amarv
Joined Apr 2009
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Reviews18
amarv's rating
Foremost, I like Milla very very much. Also I like the Resident Evil movie series.
Coming to this movie,
1. The 3D is very very neat. (Probably because they didn't converted it from 2D to 3D in post production). 2. For the 2nd & 3rd movies of the series, you may say the story was poor. But here you can't even say the story was pathetic because how can we use an adjective to describe something which is non-existent. If you ever wondered how can anyone make a movie without a story, watch this. 3. The fights and gore are less compared to the previous movies. 4. It feels more like watching someone play Resident Evil game rather than watching a movie. 5. The fans of the game would enjoy this immensely because the movie has some of the game's creatures. But if you didn't play the games & only like the movies, then this will be a definite disappointment. 6. There are a few good scares. A 30-something guy who sat beside me jumped at 2 or 3 occasions. 7. Milla is looking hot & younger as each movie progresses. 8. Overall acting & writing are not very stupid but the lack of story really hurts.
On a final note, 1. If you like the Resident Evil game series, you may like the movie. 2. If you never played the games, but like the Resident Evil movie series, this movie will slightly disappoint you. 3. If you don't fall in the above 2 categories & if you don't like Milla Jovovich, please don't watch the movie.
Coming to this movie,
1. The 3D is very very neat. (Probably because they didn't converted it from 2D to 3D in post production). 2. For the 2nd & 3rd movies of the series, you may say the story was poor. But here you can't even say the story was pathetic because how can we use an adjective to describe something which is non-existent. If you ever wondered how can anyone make a movie without a story, watch this. 3. The fights and gore are less compared to the previous movies. 4. It feels more like watching someone play Resident Evil game rather than watching a movie. 5. The fans of the game would enjoy this immensely because the movie has some of the game's creatures. But if you didn't play the games & only like the movies, then this will be a definite disappointment. 6. There are a few good scares. A 30-something guy who sat beside me jumped at 2 or 3 occasions. 7. Milla is looking hot & younger as each movie progresses. 8. Overall acting & writing are not very stupid but the lack of story really hurts.
On a final note, 1. If you like the Resident Evil game series, you may like the movie. 2. If you never played the games, but like the Resident Evil movie series, this movie will slightly disappoint you. 3. If you don't fall in the above 2 categories & if you don't like Milla Jovovich, please don't watch the movie.
From the trailer and the general talk, you might have guessed the basic premise. Raavan (Abhishek Bacchhan) kidnaps Sita (Aish). Ram (Vikram), with the help of Hanuman (Govinda) tries to get Sita back and kill Raavan. Of course, the motivation for Raavan's abduction of Sita is the insult of Surpanaka (Priyamani). What if this basic premise constitutes the entire movie with nothing else? The movie is going to suck & that is what Raavan is. What makes the original Ramayan interesting is the many many interesting characters and subplots without which even it would be uninteresting. This is where Raavan fails.
The plot is as thin as a razor blade. Screenplay is one jumbled mess especially in the 1st half. Mani Ratnam is my most favourite Indian director & it is really really hard for me to digest that he had directed this mess.
Abhishek Bacchhan was absolutely irritating as Beera. Since his only good performances were in Yuva & Guru which were directed by Mani, I thought he will be good as Beera. But what an irritating interpretation of the role! Aish's only duty in the movie was to look beautiful and scream at regular intervals which she does greatly. Vikram has nothing much to do. His character was badly written. Priyamani is good in her brief appearance. Govinda and Ravi Kishan are the two bright spots as far as acting department is considered.
The locations and cinematography are breathtaking to say the least. Raavan is a heavy contender in the next award season as far as cinematography is considered. The same goes for music. Rahman gave a great music and background score. But since general public wouldn't be interested in only photography and music, I can see empty theaters and a doomed future for the movie. I will be happy if I'm wrong. I really can't believe Mani Ratnam has directed this entirely from his heart.
I've seen each one of Mani's movies of the last 25 years & without doubt Raavan is Mani Ratnam's most uninteresting movie. The first half is as dumb as you can get. The entire 1st half is like one long personal holiday photo-shoot of AbhiAsh with some exotic background views. The 2nd half is slightly better but on the whole, Raavan is a 140 minute advertisement for the beauty of Aish & India's forests.
I also wanted to see Villain (Raavan in Telugu) because of Vikram who plays Raavan in this version. But after this experience, I neither have the patience nor energy to do it. May be some time after the DVD comes out.
The plot is as thin as a razor blade. Screenplay is one jumbled mess especially in the 1st half. Mani Ratnam is my most favourite Indian director & it is really really hard for me to digest that he had directed this mess.
Abhishek Bacchhan was absolutely irritating as Beera. Since his only good performances were in Yuva & Guru which were directed by Mani, I thought he will be good as Beera. But what an irritating interpretation of the role! Aish's only duty in the movie was to look beautiful and scream at regular intervals which she does greatly. Vikram has nothing much to do. His character was badly written. Priyamani is good in her brief appearance. Govinda and Ravi Kishan are the two bright spots as far as acting department is considered.
The locations and cinematography are breathtaking to say the least. Raavan is a heavy contender in the next award season as far as cinematography is considered. The same goes for music. Rahman gave a great music and background score. But since general public wouldn't be interested in only photography and music, I can see empty theaters and a doomed future for the movie. I will be happy if I'm wrong. I really can't believe Mani Ratnam has directed this entirely from his heart.
I've seen each one of Mani's movies of the last 25 years & without doubt Raavan is Mani Ratnam's most uninteresting movie. The first half is as dumb as you can get. The entire 1st half is like one long personal holiday photo-shoot of AbhiAsh with some exotic background views. The 2nd half is slightly better but on the whole, Raavan is a 140 minute advertisement for the beauty of Aish & India's forests.
I also wanted to see Villain (Raavan in Telugu) because of Vikram who plays Raavan in this version. But after this experience, I neither have the patience nor energy to do it. May be some time after the DVD comes out.
In 2 months time, Allu Arjun gave one of the worst movies and one of the best movies of this decade in Tollywood.
Vedam has 5 independent stories in it which are taking place parallelly, and the characters of all the stories converge at the big climax. In my limited memory, I can't remember such a movie being made prior in Tollywood. This could be a risky subject but director Krish (Gamyam fame) pulled it off with great aplomb. I won't brief about the 5 stories but they are very different from each other and there is believability to each one of them although in various degrees.
If an award for the best performance by an ensemble cast in Tollywood is introduced next year, Vedam would be the leading contender. Nobody in the movie messed up there roles. Allu Arjun is an excellent fit in the role of Cable Raju. His performance & emotions at the end where he has a change of heart is the best that he had done until now. After the movie Arundhati, Anushka has become a clear crowd favourite. The whistles and shouts during her introduction scene were only matched by the entrance of Arjun. Anushka has nailed the role of Saroja going from funny to angry to angst with ease. She definitely is one of the best actresses in Tollywood right now. This is my first Manchu Manoj movie. He was an apt choice to play the music loving wannabe rock-star Vivek. Manoj is not only a better actor than his brother Vishnu but he is also choosing his scripts wisely. He created a good first impression on me. I haven't seen Manoj Bajpai fail as an actor and the same goes here. He gives good performance as the victimised Muslim Raheemuddin Qureishi. All the others in the movie performed really well. Deeksha Seth is used for her glamour.
Since there are 5 stories, there are a lot of characters to be introduced. So in the first half, we are introduced to the characters and their motivations. With a conflict in each story, the first half ends. So it may appear to some people as if not much has happened as a whole in the first half but that is only an illusion because we are dealing with 5 stories here. The second half is absolutely gripping.
Generally in our industry when you have a drama with superb performances, the technical aspects are grossly neglected. But Vedam is technically a very well made film. Right from your editing to cinematography to art work to sound effects, this is a wonderfully made film. Dialogues & direction by Krish are great. Krish proved that he is not a one film wonder. Let's hope that he is not a two film wonder. (Am I being greedy?)
Background score by Keeravani is very good but I would have been more happy if every thing is original. Coming to the songs, the songs fit in the movie very well but I don't think they would work outside the movie.
After the break, for a few minutes the movie tends to be slow. They could have cut a song there. Story & script wise, the tussle between Manoj & Sikh lorry driver was too superficial. To develop the conflict in Manoj's character, a more natural setup would have been very good. Another one is when Manoj Bajpai, who initially tries to escape without even warning the hundreds of people in the hospital about the impending danger, has a change of heart when he sees a pregnant lady. Agreed that he has some past scars regarding unborn babies but still it appeared a bit forced. One more thing is when some body dies at a huge explosion, I think that the faces should not be recognisable. But the above points are very minor, and by the end of the movie this is a very satisfying experience.
http://amarsmoviejournal.blogspot.com
All in all, this is a must watch. This is going to win a lot of awards next season. The general perception is that an award winning movie tends to be a boring art movie. This is true in many cases but once in a while there comes a really good drama without boring you and this is one of those. I was absolutely thrilled by the time the movie was over because of mainly 2 reasons. One reason was because the movie was very good & the second one was because I rarely see such well made movie in Telugu. So my humble request is don't miss this.
Finally, a triple thumbs-up (if such a word is there) for the director Krish and the producers Devineni Prasad & Yarlagadda Shobhu.
p.s I didn't understand the crediting of Manchu Manoj as Guest appearance because I felt his role was of a proper protagonist.
Vedam has 5 independent stories in it which are taking place parallelly, and the characters of all the stories converge at the big climax. In my limited memory, I can't remember such a movie being made prior in Tollywood. This could be a risky subject but director Krish (Gamyam fame) pulled it off with great aplomb. I won't brief about the 5 stories but they are very different from each other and there is believability to each one of them although in various degrees.
If an award for the best performance by an ensemble cast in Tollywood is introduced next year, Vedam would be the leading contender. Nobody in the movie messed up there roles. Allu Arjun is an excellent fit in the role of Cable Raju. His performance & emotions at the end where he has a change of heart is the best that he had done until now. After the movie Arundhati, Anushka has become a clear crowd favourite. The whistles and shouts during her introduction scene were only matched by the entrance of Arjun. Anushka has nailed the role of Saroja going from funny to angry to angst with ease. She definitely is one of the best actresses in Tollywood right now. This is my first Manchu Manoj movie. He was an apt choice to play the music loving wannabe rock-star Vivek. Manoj is not only a better actor than his brother Vishnu but he is also choosing his scripts wisely. He created a good first impression on me. I haven't seen Manoj Bajpai fail as an actor and the same goes here. He gives good performance as the victimised Muslim Raheemuddin Qureishi. All the others in the movie performed really well. Deeksha Seth is used for her glamour.
Since there are 5 stories, there are a lot of characters to be introduced. So in the first half, we are introduced to the characters and their motivations. With a conflict in each story, the first half ends. So it may appear to some people as if not much has happened as a whole in the first half but that is only an illusion because we are dealing with 5 stories here. The second half is absolutely gripping.
Generally in our industry when you have a drama with superb performances, the technical aspects are grossly neglected. But Vedam is technically a very well made film. Right from your editing to cinematography to art work to sound effects, this is a wonderfully made film. Dialogues & direction by Krish are great. Krish proved that he is not a one film wonder. Let's hope that he is not a two film wonder. (Am I being greedy?)
Background score by Keeravani is very good but I would have been more happy if every thing is original. Coming to the songs, the songs fit in the movie very well but I don't think they would work outside the movie.
After the break, for a few minutes the movie tends to be slow. They could have cut a song there. Story & script wise, the tussle between Manoj & Sikh lorry driver was too superficial. To develop the conflict in Manoj's character, a more natural setup would have been very good. Another one is when Manoj Bajpai, who initially tries to escape without even warning the hundreds of people in the hospital about the impending danger, has a change of heart when he sees a pregnant lady. Agreed that he has some past scars regarding unborn babies but still it appeared a bit forced. One more thing is when some body dies at a huge explosion, I think that the faces should not be recognisable. But the above points are very minor, and by the end of the movie this is a very satisfying experience.
http://amarsmoviejournal.blogspot.com
All in all, this is a must watch. This is going to win a lot of awards next season. The general perception is that an award winning movie tends to be a boring art movie. This is true in many cases but once in a while there comes a really good drama without boring you and this is one of those. I was absolutely thrilled by the time the movie was over because of mainly 2 reasons. One reason was because the movie was very good & the second one was because I rarely see such well made movie in Telugu. So my humble request is don't miss this.
Finally, a triple thumbs-up (if such a word is there) for the director Krish and the producers Devineni Prasad & Yarlagadda Shobhu.
p.s I didn't understand the crediting of Manchu Manoj as Guest appearance because I felt his role was of a proper protagonist.