Zoodpaz

This week, I finally got around to watching Zoodpaz (translated as Pressure Cooker), and I have mixed feelings about it. At first glance, the film stood out from the crowd. The storyline was fresh, and it didn't rely on the typical overused tropes that plague many recent Iranian comedies. That alone deserves some credit.

The presence of Navid Mohammadzadeh was another strong point. He brought a level of charm and energy that made the first half of the movie genuinely enjoyable. For a while, I was fully engaged and curious to see where the plot would go. The humor, though not groundbreaking, had its moments-there were a few scenes that genuinely made me laugh.

Unfortunately, things started going downhill around the halfway mark. After a promising setup, the story lost momentum and got stuck in a loop of repetitive scenes and predictable reactions. Instead of building on its strong foundation, the film chose to recycle the same type of humor and scenarios over and over again, making the second half feel like a drag.

The visual effects didn't help either-they felt awkward and out of place, much like in other films directed or produced by Rambod Javan. There seems to be a recurring theme of uneven execution in his work, where the idea is interesting but the delivery falls flat.

By the end, I found myself checking the time, wondering how much longer it would go on. While Zoodpaz did manage to make me laugh a few times and had some redeeming qualities early on, I can't say I enjoyed it overall.

I wouldn't recommend it to others, and I'm giving it a 5 out of 10-just enough to acknowledge the effort, but not enough to call it a success.

It didn't have much to offer apart from a few funny scenes.

The pacing of the film was slow, dull, and predictable at times.

Some scenes were entirely foreseeable and clichéd.

Compared to other comedies set during the Iran-Iraq war, it didn't stand out much. In the past, more prestigious works have been produced.

Overall, it was a decent way to pass the time over the weekend and break away from boredom.

However, there were two impactful scenes depicting the Iran-Iraq war that were quite sad and emotional.

And finally, I'm writing this sentence just to make sure my review reaches the word count approval.

The screenplay is grounded in the familiar and overused tropes of Iranian comedis, yet it suffers from a notable internal inconsistency. The writer appears to lack any genuine inclination toward crafting humor-even in the form of witty dialogue-while simultaneously feeling compelled to include comedic elements throughout the narrative. This underlying tension generates a tonal dissonance that ultimately undermines the film's coherence and its comedic impact.

For the most part, the film's comedic scenarios are ineffective and lifeless, leaning more toward ambiguity than actual humor. Ironically, the few scenes that do succeed-thanks to their cleverness and inventive execution-feel strangely out of place, as if they belong to a different, more confident film.

Further contributing to the film's uneven tone is the dynamic between the central duo, whose performances bear a clear resemblance to the personas of Harpo and Chico Marx. This artistic parallel seems intentional, particularly in light of the director's interest into the Marx Bros.

Overall, with more accurate editing, the removal of certain scenes, a change in the ending, and more precise sound design, this film could have been transformed into a standard yet valueless entertaining comedy.

Here's a critique of the movie Zoodpaz directed by Rambod Javan, based on your perspective:

Zoodpaz, directed by Rambod Javan, attempts to deliver a light-hearted and comedic experience. However, the film seems overly focused on eliciting laughter from its audience, often at any cost. This approach feels forced and detracts from the overall quality of the humor. While there are a few genuinely funny moments, they are overshadowed by numerous attempts at comedy that fail to land effectively. The result is a film that struggles to maintain a consistent comedic tone and leaves the audience with a sense of missed potential.

Positive points: As a viewer, zoodpaz has relatively many positive points and can cover its negative points to some extent, for example, the jokes and satires of this movie are entertaining and funny, especially in the chaotic sequences, which are thanks to the good direction. Young Rambod can entertain the audience, the story of the movie has nothing new to offer, but it can entertain the audience who came to the cinema only for entertainment.

Negative points: Navid Mohammadzadeh's acting alongside Mohsen Tanabandeh is nothing special at all and this couple has nothing else to offer Navid Mohammadzadeh presents the same acting as he does in drama films, but with more stupidity and a swinging character in this film, it is an imitation of his acting in the "Capital" series. The duration of the movie is too much and can be much less. This movie again imitates the movies "sperm Whale", "Gij Gah" and "Fossil" to the nostalgia of the 80s in Iran It depends and this is repetitive p.s : I apologize for some typos.