It's a quite well done movie - it doesn't break new ground but for its 120 minutes (or so) of runtime, it will keep you pleasurably entertained with a few emotional moments thrown in here and there. Switch your brain off and enjoy.
PS: Don't watch this if you have just finished watching the first Iron Man movie. The themes are quite similar.
What happens when you are slandered when you didn't commit anything wrong? How do you get justice in a bureaucratic society that obstructs your pleas and hampers you at all stages? These are the questions that the movie ponders upon - using a usual filing style and a bitingly dark comedic style.
For the most part, it succeeds as being a commentary on the Chinese judicial system without being too critical of the government. Feng Xiaogang carries out a fine balancing act and there are parts which are genuinely funny for the acerbic wit of its characters. The cinematography is gorgeous, the acting is spot on without devolving into melodrama and Fan Bingbing is gorgeous. Sadly - the movie falls apart in its last act and delivers a not-so-satisfactory ending. None the less, as a social commentary this movie succeeds.
An incoherent mess that doesn't know what it wants to do. There are story arcs that don't add anything to the plot, there are characters who don't contribute anything to the movie and there are inconsistencies that make the previous movies in the series null and void.
That said, if your brain is dead (alternatively, if you can convince your brain to die for the duration of the movie), it is a visual feast and has a few funny moments that would make it a fun watch with your family on a Sunday afternoon. 4/10.
In Bollywood, there is a term for movies that exaggerate emotions and situations to the point that the depictions of the characters, their dialogues, their actions etc. become detached from reality and enter the realm of fantasy. Such movies are called 'filmy'. In 'filmy' movies, viewers are asked to dispel their notions of rationality and realism and are expected to simply allow themselves to be taken into a fantastical journey by the writer/director. Any questioning of why a character would be so nice (or so evil) is impertinent since the viewer is expected to know that the movie is pure fantasy.
This is one such 'filmy' movie. It is, as said by a reviewer below, a well-made and sweet movie. However, given the theme that it presents (the importance of education for the poor), the approach taken by the director to mix fantasy with the grim reality (that I know exists for the poor in India), the movie and it's characters felt jarring and annoying. I felt that I was watching Cinderella when I should have been watching something as grim as Dickens's Bleak House
So, yes this is a well-made and sweet movie. It may be even worth your 100 minutes. But in the end, it's a fluffy teddy bear with little relation to reality. As long as you keep these expectations, thumbs up. Else, two thumbs down.
This is one of those movies which makes you dump an entire genre all together. Honestly, if this is the representative film-noir, then the entire genre is worth discarding into the junk pile of history. By the end of the movie, I felt cheated out of 90 minutes of my life.
Oh, I get it how the lighting was spectacular and how the children's boat ride was brilliantly filmed and how one of the scenes reminds one of a church, but then lighting and scenery does not make up for the laughable scriptwriting. Two thumbs down.
This is one of those rare movies which rarely gets the attention it truly deserves. Despite having a subject related to death, this is a movie which can make you laugh, smirk and cry. Truly one of the best movies I've head the pleasure to watch.
This is one of those movies which tries to present the counter-factual: not all Muslims are fundamentalists. It uses a nice plot device - the ashes of Gandhi and an old Ford engine - to prove this point.
However, it is precisely these plot devices which bog the movie down. Had the plot devices been McGuffins, the movie would have been better directed. As of now, it is a good movie with an uplifting social message but it is not a *great* movie.
I really liked the setting. I liked the writing and direction. However, the pacing and plotting could have been tweaked a bit more (especially near the ending) to make the movie more accessible to a general audience.
More than a movie on environmental disasters, this documentary is more like a case study on how lawyers/environmentalists use media and news to spread propaganda. A good documentary.
Comments 1 - 12 of 12
Movie comment on Captain Marvel
egress63
It's a quite well done movie - it doesn't break new ground but for its 120 minutes (or so) of runtime, it will keep you pleasurably entertained with a few emotional moments thrown in here and there. Switch your brain off and enjoy.PS: Don't watch this if you have just finished watching the first Iron Man movie. The themes are quite similar.
Movie comment on Wo bu shi Pan Jin Lian
egress63
What happens when you are slandered when you didn't commit anything wrong? How do you get justice in a bureaucratic society that obstructs your pleas and hampers you at all stages? These are the questions that the movie ponders upon - using a usual filing style and a bitingly dark comedic style.For the most part, it succeeds as being a commentary on the Chinese judicial system without being too critical of the government. Feng Xiaogang carries out a fine balancing act and there are parts which are genuinely funny for the acerbic wit of its characters. The cinematography is gorgeous, the acting is spot on without devolving into melodrama and Fan Bingbing is gorgeous. Sadly - the movie falls apart in its last act and delivers a not-so-satisfactory ending. None the less, as a social commentary this movie succeeds.
7/10.
Movie comment on Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
egress63
An incoherent mess that doesn't know what it wants to do. There are story arcs that don't add anything to the plot, there are characters who don't contribute anything to the movie and there are inconsistencies that make the previous movies in the series null and void.That said, if your brain is dead (alternatively, if you can convince your brain to die for the duration of the movie), it is a visual feast and has a few funny moments that would make it a fun watch with your family on a Sunday afternoon. 4/10.
Movie comment on Nil Battey Sannata
egress63
In Bollywood, there is a term for movies that exaggerate emotions and situations to the point that the depictions of the characters, their dialogues, their actions etc. become detached from reality and enter the realm of fantasy. Such movies are called 'filmy'. In 'filmy' movies, viewers are asked to dispel their notions of rationality and realism and are expected to simply allow themselves to be taken into a fantastical journey by the writer/director. Any questioning of why a character would be so nice (or so evil) is impertinent since the viewer is expected to know that the movie is pure fantasy.This is one such 'filmy' movie. It is, as said by a reviewer below, a well-made and sweet movie. However, given the theme that it presents (the importance of education for the poor), the approach taken by the director to mix fantasy with the grim reality (that I know exists for the poor in India), the movie and it's characters felt jarring and annoying. I felt that I was watching Cinderella when I should have been watching something as grim as Dickens's Bleak House
So, yes this is a well-made and sweet movie. It may be even worth your 100 minutes. But in the end, it's a fluffy teddy bear with little relation to reality. As long as you keep these expectations, thumbs up. Else, two thumbs down.
Movie comment on Lage Raho Munna Bhai
egress63
Who the hell tagged this in history?Movie comment on The Night of the Hunter
egress63
This is one of those movies which makes you dump an entire genre all together. Honestly, if this is the representative film-noir, then the entire genre is worth discarding into the junk pile of history. By the end of the movie, I felt cheated out of 90 minutes of my life.Oh, I get it how the lighting was spectacular and how the children's boat ride was brilliantly filmed and how one of the scenes reminds one of a church, but then lighting and scenery does not make up for the laughable scriptwriting. Two thumbs down.
Movie comment on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
egress63
It was funny for the first fifteen minutes. By half-way, I was dead bored. I like mindfuck type of movies, but not this type...Movie comment on Wit
egress63
This is one of those rare movies which rarely gets the attention it truly deserves. Despite having a subject related to death, this is a movie which can make you laugh, smirk and cry. Truly one of the best movies I've head the pleasure to watch.Movie comment on Road to Sangam
egress63
This is one of those movies which tries to present the counter-factual: not all Muslims are fundamentalists. It uses a nice plot device - the ashes of Gandhi and an old Ford engine - to prove this point.However, it is precisely these plot devices which bog the movie down. Had the plot devices been McGuffins, the movie would have been better directed. As of now, it is a good movie with an uplifting social message but it is not a *great* movie.
Movie comment on Martha Marcy May Marlene
egress63
I really liked the setting. I liked the writing and direction. However, the pacing and plotting could have been tweaked a bit more (especially near the ending) to make the movie more accessible to a general audience.Movie comment on Antichrist
egress63
I didn't understand this movie. And I don't know whether the fault for this lies with me or with von Trier...Movie comment on Crude
egress63
More than a movie on environmental disasters, this documentary is more like a case study on how lawyers/environmentalists use media and news to spread propaganda. A good documentary.