arungeorge13

Well, it's missing large chunks of character development and weighty emotions, but what Gareth Evans does best, he does BEST. Living up to its title, Havoc offers a plot replete with theft, double-crossing, a drug bust gone wrong, Chinese triads, grey-shaded cops, and Christmas. Beyond all that, however, Havoc is a balls-to-the-wall actioner that's partially let down by its over-reliance on gunplay (and CG) rather than what we know Evans for. There's only one (or two?) hand-to-hand combat sequences, and they're really good. The shootouts are staged pretty solidly, making me believe that if we ever get another Max Payne film, it should be Evans in the director's seat.

It's a cakewalk for Tom Hardy, who's clearly in it for the Gareth Evans "high moments" but the real star of this is Jessie Mei Li. It's always good to see Timothy Olyphant and Forest Whitaker, isn't it? There's one stretch in the second act, where the plot is just progressing and the action takes a backseat, but the last 20-25 minutes absolutely deliver. I also quite liked the score (Aria Prayogi), making the proceedings darker and more consequential. For a Netflix "original," this is thankfully not the over-edited mess I expected it'd be. Well, it's shot by Evans' collaborator from both the Raid movies - Matt Flannery, so you can expect some of that frenetic, shaky cam style, coupled with some interesting colour tones.

GBU is probably the most overcooked star vehicle there can ever be. Sure, it's good fun for a while -- like the high offered by a joint -- but it's not sustained or sufficient to be deemed a jolly good time. I don't spend time watching brainrot reels (that everyone seems to be enjoying in this generation), so nope, this ain't for me. At least Adhik & Co seem to have had fun making this full-fledged 2h 15m tribute to AK's filmography. GvP's music was deafening to my ears, but I get the intent behind it being so. The ladies (Trisha and Priya Warrier) are complete after-thoughts. I also understand how enjoyable it would've been for hardcore AK fans. I'm not part of that audience, so it's just a forgettable film overall, for me. Loved Arjun Das in this; bro cracked the assignment with flying colours.

Ash is a tonally confused horror film that tries to be too many things at once-and succeeds at none. Yes, there's some creativity in the visual department, especially with respect to the use of flash cuts and the dense colour palette. But for a 90-minute film, it takes a bit too long to get to its obvious point of twist. The action thereafter is some good gory fun with nods to films like Resident Evil and The Thing, but whenever there's CG involved, the results are less effective compared to when the makers use practical effects.

Eiza Gonzalez has the screen presence to play the protagonist but we barely know anything about her character all through, making the first couple of acts a largely uneventful slog. It's only in the final 30 minutes that the scary bits from the trailer happen (..though they become progressively less scary..) and ending on a rather humrum note. The music is very John Carpenter-esque, and that helps.

P. S. Folks who enjoyed games like Dead Space and Alien Isolation might take to this better.