ANJAAN (2014)

Genre: Action / Romance
Running Length: 2:45
Cast: Suriya, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Vidyut Jamwal
Director: Lingusamy

ANJAAN (English translation: Fearless) is a movie straight out of the 80s early 90s gangster film playbook where style over substance is the focus.
A cool charismatic lead with trademark moves? Checked.
Slow-mo action scenes and shootouts? Checked.
Loyalty and brotherhood? Checked.
Female characters who are not given much to do but exist mainly for eye candy? Double checked.

This mildly entertaining popcorn flick is Suriya's movie all the way. When we are first introduced to Suriya's portrayal as the gang leader (he plays two characters; the gangster head and his brother), Suriya literally strides into the scene like a god. He cuts a fine figure wearing a tight V neck T-shirt and sunglasses, a toothpick hanging from his mouth and spots a perfectly trimmed facial hair with Neymar-like hairstyle - walks across the room in slow motion with smoke all around him. It's a moment that cries out "Cool!" Unfortunately, Suriya is unable to save the film as it suffers from a weak script, poor character development and unnecessarily lengthy narrative. To be fair, Suriya gives an earnest performance especially evident in his portrayal of the two characters but in the end, the film doesn't amount to much. Compared to Suriya's last flick, Singam 2, that movie moved along very swiftly because of its tight editing but Anjaan somehow feels bloated. The fight sequences are uninspired and predictable (someone will sure crash through a window or land on glass tables shattering it into thousand pieces - in slow-mo). What I did like however is the sequencing of the story where Suriya's gangster character is being told as a flashback, thus elevating him into legend status. Verdict: Maybe Suriya should stop associating himself with such films in order to do justice to his potential.

Rating: 4.5/10

THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY (2014)

Genre: Drama
Running Length: 2:02
Cast: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Amit Shah, Farzana Dua Elahe, Dillon Mitra
Director: Lasse Hallstrom

THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY is an old-fashioned charming motion picture which explores the warmth of budding young love ala Romeo and Juliet style, the pursuit of a dream and the power of food and family. The location chosen is almost fairy tale like; a simple and beautiful small town where everything seems to be frozen in time - people use bicycles and rotary phones. Even A.R. Rahman's score is more restrained and tender compared to his usual high energy trademark. Veterans Helen Mirren and Om Puri's performance are enigmatic but the main star of the film is Manish Dayal - he is charismatic as the leading man and is convincing as an Indian cook as he cooks up magnificent Indian dishes in the kitchen. His on-screen romance with a beautiful French chef girl is sweetly charming. However, the movie is probably longer than it should as the third act is somewhat unnecessary thus it stumbles a bit. Also, there's a sense that the director was attempting to develop food-saturated scenes like Chef but it doesn't quite reach into the stomach like that film did.

Rating: 8/10

LUCY (2014)

Genre: Science Fiction / Action
Running Length: 1:30
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked
Director: Luc Besson

Do not be fooled by the trailer of LUCY. The movie's marketing department wants you to believe that this is an action film featuring Scarlett Johansson kicking some serious ass but it is not. In fact, with the opening shot of what's supposed to be the first (Neanderthal) woman, you know you're in for a different kind of movie. Lucy in some sense is closer to Her (another ScarJo movie) and Transcendence (also featuring Morgan Freeman in more or less the same role). Unfortunately, just like Transcendence, it collapses under the weight of its big thought provoking ideas which were poorly executed. There are some standout scenes; the car chase in Paris city and the intense build up of the opening scene with clever use of symbolism. The electronic influenced score is also effective. To be fair, this Luc Besson's sci-fi action production is never boring but there's just so much unrealized potential.

Reviews: 5.5/10

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Running Length: 2:02
Cast:Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice), Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin
Director: James Gunn

I was so looking forward to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and really wanted to enjoy this film – it seems to be a fun movie, has quirky characters, looks visually good but most of all, I was extremely curious to know more about this non-"household name" group of superheroes from the Marvel universe. But it's over-frenetic and not as witty as I imagined it to be. The CGI was over powering. And the plot involves some all-powerful orb which everybody wants is riddled with inconsistencies and a tad bloated. Thankfully, the characters develop a nice rapport and the '70s and '80s songs used was a nice touch. Speaking of characters, the cast is well chosen except the main baddie (Ronan played by Lee Pace) who isn't as nasty as I wished him to be. However, Josh Brolin's interpretation of Thanos (who makes a short appearance here) made me wish that he, instead of Ronan, had been the main villain. And finally the resolution; some may argue that it's anti-climatic and corny but I thought that was genuinely the funniest (and smartest) scene in the movie. (It reminded me of the same kind of irreverent humour used in Stephen Chow's Out Of The Dark climatic scene. Sue me...I'm corny)

Rating: 6/10