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milenmirev
Reviews
Mercenaries (2014)
The only good thing about this movie
I really think there should be a "0 stars" vote for occasions like this... movie (since other people are calling it that). Eventually it deserved my 1 star by giving me the sense that everybody can make movies. Obviously you do not need a plot that follows human nature, or some logic, or any sense at all as long as the good guys win and the bad guys die. Acting is not necessary. You are not even required to care enough to watch and see your creation afterward (it's alive!). After I submit this review I am going to call some friends and in two or three days I believe we can create "Mercenaries 2". After all, my homemade clips of my kids, family and friends contain more action, comedy and drama than this m-m-m... sorry, cannot call it that twice.
Vishwaroopam (2013)
How to fail the expectations for dummies
First of all I have to admit that my expectations were quite high due to IMDb's rating. I mean: 9.3/10 from 27000 users! Who wouldn't fall for that? Hence - the disappointment.
Script. Sure, there are some nice ideas but they are poorly executed, leaving you with the aftertaste of underdevelopment. And then there is the rest of the script - full of clichés, absurd situations, stitches and patches, all in an attempt to stress on some dramatic scene about a person you don't care about. A lot of characters with no background whatsoever. Putting them in a dramatic emotional scenes without the necessary personal depth is just wrong. Now, in general this problem could be partially masked by the
Acting. Fat chance! I understand that Kamal Hassan has a lot of experience and therefore a self-esteem to perform anything. And that's about all there is - an old man with an ego big enough to give life to otherwise weak character. I suddenly laughed somewhere in the middle of this movie, when I remembered that he actually wrote and directed his own act. That was the perfect example of why director, writer and actor should be all different people. As for the rest of the cast, it would've been much better if the viewer just didn't see the most of them at all. The ridiculous and absurd scenes have turned out to be somewhat funny when played by stiff and emotionally challenged individuals. In all fairness I'd like to point out the good performance Andrea Jeremiah gave as Ashmita. Well, the bar was not set... anywhere.
The sound is very well done as expected from an Indian movie. The music is well placed and paced at the right moments, enhancing the effects the director was looking for. About the dialog - in general I'm not a fan of this Indian mix of English and Hindi since I never know when they will switch from English to something else and I will need to look at the subtitles searching for the middle of a sentence. Other than that, the actors use the right language in the right situation/country.
The visuals' quality is spread between poor and average. Well, some of them are somewhat good but since it's 2013 and "The Matrix" was 14 years ago I was not awed by them...
I'd like to spare you some negativity and skip the shooting scenes altogether. The fighting scene was only one and lasted for about 20 seconds but check this out - repeated immediately after in slower motion. Don't you love it when a guy with a gun is walking towards an unarmed man right until he is at a convenient short distance.
Well, I get it - the Indians are proud nation and like their own work. Still, this rating really made me doubt the accuracy of IMDb. So the scores of this Action/Crime/Thriller would really be:
Story: 5/10 Script: 2/10
Acting: 3/10 Lead: 5/10
Music: 8/10 Sounds: 7/10 Dialogue: 5/10
Camera: 6/10 Visuals: 3/10
Action: 4/10 Crime: 4/10 Thriller: 3/10
Overall: 5.5/10
When you are rated 9.3/10 but only deliver 5.5/10 - that is how to fail the expectations.