Reviews

YES! Finally a good no-nonsense Cruise starrer action thriller. No lovey-dovey stuff like the last one, no attempts to show how charismatic Ethan Hunt is neither are there any obvious attempts to portray how cool he is. A good old action movie with Tom Cruise doing what he is known for best: Action!

This one's got everything an action thriller could ask for; guns, flying fists, explosions, cool gadgets, sexy cars, the occasional unanticipated startles, hot chicks, sandstorms, jumping off tall buildings (I think jumping off tall things has always been an MI trademark), also the very much needed occasional comic relief, very occasional (which is good). And this one actually has a decent enough story!

Every single actor in the movie has acted brilliantly. Paula Patton was very natural in her acting, Simon Pegg (the Hot Fuzz guy) was hilarious as usual with his well timed one liners and Jeremy Renner was surprisingly good! (all 3 part of Ethan Hunts team). Not to mention Anil Kapoor!

Oh and Anil Kapoor! Obviously he has been the talk of town for this movie. His character in the movie and his acting (however little its duration) has been spot on and he delivers on the character. His part in the movie will certainly be one of the highlights when you leave the theater. Oh and the portrayal of Mumbai has been quite unique indeed.

I won't spill the beans on the story but I am sure you know the gist of it from the trailers, a certain KABOOM'ing of the Kremlin puts Ethan Hunt in a tough spot and he is being chased down by Russians for something he hasn't done, so he needs to set it right and the only way he can do that is by starring in this awesome movie.

All in all Ghost Protocol is hands down the best one yet from the Mission Impossible series mainly because it is different from its predecessors (thank GOD for that). It is jam packed with action from the very first scene till the last and is filled with insane stunts, gadgets, car chases (sweet ones). It is fast paced and has a good enough story with a script that will keep you in the loop. This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout and not give you a seconds stare away from the screen. The audience actually went "what? Not NOW!" when the interval screen came up! Yes, it was THAT good.

Well done Cruise.

I know what you are wondering, does the movie live up to its trailers? Promising trailers portraying a movie with lots of action, fights with an alien race maybe, awesome story, mesmerizing eye candy visuals AND it is the prequel to the Aliens series of movies! Basically giving you an idea of a movie which will blow your mind away and give you the memory of an amazing summer blockbuster. Well, sorry to disappoint.

Prometheus is not your traditional sci-fi horror because the aspect of horror in this movie is very little as compared to everything other than horror. The movie starts out slow and initially does manage to excite you for the rest of the movie with certain key scenes and beautiful vfx, however, as the movie progresses, you realize the excitement was in vain. The characters are not allowed to grow on screen to create an emotional bond between them and the audience nor between the characters themselves. Though efforts were made, it fell flat. It even seemed like it was deliberately done. It seemed rushed as if making a huge effort to cram and be done with the characters mumbo jumbo to show the magnitude of vfx in the movie. You would expect the movie to compensate with insane firepower and action sequences, sorry to disappoint again.

As far as acting is concerned, except for two characters, namely, Elizabeth Shaw played by Noomi Rapace and David, the android played by Michael Fassbander, both characters played brilliantly by the way, special mention to Fassbander, his acting was just brilliant and he does complete justice to the character. The other characters just felt like props that needed to be placed to carry the movie forward no matter how significant or insignificant their role, yes, including Charlize Theron's character Meredith Vickers, whose existence in the movie didn't make sense. Pretty soon into the movie, apart from Rapace and Fassbander, you realize all the others are losing grip over their character.

As far as the script is concerned, after a point of time, you lose track of what is going on and what is what and why. The jump from one plot to another is so quick and without any proper explanation that it becomes bugging, leaving you with more questions than answers. There have also been characters in the movie making big sacrifices when they were barely involved on screen or in the expedition or even emotionally connected with each other!

This being said, the movie does deliver in certain areas. It does make you sit on the edge of your seat at times and it does make you want to close your eyes but then these moments are very occasional and not influenced by the plot at all. The movie does give a believable explanation to the origins of Aliens, however, though this movie might be liked by a full on sci-fi fanatic simply because it is the prequel to the Aliens series, it might not strike the right chord with the audience who got influenced by the trailers and were expecting something mind blowing.

Although this movie had tremendous potential to be something amazing, it simply falls flat and fails to match the expectations set by its predecessors or by other blockbusters released this summer. Lower your expectations created by the trailer and you will find this movie to be just about entertaining and if you are a fan of the aliens series, you will be provided with a satisfying if not overwhelming answer to the origins of Aliens, no, you won't get the same thrills as its predecessors, not even close.

What is the movie about? A group of explorers find clues of the origins of mankind in a cave and take it upon themselves to spend a trillion dollars to go into space and check it out because they think all the clues are invitations for them to come over. Now, what happens when you see a "welcome" mat at a strangers doorstep and decide to bring your friends over and knock on his door because you thought it was an invitation?

All in all this movie was a big budget mediocrity with high expectations. If you are looking for action sequences, don't, because it barely has any, it is pretty slow, the script just about delivers and you get confused about what is going on half way through, however, the visuals are indeed beautiful. When the movie ends you cannot help but feel that it was incomplete and rushed and a bit of disappointment will set in. What IS noteworthy in this movie are the visuals and brilliant acting done by Fassbander.