Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Death Note (2006)

Desu nĂ´to (2006)

Director : Shusuke Kaneko.
Genere : Adventure / Crime / Mystery.
Cast : Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Asaka Seto.
Rating : Regular

Based on a popular Manga series, Japanese animated comic book, Death Note is a Live action thriller movie characterizing two exceptionally intelligent minds, namely L and Light. Light got possession of a book from the other world, the death-note, which is capable of killing people by writing their name on it. He began to use it for killing criminals with a dream of creating a crime free world. Owing to the increased rate of death the government was forced to start an investigation. L, a famous detective comes to help out. And the real battle begins.
Death Note altogether gives the feel of a graphic book, a bold experiment in direction by Shusuke Kaneko. With its vivid colors and cinematography the movie looks more like a peeled out page from a graphic novel. The script is self contained and has almost all ingredients to entertain a general audience. The movie manages to maintain a psychological tempo throughout and finishes with a suspenseful twist. Death Note is not merely a thriller; it questions the authority of power and shows how power manipulates by its own. Also recommends its sequel “Death Note: The Last Name”.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Dasavatharam (2008)

Dasavatharam (2008)

Director : K.S. Ravikumar.
Genere : Drama / Sci-Fi.
Cast : Kamal Hassan, Asin, Mallika Sherawat.
Rating : Regular
Dasavatharam is a term from Hindu mythology for describing the ten principal Avatars of Lord Vishnu. In this film actor Kamal Hassan has done 9+1 character including the hero and the villain. Almost all important characters in this film are portrayed by him with the help of makeup and technology. The movie took parts in two different chronologies. The main story line is set in a recent past where he plays his 9 characters and a bonus track which is set in the early 12th century for his +1 character.
The main story line is based on a biological weapon that gets loose into public and happens to reach India. The hero and the villain chaises to get hold of it, meeting other characters all played by the same actor, on their quest and ends up in 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami which neutralizes the virus and thus saving the earth from a mass devastation.
This is probably the first time an actor is handling 9+1 character for a single movie. All 9+1 characters follow different slang and body language apart from their physical appearances. Despite the actors effort all other departments fails to keep up to the mark. Although the cinematography and CG are miserable, and in some places the script is so much manipulated, Dasavatharam can be said as a modest experimentation from an ambitious actor.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Director : Ron Howard.
Genere : Biography / Drama.
Cast : Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris.
Rating : Classic

Solving an equation often involves many manipulations like assumption, derivations, integration, neglection, formulation etc. “A Beautiful Mind” is a well formulated, sure/safe shot, semi-fictional tale about a genius mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr, who won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics, whose brilliance was in a constant battle with schizophrenia. His mind wont satisfies anything less for an ordinary but for an original idea.

The story starts with Russell Crowe as John Nash at Princeton in pursuit of an original idea to make his name in History. It’s here where he develops his work on game theory which contradicts exiting theories. Soon he began to work at MIT which involves confidential code breaking for the Government. There he happens to meet a beautiful and brilliant student Alicia, played by Jennifer Connelly, whom he latter marries. Soon their life becomes a struggle and John gets diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The movie is a thin line between an extraordinary mind and a self-destructive mental disease, and his struggle to overcome it with the help of his wife. It’s a conflict between mind and heart, a story about true love and passion. Director Ron Howard has utilized Akiva Goldsman to maximum for creating a highly contrasting and unpredictable character for Russell Crowe, which Crowe exploited very well and delivers a fantastic performance which makes us feel John Nash had just lived before our eyes. Especially notable is Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris as supporting characters who did their finest. The film ends with John Nash getting standing ovation at the cinematic version of the Nobel Prize ceremony, it is not only John Nash but also all the crew members of this movie who deserve a standing ovation.