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The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Mediocre at its Best
In 1999, the world witnessed The Matrix - a revolution in cinematic storytelling and technique. Thousands of filmmakers from across the globe ripped and ripened the cutting edge action sequences of the classic sci-fi action thriller. Just like the protagonist of the film, 'The Matrix' was The One that stood out.
Fast forward 22 years (60 years in the Matrix Universe since Matrix Revolutions), the Matrix does a reboot to cater to the taste of the new MMO video-game generation while keeping sentiments of the original fans alive, frequently picking on itself in the first act.
They set the story in a simulation where Thomas Anderson is a world-famous game designer who made the video-game called The Matrix. Now, he is tasked to make a reboot, but then he keeps getting these visuals or dreams or whatever you want to call them. He sees the therapist played by Neil Patrick Harris, who keeps telling Thomas that the Matrix was just a game he designed, and that his mind was losing grip on reality, hence the vision and confusion.
But since someone has to drive the narrative forward, there are a bunch of young recruits who have been influenced by Neo, who come to get him back to the 'real world' where machines are not united anymore. Humans have aligned with some machines to keep the system running in peace. Wait, what, then what is Neo doing here if people had finally existed in harmony? To liberate Tiffany... err... Trinity, the love interest.... Ufff!!!
Matrix Resurrections is a stylish film high on concept and everything, but there was something seriously lacking with the motivation of the protagonist. If I wasn't a fan of the original trilogy, I wouldn't have even cared to root for Thomas Anderson a.k.a Neo. Keanu Reeves looks hot but boy does he struggle to maintain the charm, and they haven't hidden it at all, which makes it believable. Neil Patrick Harris is the bad guy in this one. Priyanka Chopra Jones is there as the face of diversity, with literally nothing significant to do in this one. I really wished she played The Oracle. I am sure she has a higher purpose in the sequel just like Carrie-Anne Moss.
Rating - 2.5/5
Serpent's Verdict - Matrix Resurrections is an average movie when you compare it with the original trilogy. Watch it for a little nostalgia. You won't be bored despite the length of the movie.
Minnal Murali (2021)
Minnal Murali is a mass film that lacks originality.
I was motivated to watch this 'Superhero flick' after reading a highly favorable review in a leading Indian newspaper calling this 'The best superhero movie of the year could teach Marvel how to solve its villain problem'.
The story is about a tailor who is never seen stitching throughout the film except for the one scene where he blatantly copies Tobey Maguire stitching his Spidey-suite. Yes, this film is all about following that template - of Spiderman. Of course, the villain's track follows the template of Nolan's Joker from Dark Knight (and a little bit of the villain played by Vivek Oberoi in one of the Krish movies). What makes it look different - well, it is set in a village in Kerala and the players are all caricature small-town folks. A lightning bolt strikes the two and they gain superpowers.
The writers did not even attempt to give any depth to the characters, since this is being marketed as a ground-breaking first super hero film from the Malayalam Industry. Okay, let us leave the cardboard cutouts, but what about the hero and villain, their love interests? Well, as seen in almost all mass South Indian films, the villain doesn't get the love of his life and (for a chance) neither does the hero - that is the first act of the film - in intercuts their tragic love failures are revealed, and more importantly, the filmmakers make it a point to portray women as the unfaithful sex which can leave a man at any moment for a richer guy. Yes, that is exactly how it looked.
Talk about teaching Marvel a lesson. What on earth was the villain doing in this film? What was his motivation - a love failure? Fine, what was the aimless hero's motivation? A loosely stitched (since the hero is a tailor) prologue in which the hero's father (whom the hero forgets conveniently because of a retrograde amnesia which the writers don't even care to address because the audience is taken for granted) speaks of values and doing the right thing and taking responsibilities, etc. The very words that play as voice overlap in the climax when the hero (who is now dressed like the amazing Spiderman) is down.
Shamir Thahir's visual frames are beautiful. Individually, the shots look great, but there is an overall inconsistency in the cinematography when seen in the whole. It doesn't maintain the look and feel throughout - sometimes it gives a Gotham-like feel, and then suddenly it gives a Subramaniyapuram-like feel, before going back to 'Kumbalangi Nights' mode.
The viewing experience is constantly interrupted by unnecessary songs occasionally in the first half. One of the most important ingredients of a good superhero film is amazing background score. Minnal Murali's BG score lacks punch especially towards the end (nothing beats Bahubali - The Conclusion). The other important element of a good superhero film is great special effects. Well, the vfx is decent given the limited budget, but there are places where you can tell that element in 3D could have made use of some shadows and highlights. Let's come to action - there is no punch in the punches. The fight scenes are rare, but those that are there are extended for no reason. Were they trying to build drama and create sympathy for the hero? Like that fight scene in the bus, we all know that it is going to end with the bus hanging from the cliff, but then hanging the girl from the broken windshield of the hanging bus was too much. That's what happens when you try to repurpose a train scene from Spiderman with a cheaper one in the bus.
When it comes to performance, then the baddie 'Guru Somasundaram' does a decent job along with P Balachandran as uncle Ben, I mean the superhero's guardian. Baiju and Aju Varghese's characters are under-developed. As for Tovino, no... he lacked the most important thing needed in a superhero - CHARISMA. He desperately tries to do a simpleton version of Tobey Maguire in lungi.
Minnal Murali is at best a strictly average rip-off of Spiderman with a villain has no villainy. Don't think I am being mean to the makers. I understand the labour that goes into making any film, but this is lazy writing and filmmaking. Yes, it will impress someone who has never seen a superhero film. But the regular superhero filmgoer has everything before - the nerdy hero, the father-figure, the father's heroics, the villain's magnetic abilities (even the villain played by Vivek Oberoi ripped it in Krish few years back), the hero's ability to save utensils from hitting the floor (it was a canteen in Spiderman, here it is a cooperative hospital), the stitching of a costume that looks exactly like a Marvel costume (including the colour scheme), the bus attack (like the train attack in Spiderman) you have all that here. The list goes on.
The worst part is the duration of this cliched superhero movie set in a small countryside - 2 freaking hours and 37 minutes, and for what - half baked characters and a villain who doesn't scare the hell out of the viewer?
SAD part is how the so-called critics are praising this baselessly, sending the non-Malayalee audience into a nightmare that lacks authenticity. Let's call a spade a spade - Minnal Murali is a below average film that has nothing original to offer. Whoever reviewed this movie for that newspaper needs to be honest with the audience. The producers could have trimmed its length, might have been better.
Avoid if you have watched Spiderman. Avoid it if you like Tovino Thomas. AVOID IF YOU READ SOMEWHERE THAT THIS IS THE BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE MADE IN INDIA.
Minnal Murali is the Malayalam version of what was Krish to Hindi. I sign off.
Sooryavanshi (2021)
Recycled cop story that has nothing new to offer
'Sooryavanshi' is the fourth installment in Rohit Shetty's 'blockbuster' Cop Universe. While many of us remember Singham as the original 'cop' who threw some great punches in dialogues and on the harness. Akshay Kumar's first tryst with director Rohit Shetty is nowhere near that first film, or even the last one with Ranveer Singh.
Akshay Kumar is Sooryavanshi, a cop with a failed marriage with an actor who is literally present in the film to do a rain dance and a slo-mo walk with three men in the climax. He cannot remember names of people just like the writers forgot to remember that they have done the same thing in multiple old movies (remember Johnny Lever's 'Bhoola!' From Golmaal or Paresh Rawal from Awara Pagal Deewana?) Akshay carries no style or charisma as the cop in this film (maybe I am still drawing comparisons with Ajay Devgan's Singham). Katrina has nothing to do with this film. Jackie Shroff, Kumud Mishra, Gulshan Grover are cardboard cutout villains while Javed Jaffrey is there doing...well... something to take the story forward. What were Sikander Kher and the girl doing in the film - oh yes, the writers placed them for convenience, just like the kid who alerts Kumud Mishra's character about the hero's presence in a hotel.
I mean, the makers were so sure that this boring, outdated screenplay was leading nowhere that they roped in Singham Devgan and Simmba Singh into the mix to dodge slow motion bullets and toppling cars. Ajay Devgun does leave you with some nostalgia, but even he couldn't save the spineless protagonist's saga.
The global pandemic stalled Sooryavanshi's theatrical release. That's sad because if the film had released on its scheduled time, then it may well have killed the pandemic with boredom and the humour, which can only be designated as PJs.
Sooryavanshi is a decently shot film with stale characters, obsolete screenplay, unfunny dialogues, forcefully emotional scenes that have neither head nor tail. It has nothing new to offer and can be easily skipped. Thankful that we can do that on an OTT without buying a ticket. That it grossed 200 crore speaks volumes about the depraved state of the Hindi cinema-watching audience.