BackFilm Wrap: ‘Incredibles 2,’ ‘Ocean’s 8’ make for dull movie week
Other noteworthy films that released this Friday were Hollywood horror film 'Hereditary', Tamil biographical drama 'Traffic Ramasamy' and Tamil action thriller 'Andhra Mess'
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New Delhi: The spillover effects of Salman Khan’s Eid offering Race 3 and the much-awaited release of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju next week have left viewers with few major options at the movies this Friday.
For the Hollywood fans, Pixar’s 3D animation comedy Incredibles 2—directed by Brad Bird and starring Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell and Samuel L. Jackson—comes to India this week. Variety magazine says the sequel to the superhero-family Pixar classic doesn’t build on the first film so much as dutifully replay it. It’s fun, but far from incredible. It’s got a touch of the first film’s let’s-try-it-on spirit, and it’s a perfectly snappy and chuckle-some and heartfelt entertainment, with little retro felicities you latch onto, yet something is missing: the thrill of discovery—the crucial sensation that the movie is taking us someplace we haven’t been.
American heist comedy Ocean’s 8—directed by Gary Ross and starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Mindy Kaling, among others—is a frothy female-driven caper, says The New York Times. Its cast aside, the movie sounds and narratively unwinds like the previous instalments, but without the same easy snap or visual allure. Steven Soderbergh, director of the previous instalments, doesn’t throw the camera around, but one of the pleasures of his movies is a commitment to beauty as a cinematic end. Here, the actresses carry that burden.
Supernatural horror film Hereditary—directed by Ari Aster starring Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, and Gabriel Byrne—is disjointed, lugubrious, and often draggy, says Vulture. But there’s no denying, much less shaking off, its power. It’s brilliantly horrible—cruel to the point of invasiveness. If you want to see things you can never un-see and feel pain you can never un-feel, here’s the ultimate test.
In the south, Tamil biographical drama Traffic Ramasamy—directed by Vicky and starring S.A. Chandrashekhar and Prakash Raj—is hardly compelling for a film based on a firebrand activist, says The Times Of India. Vicky tries to make this cinematic—only in the negative sense of the word; the film is hardly cinema. Even if one tries to see it as a message movie, we end up feeling underwhelmed. The social commentary is hardly forceful, and S.A. Chandrasekaran’s performance lacks the spark that such a character requires to make us root for him.
Tamil action thriller Andhra Mess—directed by Jai and starring A.P. Shreethar and Mathivanan Rajendran—looks visually appealing, says The Times Of India. The atmospheric lighting, art-directed sets and stylish framing give it visual flair. But the rhythm in the scenes is discordant and the film struggles to find its tone. The characters, too, are uninteresting.
Marathi drama Ziprya—directed by Kedar Vaidya and starring Chinmay Kambli and Prathamesh Parab—is a coming-of-age story that had some great potential, says cinestaan.com, with the support of some good performances, ends up being only an average affair. The editing is shoddy and the screenplay scattered. While he creates the world of Ziprya quite well, Vaidya’s ambition to explore too many plot points to arrive at the destination makes the journey a tedious watch.
Several releases this week haven’t inspired any reviews yet. These include animation drama Motu Patlu In The City Of Gold, Tamil dramas Enna Thavam Seitheno and Kargil, Kannada movies Mr. Cheater Ramachari, Surya Eva Vrukshamitra and Kelavu Dingala Nanthara, Marathi drama The Offenders, Punjabi films Asees and JATT vs IELTS, Bengali romantic drama Ahare Mon and Gujarati romantic drama Sex Education.
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