The Fourth Kind is supposedly based on true events but nothing seems to be believable or true about the movie to say the least. It could really be pain to sit through the entire that runs for about an hour and a half. It simply feels waste of time, effort and money of course. Is creativity losing its way or are filmmakers falling short of finding good meaningful stories to present to the audience? (more…)
Astro Boy is yet another animated movie and a family-friendly flick directed by David Bowers. This movie is based on Osamu Tezuka’s Japanese comic book. As the name suggests the hero of the film is the Astro Boy, a robotic boy that first appeared in the 1950s as an important part in the Japanese serial and then one would have caught a glimpse of Astro Boy in small screen cartoons in the 60s and now you can find Astro Boy in the silver screen. So, Astro Boy is quite familiar with arcs and spotlight. (more…)
Pandorum is another sci-fi film of the year that can well be missed and you will save both your money and time for sure. One cannot miss to appreciate the production design but a movie without any meaningful content is hard to bear and the audience cannot sit through an entire movie just watching the set design.
The movie is full of chaos to say the least it gets difficult to keep track of the series of action and amidst this entire confusion one can hardly sit through to look at the performances or the characters. Director Christian Alvart could have done a better job of this one and actually Pandorum reminds of the film Event Horizon, which was yet another loud movie.
Coming to the story it is about the space ship Elysium that has departed from planet earth in 2174 and Bower played by Ben Foster wakes up form his hiber-sleep with memory loss.
The space ship is under a threat and even Lt Payton played by Dennis Quaid does not remember a thing and Bower makes a attempt to switch on the power if the ship but he faces some dangerous creatures who are in a killer mood and eventually we get to know the goal of Elysium is to find a habitat on a different planet, as earth is no longer a place to live.
The space ship is full of mindless killers and they are suffering from a Pandorum, which is caused by hibernation and has resulted in paranoia. No wonder then why all the confusion in the movie and when the characters are mentally unsound one can understand where it is all leading to- nowhere but a deep chasm in which the audience will have free fall not knowing when they will reach the ground.
Dennis Quaid in a scene from Pandorum
Pandorum is not clear in terms of the characters, as they speak so softly and strange accent that is hard to decipher what they are saying. The camerawork is too rigid and the chaotic editing addition to the woes of the film. There is not a single moment in the film when you jump off your seat in fear or horror the sound effect jerks you up a bit and nothing more. You can just forget the fear factor because it is just not present in the film and may be it could not have saved the film anyway, as it lacks the substances.
The plot is simply meaningless and that serves well enough for the movie to be rated a flop. The claustrophobic scenes are good that’s all; do not expect anything more from this brainless subject that dares to test the intellect of the audience. And with such weak plot we cannot expect much from the characters, as they are not served with anything good to build upon and their performances otherwise too is not impressive to say the least.
Do not waste your precious time on this film; you will certainly have better plans to make your weekend more exciting rather than watch a crap movie such as Pandorum.
| Film | Pandorum |
|---|---|
| Cast | Dennis Quaid as Payton Ben Foster as Bower Cam Gigandet as Gallo Antje Traue as Nadia Cung Le as Manh Eddie Rouse as Leland Norman Reedus as Shepard André Hennicke as Hunter Lead |
| Director | Christian Alvart |
| Writers | Christian Alvart, Travis Milloy |
| Producers | Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, Robert Kulzer, Martin Moszkowicz |
| Runtime | 1 Hour 42 Minutes |
| Rating | 2/5 |
Surrogates is a science fiction film based on the graphic novel titled Surrogates. The movie takes place sometime in the future in which man has evolved into a robot of himself who does all the work of the actual human being whereas the real person comfortably sits at home wired to machines. (more…)
Jennifer’s Body is another teen-oriented horror picture with elements of enhanced gory details rather than real scary incidents. The film is all hyped because of its lead character Megan Fox of Transformers and the Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. The plot of the movie revolves around the most popular high-school girl who incidentally has become a flesh-eating demon. (more…)
Directed by Shane Acker, the film 9 is the latest animated flick but if you thought it’s for your kids you are mistaken absolutely. In fact, the target audience for ‘9’ is the growing teens, but to me it seemed to play more with maturing crowd that would appreciate detailed work of art, set designs and animation. (more…)
The movie title The time Traveler’s Wife by itself is self intriguing and I bet it is not just a sweet romantic cliché as it transcends time but in it lies hidden the mystic beauty. The story unfolds in an idyllic meadow with a little girl who is no more than six years of age gives her blanket to a naked man. The man introduces himself and deep in her thoughts he leaves an indelible imprint as he promises to meet her again someday somewhere. The pace of the movie sets in to continue.
The reality is the man named Henry travels in time. One moment he is here and in the next moment he can simply vanish only to emerge either 10 years in advance or some years younger. That is after vanishing into thin air he has no control of how to come back to a destination but each time he comes back he is always naked. Whatever be it, he cannot be the guy that a girl will fall in love with as there lies an inherent inconsistency in Henry’s behavior.
Here is the twist of the film as Clare that little girl grew up to meet Henry in a library and they fall in love. It was not their first encounter as their relationship was never in a linear sequence. There will be moments of togetherness but in some other time he might either be twenty years younger to her or even be elder to her. Amidst these, they get married and Clare gets pregnant as well.
But, in reality with this characteristic it became difficult for Henry to hold on to a steady job but what comes in rescue is the time traveling adventure of Henry. To support his love he traveled into future, used to know the lottery ticket numbers and then encashing the big prize. (Not a bad idea, is it not?)
However, in another angle we get to know that Henry has a peculiar genetic condition. This time-traveling skill of Henry is because of Chrono impairment according to a genetic expert Dr. Kendrick. In all the genes of Henry it is this trait that makes him appear and disappear at the same time in different time period. In many occasions he get caught by cops for snatching wallets and clothes from shops in the streets and elevators of Chicago, but he suddenly vanishes from the police car. All are perplexed and finally the cops realize that it’s a waste of time to arrest this kind of a man.
The whole story might sound confusing, but if you see it in the theaters it is quite understandable and you will definitely enjoy the new angle of love and commitment to nurture and protect relationships.
This movie is based on a famous novel by Audrey Niffenegger and the credit to bring it into theaters goes to the director Robert Schwentke and the Oscar winning screen writer of Ghost Bruce Joel Rubin. The characters performed brilliantly and that made the film more appealing. The on-screen chemistry between Clara and Henry was too emotional and that made it easier for the director and his team to put forth such a difficult material on screen.
| Film | The Time Traveler’s Wife |
|---|---|
| Cast | Michelle Nolden as Annette DeTamble, Alex Ferris as Henry at Six, Arliss Howard as Richard DeTamble, Eric Bana as Henry DeTamble, Katherine Trowell as Hospital Receptionist, Bart Bedford as Library Researcher, Rachel McAdams as Clare Abshire, Carly Street as Librarian, Brooklynn Proulx as Clare at Six and Eight, Jane McLean as Charisse, Ron Livingston as Gomez |
| Director | Robert Schwentke |
| Writer | Bruce Joel Rubin, Audrey Niffenegger |
| Producers | Dede Gardner, Nick Wechsler |
| Rating | 3.5/5 |
District 9 is a film that focused on extraterrestrial refuges trapped in the land of South Africa. However, this film is based on a short film that was also directed by Neil Blomkamp called Alive in Joburg. District 9 is not a high budget film but again the film is not devoid of special effects. In this film the audience can enjoy a seamless integration of extra-terrestrial people with human life and living. Built around chase, this sci-fi film builds quite suspense.
As to the plot of the movie, the aliens land in a giant ship and are considered as refugees forced to live in the shanty towns of Johannesburg as their ship lost all fuel. But it is the presence of these aliens that is giving gooseflesh to the residents of that area as the creatures appear disgusting and scary. Yes, the aliens were all in hard shells but with enormous strength.
The government of South Africa has made a makeshift home in District 9 for the aliens but the debate was on between world leaders and politicians as to how to handle the whole situation with the aliens. The land of South Africa is chosen as the location of District 9 for reason all too obvious and that includes the township style, the accent and the dusty air amidst harsh environment.
As the movie unfolds the audience find that the people of that area was continuously growing scared of the intruders and this led to the formation of MNU (Multi-National Union), a private company. This group was formed with the intention of controlling and restraining the aliens. But, on the contrary instead how the aliens worked, MNU group was more interested about the welfare of the aliens.
If the MNU can decode the secret of the aliens’ weapons then they would have enough profit to fund the research. What was required to activate the weapons was alien DNA. What happens is a Nigerian underworld mafia leader gets hold of the alien weapons by luring them with cat food. Again, Wikus van der Merwe, a MNU field operative is contracted with virus from alien and this leads to rapid change and mutation of his DNA. His hands got transformed into alien claws. Did you get how the rest of the movie will rotate?
Yes, it is through those claws that aliens’ weapons can be operated and in no time Wikus became the most valuable asset. The growing tension between human and aliens get further intensified as Wikus become the main force and key to unlock the potential of alien technology. In no time, he becomes the most needed and wanted man on Earth. The chase continues and hit the theaters to see how it ends.
| Film | District 9 |
|---|---|
| Cast | Sharlto Copley as Wikus Van De Merwe, Jason Cope as Grey Bradnam – UKNR Chief Correspondent, Nathalie Boltt as Sarah Livingstone – Sociologist, Sylvaine Strike as Dr Katrina McKenzie, Elizabeth Mkandawie as Interviewee, John Summer as Les Feldman – MIL Engineer, William Allen Young as Dirk Michaels, Greg Melvill-Smith as Interviewer, Nick Blake as Francois Moraneu – CIV Engineer Team, Morena Busa Sesatsa as Interviewee |
| Director | Neill Blomkamp |
| Writer | Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell |
| Producers | Peter Jackson |
| Rating | 4/5 |
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the latest flick based on children’s cartoon characters of the 80s. Keeping this as the very basis of your thought, you can just go and have some fun, but if you don’t know much about G.I.Joe then you will find yourself seeing a movie where simply lot of things just got blown off with lots of explosions and bloodless violence. (more…)
Transformers-Revenge of the Fallen is directed by Michael Bay. He is the one who directed The Rock in 1996. However this flick by Michael Bay is unbearably long and is only dotted with few amusing moments. In this film, players are thrust into battle either as Autobots or Decepticons to fight, drive and fly in a pressure-packed situation and circumstances. (more…)
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