

Prithvi , however still limps in his comic acting- he was never a natural in comedy, and still struggles- although much better than his previous roles. However, none of these minor issues seems to have a problem on movie narration. Thanks to a well planned plot line.

Whats Bad- Prithvi the actor, a few comic scenes.

Whats good- Prithvi the director, rich frames, Mohanlal, Lalu Alex, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Mallika.

Prithviraj as an actor may have his ups and downs but for sure, Prithviraj as a director is climbing up- steadily. Not a bit felt forced or boring.

Hoping to see more and looking forward for Empuraan.

'No way home' is the third of Tom Holland Spiderman trilogy. The first two films may or may not be good films but it indeed was something. This unlike the prequels in phenomenally exceptional.

Out of the nearly two and half hour run time not a frame is wasted not a scene is laggy. The iconic characters from previous Spiderman films does return and with good closure for each of them.

A film shifts up it gear with involvement of Dr Strange and goes bullet speed after introduction of a few more "cameos" from alternate universes.

Marvel did pull off the live action spiderverse with such grace and charisma.

Those who doubted Marvel to pull off another Infinity War/ Endgame would've to admit there is nothing impossible for Marvel since they've the budgets and they've the brains.

You can listen to all the spoilers, and all the hypes, multifold your expectations and , this film will blow your mind. That happens once or twice every decade. Marvel did that thrice with Infinity Saga and No Way Home.

This film is a great visual treat for a non MCU fan.

For those following live action Spiderman since 2002 this is pure magic made of dreams.

Priyadarshan and Mohanlal had a symbiotic relationship. Boosting each other's skill and market with every movie. But that was till last decade. 'Oru maruboomikadha' was dull but at times hilarious thanks to the cast performance.

This, the biggest film in both their careers, hyped as "technically most perfect", with an ensemble star cast, is absolutely pathetic and torturous to watch. Priyadarshan seemed over confident that his laziness is prominent throughout the film.

Mohanlal seems to have given up on acting that his dialogues lacked energy and so did his performance. A swashbuckler film with no enjoyable action scenes. Mohanlal being the lead, has only one fight scene that too hung by ropes.

Filmmakers considering the audience as some 12th century tribe who haven't seen films is stupidity. Priyadarshan is stupid. Yes. Making a very bad rip off of Braveheart and claiming to be a victim of social media fan fights is irritating disappointing and heart breaking. Also the obese mohanlal who moves like a snail is not apt for an action film.

What to watch? The visuals- the cinematography and CGI.. brilliant. That doesn't make a film.

Bad dialogues, poor research, ripping of Braveheart , lazy making results in a movie that falls miles down its true potential.

Dear Priyadarshan who entertained us for decades, kindly take a break till you have a good original story and screenplay. Mohanlal the actor who gave kalapani, narasimham, thanmathra and even Lucifer is lost somewhere in a pool of ego pampered by his fans and morons surrounding him.

Good luck both of you.

Nithin Renji Panicker has not moved an inch from his poor attempt with "KASABA". Dialogues are cliched, unimpactful. Worst part is there is a significant lag after the dialogues. Character says a dialogue, and wait for the camera to cut away. Its just all over the film. What could've been a proper action flick turns out to be a boring time waste. Cinematography is just okay. What could've been better was the editing and direction. Nithin should perhaps script just the story and let his father carry on with dialogues and direction.

One place he did succeed is with the emotional scenes.

Yet, a film that marks the return of Suresh Gopi was hugely disappointing. Suresh should collaborate with talented makers.

Ka Kaa Ka is the latest film of Ratheesh Poduval who amazed us with the brilliant "Android Kunjappan". Quite shocking to see the quality of this film as it is way lower than expected.

Nivin and Vinay Forte were carrying the entire film on their shoulders although other actors did well, nothing quite managed to be watchable. Jaffer Idukki got a role which he did with perfection but extremely boring thanks to sloppy writing.

This is a film with no story and just a string of minor events to convey a social message. What could've been a short film dragged till eternity.

The film has its moments that ll make you laugh at times but soon become monotonous with jokes that make you cringe than laugh. If not for the good actors, this would've been unwatchable.

It seems that the makers struggled to intentionally push in comedy on every scene which misfired most of the times after initial hour.

Many do call this a potential "cult" film. This definitely is a 'double barrel (2015)' reminder that not all shots do hit the target whoever makes it.

Good concept. Bad execution. Pointless film.

The last watchable Rohit Shetty film was "Chennai Express" in 2013, but that was hugely thanks to SRKs charms and comic timing, which Shetty managed to ruin in Dilwale. Simba although decent is not an original work. Sooryavamshi was surprisingly entertaining with jokes that actually makes us giggle and action scenes that doesn't force Newton into depression. Honestly the hand to hand combats is one of the good ones that came out from Bollywood in recent times.

Akshay, amidst all biopics, managed to do a good action film and thanks to Shetty, the scenes are pretty good.

Although it was fun to see Singham and Simba since multistarrers are always a welcome idea, Ranveer Singh has reached the time where his 'pseudo hyper' behaviour has become irritating. Forgivable here since Simba is a character, but he isn't entertaining anymore.

Kudos to shetty for improving the quality of film making post Dilwale and other pile of forgettable craps. If he keeps up to rational zone in stunts and comic scenes, he can very well helm a Mission impossible like film soon.

Cons- Plot is predictable Story is cliche.

Tried too hard to white wash govt moves and forced scenes on 'Hindu-Muslim' unity. Why?

Akshay looks really old especially on side shots of face.

Movie could ve been a bit shorter.

Katrina Kaif was wasted for just 10mins of entire movie, failed to create an emotional attachment to characters.

Pros- Good action scenes on Bollywood standard.

Decent CGI.

Casting is real good esp Javed Jaffrey.

Some jokes work.

Is it bad? Not as previous shetty movies.

Is it good? Maybe.

It sure is entertaining.

Kaanekkaane is a slow paced thriller that grips onto your curiousity unhurriedly. It does take its own time to establish the characters, the relations and the plot.

Once it does, there is a plot point where the viewers are dragged into the mystery, along with Suraj's character.

It does ascend from there and reaches a climax that is pleasantly satisfying.

Suraj and Tovino play the lead roles along with Aiswarya Lekshmi and Prem Prakash playing supporting roles.

This is definitely one of the better films that has come out recently in malayalam after the OTT wave kick started with Drishyam 2. Having a lower budget and lesser production cost has affected the quality of a lot of such films but not this. This film has a screenplay strong as concrete and so are the dialogues.

At a time when drone shots are overused, this film strangely makes us miss such shots, atleast in the climax.

Manu Ashokan who did a good job by directing 'UYARE' repeated his quality work here too.

Suraj wasn't surprising as he did magic in 'ANDROID KUNJAPPAN' and 'DRIVING LICENSE', he did the same here.

What surprises us is Tovino who did a fantastic job in a role that could've easily made him sweat or overexpress at times, given the plethora of emotions he has to portray. He did a very matured and controlled acting that makes us believe he is the character. Aiswarya too demonstrated her talents to show the emotional turmoils the wife character goes through. Special mention to the kid who is pretty much the better actor than other kids of last 2 years.

The film is strong, gripping, thrilling and ofcourse the return of writer duo Bobby-Sanjay who gave us masterpieces 'Ayalum Njanum Thammil' 'Mumbai Police' etc and the recent disaster 'ONE'. Hope the writers stay onto the track now.

Overall, a very well made film that does awake one's mind with beautifully acted characters.