Premium Rush: Review - I know its late!

Getting Started

A sloppy evening that had no intentions of a productive inspiration was passing by like any other and there had to be something that I could do to kill the damn thing. As would most of you suggest, and as i have developed a liking towards public opinion, I decided to watch one of the recently downloaded and not watched flick, "Premium Rush". Honestly speaking, I was expecting nothing but a desperate cycle rider, but honestly I got a lot more. A mixture of fun, frolic and a lot of running around, I here, present to you the review of Premium Rush, a movie about how to get hit multiple times in the traffic.

The Plot

Coming down to what the story is about, the plot is based on this graduate good looking hero who works for a delivery service. Now this isn't your run of the mill FED-EX services, these are premium level people who ride around on bicycles around the New York city in order to make things reach a place when they need to get there. Naturally, for the fun part of it, there are several shots of raging-with-fire cycle machinery and a race-like line in between and you have to give in to the fact that 98% of the movie is on the roads. It is about how the protagonist is asked to deliver this receipt which is apparently a part of an illegal money transfer chain and he gets into trouble (predictable) and then the rest of the plot is what you could easily judge.
For the predictability and the sheer over-usage of the 'transported on pedals' concept, I will give it a 2.5/5 for the plot-line.

The People

Equipped with a very good looking group of males, and a severely poor eye candy of females, the flick is not for those who want some visual relish. As far as how they act is concerned, it is very fair for a movie like this where expression is not playing a major part. The conversations are quick and to the point and the movie does not do crappy sequences of meticulous processes that some of the action lovers terribly hate and yet which is put into a majority of movies as it is a great cinematic tool. (for those of you who didn't get it, it is about how the camera constantly follows one person, no dialogues and meticulously shows his activities to give the viewer a perception of his state and status and mental conditions)
Not being very pesky about the whole thing, I would still give it a 3/5 for the people they used as everyone did a fair job.

The Effects

This is one of the smaller yet most award winning part. The effects that they have shown for the maps and the kind of animation that moves with each of them is something which is pure pleasure to watch at. The effects give you a gush of adrenalin and you are left in the state where you want to grab your bike and ride as you GPS takes you to 'Infinity and Beyond!'. The time animation is something that you'll like in particular and the color combinations and movements of the title and subtitle texts are also very cool. For the effects to look this smooth and good, and for avoiding their over-usage  and for some very beautiful on bike and stunt shots and an awe inspiring picturization of amazing driving, I will give it a 4/5 for the effects it has used.

The Overall

Now comes the final showdown. The movie that seems to be made in the count of a few weeks without much spending except for permissions to shoot on roads seems to be surprisingly gripping and exciting. You have this really wonderful bubbly feeling from within to go and ride your good old bike one you're done with watching it. Though there are a few glitches technically and apart from that a few concepts like that of the flash mob in the end that seem to be a little under-used, you will always find yourself entertained and in a constant thought process. It does have very predictable loose ends, but you have to keep in mind that the movie dosen't really you much time to think about what is going to happen next.
Gaining on the wonderful story and loosing upon predictability with an edge in effects, this movie gets a 6.7/10 overall rating. In qualitative words, worth, the disk space in the good stuff folder, especially for people who grew up loving movies like 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar'.

So if you got a good free Saturday evening, go ahead and watch it, feast your eyes.!
That's all for this one folks! See you next time!

The Sign Painter

Life of Pi: A Ranted Review

The much anticipated and much awaited was at last seen. The last day of exams and I was pretty sure that this was the right way to spice it up. 1645 hours at the PVR cinemas, the ambiance has never failed me and the richness of the place makes the experience way better. Coming down to the account of the movie, all was in high spirits, as long as it started. Beginning with Irfan Khan as the aged (somewhere in his 40s) Pi, the story starts with him cooking for an author who had come over to ask him about his story. Apparently there is this character called 'Mamaji' who had sent him there. Nevertheless, the next five minutes of the movie have been wonderfully thought about. The shots of a pool and beautiful raytracing and animation will leave you in awe (of course there is more to come). A very animated story if you'd ask me. It grips you, yes, and at the same time, it never leaves you. It tries putting you in awe, but if you'd ask me, you never really get there. The rest of the movie is about how Pi, our Mr Patel travels through the seas to get to his destiny after being shipwrecked, something that all of you already know about.

So this review is not about the story but rather about the movie and the type of cinema that it has brought to us.
I would first, before I officially begin, like to congratulate Ang Lee on this leap of courage for making this movie. It is a spectacle one shouldn't miss, especially in 3D and if possible, definately in IMAX. Moving forward, it is a beautiful concept. The emotions are alive, the expressions are rich, not in their sheer communication, but in their realism, their minimalism, and their exquisite carelessness of the fact that someone behind the fourth wall is trying to interpret them. That is one of the most beautiful things about the movie. In as few words as possible, it gives you stories, feelings and a plethora of confusions at the same time.

The story in isolation, with the screenplay and the script is splendid, I give it a 4/5 for that. Or maybe even a 4.5 if only they could stop stereotyping the naive thinking of Indian kids. Not all of us are that plain and we dont deserve to have a general impression of that. Nevertheless, it is a very pleasing sight to look at. 

Coming down to the sort of cinema that we are looking at. Splendid again, beautiful, mystical. There are, sometimes, so many things going on, on the screen that you fight to take a look at every part of the frame before the shot changes. Beautiful animation, wonderful viewports. Getting a little technical, the kind of materials that they have used, the tracking algorithms and the meticulous thoughts that have been put into thinking what will go best is the most amazing thing about the animation. It comes close to the transformers on those grounds. PS: I am not stupid enough to put it next to the Avatar like some of those paid blokes in news channels have done, this is still not the movie of the decade. 

The animation in isolation for its serenity, and integrity with the scene will steal your heart. It gets a 4.5/5 for the animation.

Now comes the final showdown, and I don't know how, but this movie drastically fails at an overall rating as far as my meter goes. Here's the point now, there is beautiful story, there is beautiful animation, but somewhere the story and the animation don't marry each other. The integrity and the reason for those beautiful and splendid scenes to be there just does not make sense. An island full of meal-cats now that might have some substance from visual sides, I was awestruck when I saw it on screen, leave alone the man who saw it himself, but then, what is it supposed to mean? The general and poor minded audience like myself fails to fathom the depth of that shot. Lighted up waters and things like that are certainly beautiful and unveiling as far as the mysteries of the pacific are concerned, but when you have already sensed the richness and meaning behind all the lines said, your mid just wont take in something that has no connection to the message at all.For the immense lack of simple connection between the beauty and the story and the negligence to end the story makes me keep wanting more, makes me keep saying it shouldn't end like this! Its the times when you've done so much and then you simply scream! No! No! you morons! stop doing this to a great movie! The tiger's departure makes no sense, Pi's restructuring of the story makes no sense at all in heaven or hell. I might be way too stupid to understand, bu then, I believe I am the general audience.Once again, congratulations to Ang Lee for trying to elevate the sense of cinema of the people of the world but I can only do so much to give it an overall 6/10 for the reasons I stated above.

But yes, please please do go and watch it, it is amazing cinema :)

The Sign Painter