Review of Phantom

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Mumbai 28th Aug 2015(Sana Sayed): A Phantom-like vigilante is surreptitiously chosen by RAW officers to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to book.

A shamed army officer, Daniyal Khan (Saif) is living a life of anonymity. Court-martialed because evidence points out that he was not with his team when the enemy attacked, he yearns to earn his stripes back. As it so happens, there is a covert intelligence group, who is seething that the Centre has not been able to avenge the 26/11 Mumbai carnage.

They know permissions from official quarters will not come. So, they just take it upon themselves to launch a `punish-those-terrorists' movement. After all, like one young officer (Zeeshan Ayub) says, 10 audacious guys from across the border did bring Mumbai to her knees on that fateful night in 2008, killing 166 people.

So Daniyal is despatched across continents to find the fanatic four who plotted 26/11. They even whisper to him that, he can `accidentally' kill.

As court-martial led soldier Daniyal, Khan takes the idea of a game face to a whole new level. For all of 147 minutes, he sports precisely one expression, give or take some make up and facial hair. He doesn't move as much as lumber, he is thoroughly indiscreet and everywhere he goes, he sticks out like a sore thumb. If this was because of his good looks, we'd forgive it. But Khan spends the entire film looking both awkward and impassive, as though he's got a hangover and is doing his best to block out the headache.

One can't help but feel that there was hope and a prayer governing the decision to name Katrina Kaif's character Nawaz in Phantom. Sadly, those prayers were not answered. Almost sharing a name with Nawazuddin Siddiqui doesn't ensure the transference of his acting ability. Compared to Khan's one expression, Kaif has none. Whether she's crying over lives lost or reminiscing about having tea at the Taj Mahal Hotel, there's not a hint of emotion to mar her perfect complexion and gorgeous features.

As cinema, this thriller is over-simplified, though the gloss adds to the large-screen appeal. Saif is adept; Kat is pretty appealing (pun on the pretty because her make-up is intact even in the battlefield). Zeeshan and his jingoism in the climax gives you that proud-India moment. And, if you're still licking the wounds of that senseless Mumbai massacre, then Phantom is the balm you should reach out for.

PHANTOM RAISES A TOAST TO THE ANONYMOUS INDIAN BRAVE HEART

Review of Brothers

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Mumbai 14th Aug 2015(Sana Sayed): Everything about the movie is special and is a visual treat, especially the second half. Audience are turly enjoying Sid and Akshay’s fight scenes. They are too composed with the film and can’t forget the scenes between David and Monty.

'Brothers', an official remake of the 2011 film, 'Warrior', is about the Fernandes family that loves a special kind of sport, Mixed Martial Arts. And as we know by now, this sport means no stopping at anything when it comes to beating your opponent to a fine pulp. So no prizes for guessing what the always frowning Fernandes' do to fill their free time or whenever they are in need some extra cash.

Gary Fernandes (Jackie Shroff) is an excellent street fighter but a terrible family man and alcoholism is his problem. His long suffering wife Maria (Shefali Shah) is trying to raise the sons David (Akshay Kumar) and Monty (Sidharth Malhotra) almost single handedly. Tragedy strikes and Gary is sent behind bars. David is estranged from his brother.

Now all grown up, David is a school teacher married to Jenny (Jacqueline Fernandes) and struggling to bear the hospital expenses of his ailing six year old daughter. He wants to get back to street fighting, while Monty is already a sort of a champ in the field. The first half of the film is an emotional narration of the background story, explaining why the three men share such a passionate love hate relationship.

There are some moving scenes, like the one where Gary comes to ask David for forgiveness and manages to catch a glimpse of his grand-daughter for the first time. Or the one where younger David welcomes Monty into their home. The one scene at the graveyard is quite memorable too. But surprisingly consistency is an issue here as some other scenes come packed with a heavy dose of melodrama, lack logic and move at a painfully slow pace. The second half is where all the action literally is. The two brothers vie for the MMA championship and end up facing each other in the ring at one point, ending in a fantastic finale.

The film actually belongs to the two brothers. Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra have literally put their blood and sweat into the characters they play. A well-deserved applause for these two actors, who not only look convincing as brothers but also as the mean machines that they turn out to be. Action is a familiar ground for Akshay, but even off the ring he plays the role of a helpless father and helpless son effortlessly.

Sidharth goes about doing his job with a lot of sincerity and dedication. Even when he is not fighting, he is subtle and discerning as he plays wronged son, who's outwardly quiet but with a lot of rage inside him. Jackie Shroff is excellent in parts, but tends to go a tad overboard in some parts. But overall a good, endearing performance.

Jumping jack-queline (watch the film to know why) is pleasant to look at and does best of her limited role. The trying-hard-to-look-important Kiran Kumar (who plays Peter Braganza, a former MMA champ), the commentator-with-verbal-diarrhea-but-making-absolutely-no-sense Raj Zutshi etc. get in the way. A background score with lower decibel levels and smarter dialogues might have made this a better film. But still a good one time watch, especially if you are a fight junkie.

Even many Bollywood Celebrities are sharing their positive views. Jacqueline Fernandez hasn’t had much to play in this flick. It was purely the trio’s show. Yeah, this film belongs to Jacky Shroff, Sid and Akshay. The climax is something you shouldn’t miss. Sid and Akshay as Monty and David, exchanging blows is just too heart touching and you will feel the pain too.

On the whole, Brothers has won the audience hearts and kudos to Karan Malhotra and Karan Johar. So folks stop reading the review and take a look at the rating and just rush to the theaters to watch this masterpiece.

Review of Mission Impossible

The Tom Cruise movie thankfully never strays into chemical or nuclear territory again.

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Mumbai 8th Aug 2015(Sana Sayed): The first Mission Impossible movie was something rare an intelligent blockbuster. 

The plot was dense and often, it was hard to follow who was double crossing whom. It eventually delivered a few iconic action scenes, turned Tom Cruise into a legitimate action hero and grafted a franchise worth billions. None of the sequels have been as lean and smart as the first directed by Brian de Palma and yet, they’re all entertaining as hell.

“Ethan Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny.” Even the CIA director, a man none too fond of the agent with the many missions impossible under his belt, is forced to admit this in Rogue Nation. But even living manifestations of destiny can do with a helping hand.

How about a Swedish actress resembling Ingrid Bergman, bearing the name Ilsa, and emerging in a bikini from the pool of a sun-kissed mansion in Casablanca? Oh yes, Tom Cruise has everything going for him here but for a story. Rogue Nation kicks off with a bang, with the 53-year-old superstar once again doing his own stunts hanging precariously from a military plane carrying poison gas.

It required eight takes for him to pull that off. The film thankfully never strays into chemical or nuclear territory again, but the evil here comes in the form of a vaguely defined ‘Syndicate’ raging against the “system” and then “trying to change it” through means that involve randomly selected attacks, ranging from assassinating the Malawi head of state to the World Bank secretary.

When it upgrades, it is to targeting the chancellor of Austria. Europe, specifically London, plays a big role in the scheme of things here, though the British are not likely to be too happy with what they do to their prime minister. And not that Hunt, after all we know about the man with the glasses, the masks and the upside-down hanging skills (all deployed here), needs to go from Point A to Point B in a Mission: Impossible.

But when a film is trying so hard to give a context to its villain, it better not go around in circles making it obvious someone didn’t have a clear idea where to call an end. As the film starts, Hunt himself is looking for meaning as the CIA has managed to get his outfit IMF (Impossible Mission Force) disbanded for not being accountable to anyone. CIA Director Hunley (Baldwin) proceeds to make it his agency’s mission, and not in a comfortable way, to track down Hunt, whom IMF boss Brandt (Renner) has refused to “bring in”. Out in the cold, Hunt is captured and badly tortured by the Syndicate’s men, led by the “bone doctor”, who totes impressive equipment in an officious suitcase, but never really gets to show his skills. Right on time, a mysterious Syndicate member, Ilsa (Ferguson), helps him escape, after carefully taking off her towering heels. 

The height joke, obviously directed at Cruise’s 5.57 ft, is played at least twice more in Rogue Nation, to admittedly good effect. So obviously, we are confused to the true identity of Ilsa, which remains a mystery for the better part of the film. She even comes out and talks about the blurred lines defining “the right side”.

There is an impressive scene under water, requiring a manipulation with stored profiles and computers  that’s where Hunt plunges through a shaft head first  and some crazy driving through Morocco on motorbikes and cars.

A Vienna opera shootout is almost too beautifully orchestrated, with curtains, thin screens, holes in walls and a beautiful, beautiful thigh. However, McQuarrie, who has now been associated with Cruise in several films but is directing his first Mission: Impossible, keeps coming back to Syndicate head Lane (Harris) and his iffy motives.

It’s been 19 years since the first Mission: Impossible, and that scene of Cruise’s life hanging by a drop of sweat in it is still vivid in our memory. Or the first moment when a mask is pulled off and Cruise emerges from below it. Even the last film, Ghost Protocol, pulled off a near-impossible Burj Khalifa shot apart from giving us some heart-popping moments of suspense through certain tight negotiations.

You will miss that in Rogue Nation, though it ticks all the boxes, gives its woman a satisfyingly meaty presence, and has Cruise defying age again — apart from death of course. So will there be a Mission: Impossible 6? Play it again, Hunt. 

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