Prometheus - movie review

Why on earth (or the other galaxies) didn't somebody warn me about Prometheus? A simple hint that Ridley is trying to re-claim as the original creator of Alien would have prepared me for (or made me avoid) this nasty experience in 3D. But no, none of the reviews or the social noise did. You will have to wait (if you manage to avoid throwing up) till the very last few frames...literally the flashes after the FADE-OUT to yawn "Ohhhh.....okay, so thats what you were trying to convey".

Goes without saying, every act was more gruesome than the previous. Now, I'm not a great fan of 'creature' movies (PREDATOR is an exception). So if you are, then you might not agree with my views. The very very thin line of story or plot gets completely darkened with the gore you see on screen. Halfway through the movie I decided to feast my eyes only on the size zero Charlize and ignore the rest. No whats the point of getting Guy Pearce if you are gonna hide his whole face with prosthetic ?? I rest my case.

Moving on...

He wore black and I wore white
He would always win the fight

ShUN ShUN, he shot me down
Splat splat, I hit the ground
Dhaam Dhoom, that awful sound
Chen chen, my mady got me down.

Seasons came and changed the time
When I wake up, the day'll be mine

Now he's gone, and I know why
Untill this day, sometimes I cry

I didn't even say goodbye
I didn't take the time to lie.

Bang bang, I shot you down
Bang bang, you hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
BANG BANG, I always shoot you down !

Thadayra thaakka - review

You could say I was waiting for this one. I wanted to see how Magizh Thirumeni graduates in his second venture after Mundhinam Paartheney. And kudos to him for choosing to try his hand at a different genre rather than another romantic comedy. It takes guts to shred one's own feathers and emerge new. Having said that, he's still not able to shred off his mentor's influences on him - a lot of muted words in the dialogues even after a "A" certification by the censor.

Thadaiyara thaakka is not your everyday action flick. What makes it different from the average hero/heroine caught in the wrong place at wrong time with villain movie is the "treatment". Though there were some hits and misses with the narration and screenplay, the treatment of the story is very fresh to Tamil cinema. For instance, my friend felt the movie is very violent whereas there is not a single instance of drop of blood splatting on the screen. That is the "impact" that leaves in your mind letting you fill the gaps rather than showing things explicitly. There are many puzzles for us to solve even in the hero's characterisation...sometimes we even wonder if he is actually in love with the heroine.

Every actor barring Rakul Preet Singh, the newcomer leaves an impact. Arun vijay has waited quite along time for this one and let us hop his underplay works. Vamsi Krishna, for sure, is gonna make some rounds in the coming years. Mamta couldn't have done more justice to a story like this. The Gayathri character would have worked if played by some veteran known face in Tamil....you just can't shove in a new face after 3/4th of the film is over and expect miracles.

Thaman's background has filled in whatever is needed to scare and thrill you. Kelaamale is good but badly shot, I wonder what happend to the melody Kaalangal ? And I won't complain for a needless Poondamalli song at the beginning of the movie - there are many non-creative reasons in Tamil film making that makes this mandatory. Action by Anal Arasu and Cinematorgraphy by  N. Sukumar are "effective" (pun intended). I don't know if it is editing or the dialogues, once the plot is set and the goose chase begins the movie reduces itself to a average goonda film. The too many twists and turns in the second half don't actually work because the screenplay lacks a rhythm for you to follow.

There is a thaakkam (impact) for sure but not thadaiyara (hurdle free) !