arungeorge13
Joined Jan 2012
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arungeorge13's rating
Reviews1.2K
arungeorge13's rating
On the whole, the film worked for me based on the following:
1. Suraaj's performance as the psychotic Binu-exhibiting sadistic shades and cleverly concealing that persona-is spectacular.
2. Ashif Kakkodi's script keeps the proceedings engaging with instances of dark humour sprinkled throughout the narrative. Several "family cliches" are subverted.
3. Aamir Pallikkal's directorial treatment is a vast improvement from Ayisha.
4. Ankit Menon's music packs more to each scene - be it an underlining of dark comedy or emotions.
5. Great comedic timing exhibited by the supporting cast - especially Shyam Mohan, Vineeth Thattil David, and Raffi.
6. Vinaya Prasad aces her subtle-yet-crazy mommy role.
7. Not the perfectly packaged finale but it's apt as a concluding note.
8. This one is probably going to divide audiences based on their interest in / aversion to the genre. I liked it.
1. Suraaj's performance as the psychotic Binu-exhibiting sadistic shades and cleverly concealing that persona-is spectacular.
2. Ashif Kakkodi's script keeps the proceedings engaging with instances of dark humour sprinkled throughout the narrative. Several "family cliches" are subverted.
3. Aamir Pallikkal's directorial treatment is a vast improvement from Ayisha.
4. Ankit Menon's music packs more to each scene - be it an underlining of dark comedy or emotions.
5. Great comedic timing exhibited by the supporting cast - especially Shyam Mohan, Vineeth Thattil David, and Raffi.
6. Vinaya Prasad aces her subtle-yet-crazy mommy role.
7. Not the perfectly packaged finale but it's apt as a concluding note.
8. This one is probably going to divide audiences based on their interest in / aversion to the genre. I liked it.
So, in all of 20 minutes, Mufasa gets separated from his parents during a flood, finds another pride, and forms a brotherly bond with a cub. I'm not saying this is not how things are supposed to happen, but I'd have liked Mufasa to go through such life-altering situations with greater emotional depth at play. Fortunately, the proceedings get a bit better with time, in the second act.
It certainly helps that Aaron Pierre is voicing the older Mufasa. Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) is the genuine comic relief in this, and he's one of the best-etched characters in the film. One could also opine that the film has greater (though nonsensical) detailing for the character that eventually becomes Scar than it has for Mufasa, and that's a fair point. I think the photorealistic visuals look greater than the first, but given how we know where the storytelling angles are headed, the impact feels lessened overall.
It was always going to be difficult to top Hans Zimmer's work from the original, and the musical efforts here purely reinstate the fact. A couple of songs were okayish, but making the key antagonist (Mads Mikkelsen) sing definitely backfired, I felt. Most of the main characters from the first film only get cameos here, with hardly any memorable lines.
Verdict: There seems to be a tad too much Disney involvement here. Barry Jenkins is by no means a bad director.
It certainly helps that Aaron Pierre is voicing the older Mufasa. Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) is the genuine comic relief in this, and he's one of the best-etched characters in the film. One could also opine that the film has greater (though nonsensical) detailing for the character that eventually becomes Scar than it has for Mufasa, and that's a fair point. I think the photorealistic visuals look greater than the first, but given how we know where the storytelling angles are headed, the impact feels lessened overall.
It was always going to be difficult to top Hans Zimmer's work from the original, and the musical efforts here purely reinstate the fact. A couple of songs were okayish, but making the key antagonist (Mads Mikkelsen) sing definitely backfired, I felt. Most of the main characters from the first film only get cameos here, with hardly any memorable lines.
Verdict: There seems to be a tad too much Disney involvement here. Barry Jenkins is by no means a bad director.
