ravenus

Is the new Superman a great film? I don't know, probably not? But is this the film that I, as a Superman fan, wanted to see?

Yes! Yes!!! YESSSS!!!

Referencing Golden Age superhero comics, the Christopher Reeve film series, Brad Bird's Incredibles movies, and riffing off his own style from Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn gives us a Superman with humor and heart. David Corenswet ably fills the red boots, taking subtle inspiration from previous movie avatars but making the character his own. His chemistry with Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane is the emotional engine that keeps us going between the multiple colorful action setpieces. Nicholoas Hoult's Luthor, Edi Gathegi's Mr. Terrific, and Nathan Fillon's Green Lantern provide a sterling supporting cast.

A welcome changeover from the sturm und drang of the Snyderverse, this is a Superman that children and nostalgic adults can appreciate together.

I won't make a sweeping recommendation of it and your mileage may considerably vary, but all things considered, I thought LSD-2 was an excellent film and a strong return to form for Dibakar Banerjee. I see a lot of negative user reviews on IMDB, but I feel that they from people who think that movies should give some coherent take-home message and don't commit to the wildness of DB's vision, rough edges and all. For me, this is the strongest movie he has made in a long time, after the overblown misfire of Byomkesh Bakshi.

Showing on Netflix. Even the nature of the film makes a streaming watch more appropriate than cinema, the only irritating element being the muting out of swear words, occasionally taking out entire phrases. I suggest avoiding all trailers and going in blind for maximum impact.

Balki may be a deep lover of 'cinema', I don't know, but what I see in Chup is the reduction of that cinema to some shallow 'reference' scenes (some undeniably good) that serve as occasional quirky respite in a trainwreck narrative with wafer-thin characters (two film-lovers cannot recognize each other as such?) and more eye-rolling contrivance than emotional engagement. They might as well have called it 'Dabba', which would have served both as a reference to the celluloid cans we see AND a pertinent self-critique.

Still, brownie points for the lovingly captured Bandra locations, some gorgeous lighting (Vishal Sinha) and the cockle-warming sight of forever-macho Sunny Deol yelling 'B*****d!' like it was the 90's all over again.

1 &1/2 stars from me, I dare ya.