INDEPENDECE DAY RESURGENCE REVIEW: 20 years on.....A Sequel!

Last week we got a sequel to Finding Nemo after more than 12 years; that was a long wait. This week, we get a sequel after 20 years; that must officially be the longest gap between two sequels ever. The long standing appeal of Independence Day can be gauged from the kind of expectations this sequel generated. For a generation of audiences, Independence Day was one of the first movies that showed possible global destruction on the big screen, along with Armageddon. So, expectedly, it is the kind of sequel that would make a 90s kid all excited.

Independence Day Resurgence springs no surprises because we all know what it is going to be. The

promos made it all too clear saying that ‘we had 20 years to prepare, so did they’, which gives it away that the same eerily shaped bad guys are returning, much stronger, perhaps much wiser, than they were before. It is a question of how and when they arrive and how earth, which means USA, takes them on and finishes them. But, rather unexpectedly, the movie begins on the moon, where we are shown that an elaborate station with pilots and all has been set up; in fact, flying to the moon is easier than you can imagine. So, why did Rolan Emmerich decide to go to the moon to start off this movie? It is not his style. He usually takes very little time starting off the mass destruction process, like we have seen in 2012 or Day After Tomorrow. But, with Resurgence, he has decided to make things more slow and deliberate, an attempt at character development maybe, but that really isn’t his strength, unlike perhaps a Nolan, who can have elaborate set ups to the actual plot and still keep us interested. Emmerich is not able to make us buy into any of the leading characters’ mental baggage, especially the friction between Liam Hemsworth and Jesse Usher which he wants us to think is going to have some bearing on the movie, but which we really never care about. The set up towards the main event doesn’t quite work, maybe because it is way too obvious for all those who are familiar with Independence Day. The original movie hinged very heavily on the slow build up of tension as sightings of giant spaceships were reported all over the world,; the same kind of tension is absent here mostly because Emmerich decides to spend so much time on the moon and shows very little of what’s happening over earth. He eventually decides to wrap up the moon part, which could quite easily have been staged anywhere on earth.

It’s almost an hour when we finally get down to the business end of the movie. The connect the characters from the original Independence Day movie have with the audience is evident form the cheers they get. Jeff Goldblum is clearly a favorite, so is his dad and so is the crazy scientist who was almost killed by the alien. They are all there, of course except Will Smith. Once the invasion begins in earnest, it is the comfort zone of Emmerich and his colors begin to show. The aerial attacks, the bombing squad that goes into the spaceship, just like in the original, have all been made well, which is cakewalk for the director’s experience, he knows how to handle such stuff. But, the scenes where he tries to show cities being gobbled up by spaceship’s gravity look a bit dated. It might have looked great in 1996, but 2016 is a time when apocalypse movies release every fortnight and the VFX should be much better and imaginative to have any kind of effect on the audiences.

The original Independence Day was very interesting not just because of the big scale action we saw. It was also interesting because ultimately it was one smart move that hoodwinked the aliens who had far superior technology. So, we expect the same here. Admittedly, some of the stuff that happens is quite analogous to the original, but the final move is something new and will interest you.

It is the veteran performers who impress and make us care about Independece Day Resurgence. Jeff ^th speech. The makers have quite interestingly cast a lady as the current president of America (maybe for the first time ), which makes their political leanings quite clear. But, Emmerich can’t go all the way and show a lady president leading the resistance and giving inspiring war speeches, and so takes the easy way out and hands the baton over to the former president from 1996.

Goldblum is as good as the geeky guy as he was in 1996, while Bill Pullman returns as the ageing ex-president, but he still gets to make his July 4

Independence Day Resurgence has its moments. Emmerich does well with the stuff that he has always been comfortable with. But he uncharacteristically spends way too much time setting up things, which makes the audience a bit restless and it is only fair to say that the Hemsworth and Usher pairing does not have nearly as much screen presence as the Will Smith-Goldblum team, which makes things feel a bit damp. But, you might still enjoy it for the pretty graphic depiction of the aliens, the pretty good final move and the familiar feel good factor of reliving one of your childhood favorites. And, one wonders, why do the women pilots suddenly remove their shirts in the final scene?

Not Resurgent enough, but still watchable!

2.5/5

TE3N

Right from the moment the trailer released, the similarity in look and feel to Kahaani was unmistakable. The unique charm of Kolkata (well-captured in Te3N too) might have been behind it, or perhaps the presence of both Vidya Balan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, or perhaps the search for someone unknown. So, the expectations are quite clear walking into a theatre to watch TE3N. An old man wants justice for his grandchild who was killed 8 years ago. The case is gone, closed, perhaps forgotten by everyone, even his own wife, but he refuses to let go. He feels that it is the last thing he can do for his grandchild and he won’t stop till he has done it. But, how can an 8 year old case be investigated, especially when the investigating officer has gone on a new path saying everything has to be left to God’s will?

TE3N is the journey of John Biswas finding the truth of who was behind his grandchild’s death. He

has company in the form of a reluctant Father Martin who joins and ditches him on and off, but John never gives up on what he is after. In many ways, this is similar to Kahaani. Someone after a case even the police have given up on, someone so weak and helpless that you would think that nothing would come out of it. No one feels threatened or intimidated by the person doing the digging around, the person just passes under the radar. If in Kahaani the perceived weakness came from the fact that the protagonist was a single pregnant woman, here it is an ageing man, well over 70 by the look of things. He seems so old that he can barely stand upright while walking, there is a permanent crouch, that perhaps came from riding a Bajaj scooter that doesn’t allow him to spread his shoulders and back to their full size (yeah, it’s funny how Big B can dwarf a hefty Bajaj scooter, having to crouch uncomfortably to ride it). The body language looks a bit manufactured at first, but we get used to it.

So, John Biswas is on the case in spite of the police and Father Martin telling him that there is nothing more left to be done. But the police are soon back on the case, and why? Because history repeats itself after 8 years, and that is where TE3N really begins.

Two tales, 8 years apart, converge to reveal what actually had happened, and in a complex script written with extreme caution and skill, we are kept guessing till the very end, and that is the victory of TE3N. The who, the why and the how of the crime are explained, one by one, not exactly in the same order in a non-linear narrative that goes back and forth between the two cases 8 years apart. The similarities are remarkable, in fact both cases are identical, which tells us that it is the same man behind both. As the script shifts back and forth between the two cases, there is a parallel track which shows John Biswas’ own investigation of what happened to his grandchild. This track, perhaps the most important one in the movie, is well shot, explaining each logical step that John takes in his investigation, but the editing is questionable. As the script shifts between his investigation and the police investigation, the time lines of both investigations is not clear. Maybe it is a deliberate attempt to beguile the viewer, but one feels the director should have been more honest with the delineation of the period separating the events.

TE3N is Amitabh Bachchan’s movie, he is the protagonist, looking for justice, not revenge and he

aces the character as usual with his unmatched screen presence. Nawazuddin Siddiqui too has to be given full marks for his portrayal of a priest who seems to be faking his peace and the fact that he has come to terms with his past. Whether his character is a genuinely funny guy is a bit of a doubt, because we can see that side of him only in the first scene inside the church. What the director wanted to convey through that scene, besides his personal views on marriage, is unclear. TE3N is also a very important movie because it is titled TE3N, which means it is a story of three people. We think the tree people are the three investigators behind the case in their own ways, the third being Vidya Balan. And yet, the titles tell us that Vidya Balan is making a guest appearance. One wonders, how a character that appears almost throughout the movie, does a lot of the investigation, is classified as a ‘guest appearance’; surely the longest guest appearance in the history of cinema. This is the kind of role that has enough screen time to be considered for a best supporting actress award. But it won’t because Vidya looks a bit off color, maybe because her character doesn’t have any depth and she just has to be a cop looking at evidence. The only hint of emotional depth in her character is the relationship she may or may not have had with Martin in the past.

Despite an excellent plot and classy performers, TE3N does feel a bit stretched towards the end. Things could have been tied off a bit earlier, maybe a little less drama. But, of course, the movie is all about how far a grandfather can go for justice because he loved his grandchild so much. TE3N is a movie worth watching.

Well-narrated complex investigative thriller

3/5

THE CONJURING 2

Three years after the first one, The Conjuring franchise is ready with a sequel. The Conjuring may not count as one of the classics when it comes to horror movies, but it certainly has been the benchmark over the last few years, maybe being outshone only by the Paranormal Activity franchise, which normal cine buffs might find a bit too intense for an evening’s entertainment. The Conjuring has perhaps found the perfect middle ground of scaring just enough without putting the average viewer out of the comfort zone. The years that have intervened between the first one and the sequel have been flocked with horror flicks dime a dozen. Most of them have been underwhelming, including The Conjuring offshoot Annabelle and the highly anticipated Insiduous 3. So, hopes were indeed high while walking in for The Conjuring 2.

It starts off reminding us about the Amityville haunting which is perhaps the most talked about

haunting incident around the world. So, something similar is happening thousands of miles away in Enfield England, says a scrolling text as we’re shown The Conjuring 2 in the familiar bold yellow font. The setting is quite similar to that of The Conjuring, or any horror movie for that matter. Big house, 4 kids, man rooms, a cellar, a stair, plenty of stuff with which any supernatural entity can play havoc! It starts off as minor incidents – someone is sleepwalking, someone is thirsty in the middle of the night, some noises are heard thudding up and down the stairs, but no one really wants to take all that seriously. But then, someone decides that there’s been enough of the funny small stuff, and takes it up one notch. Now, we have a terrified bunch of kids and their mom who are sure that there is something in their house that wants them to leave. The police want to help but find nothing that they can do, the media gets in the act and soon it’s all over the papers, and before you know the church wants their experts to have a look at the place to confirm whether all this is real at all or just a hoax. That brings in Ed and Lorraine Warren.

All the way from America to Enfield England, they fly to know whether anything that is going on in the house is supernatural. They come, and they do get to see a few events, but nothing that makes it plainly clear. Quite surprisingly, the entity that didn’t seem too bothered about all events being public is not too eager about the Warren’s getting a good look at it. As Lorraine says, she just can’t sense anything. So, what is going on? Is it a hoax? Or is it something worse, more powerful, more evil than they have ever seen before?

The plot of The Conjuring 2 is as solid as the first one. The characters are quite relatable and draw empathy from the audience which is a major victory for a horror flick. The film is not a straightforward narration of the haunting. At different points in the narrative, we shift to the Warrens, who are not yet aware of the Enfield haunting, and we are shown that they are somehow connected or being dragged into this, just like the demon in The Conjuring wanted to harm their daughter. This thickens the plot. There is one particular scene in the Warren household with Lorraine Warren locked up in a study with an evil entity, which is quite chilling. The visual depiction of the entity is quite difficult to shake off for a while after the movie has ended.

As with any horror flick, The Conjuring 2 is all about how many times we jumped out of our seats.

The initial hour, where the entity makes the household aware of its presence is quite interesting and there are a few genuine jump scares and slow spooks. But, once the presence is established, and the psychological breakdown of the victim begins, things get a bit predictable. Some scenes, like the Crooked Man scene, fall flat. Once the Warrens enter, the tempo continues to be a bit flat for a while before it picks up right before the finale. It might be that we are quite used to the James Wan style by now and know where to expect the scares from, and so are not very surprised at ever event. But it all picks up with that one scene in the train where the recordings come together to make sense.

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson continue to do the fine job they started in The Conjuring, with Vera growing even more into the role of Lorraine Warren. The music is a shade less effective than in The Conjuring while the camera does a fine job of keeping us guessing of what lies beyond the light. The Conjuring 2 is not as good as its predecessor, but it still has some genuinely scary moments and a good story. Easily the best horror flick in over a year from Hollywood. Go watch it.

Scares you enough to keep you on the edge!

3/5

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS

It has been a relentless few months of superhero stuff, with DC and Marvel shooting one after another. Superhero flicks overlapping each other so much that we actually have trouble not mixing up storylines. Into this mix of Batman Vs. Superman, Captain America and X-Men, we now get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Honestly, these are the real freaky superheroes of cinema, four brothers who are amazingly fast turtles, working from the shadows to protect the city the live under and love. The Turtles are definitely the lightweight superheroes of Hollywood when it comes to box office power, and the exhaustion factor of all these superhero movies so close to one another definitely dimmed the enthusiasm associated with the Turtles sequel. Actually, one can say that there was a degree of pessimism with Turtles coming into theaters, making expectations naturally a little lower, which might end up being a good thing!

So, how is the Turtles sequel? It is very much a regular superhero movie. The premise is very

straightforward; evil villain sets sight on total control over the world, and the turtles have to stop it. The unique factor with a turtles movie of course is that they have do it under complete anonymity, almost, working only at night, much like the Batman. Also, much like the Iron Man, the turtles are totally chilled out while kicking ass, giving away sage advice, sarcasm and cheeky lines all the time. The villain from the first movie returns in the sequel as he is plucked away into thin air from a police convoy. But it turns out there is a bigger villain waiting with more sinister plans, and then there is a mad scientist to facilitate the execution of said plans. There is nothing much about the plot that you cannot guess or predict.

But, offsetting that predictability is the pace at which the screenplay moves forward. After a racy title entry of the turtles, we are quickly taken into action. Megan Fox enters, and the cheerleader scene which was perhaps the single most hyped scene in the trailers is done away with quickly, and we are shown that the mad scientist is up to something. A road chase between a police van and a garbage truck later, we know that the scientist and the villain have schemed together to create a teleportation device, which would, as said in the movie, make Isaac Newton and Steve Jobs footnotes in the history of science. The USP of the turtles movie is that the action almost never stops, and the script has been written smoothly to flow from one encounter to another. To add to the excitement, we have a human rhinoceros and a human warthog, freaks who can match the turtles in the freakiness quotient. The showdown between them on the aircraft and then in a grand turbulent river is enjoyable.

By this time you have realized that the script has also got ambitious. It just doesn’t want to cause trouble in a city, it wants to end the world. And then we have some astrophysics, and space-time distortion stuff thrown in. To avoid spoilers, let’s just say that the proceedings at the end remind us a lot of what happened during the end of the first Avengers movie. But, the final confrontation has been well crafted.

Is there anything special in the new Turtles movie? No, absolutely not. There is nothing new that you

haven’t seen before. But, a tight no-nonsense screenplay, well shot action scenes, and witty/funny dialogues at some points, especially involving Will Arnett’s Falcon, keep things going along without making you feel bored. Stephen Amett seems to be a bit confused as to whether he is a hero or a sidekick. The writers have tried to bring in a bit of emotion, about the way the turtles feel about their place in society, but they have kept it to a bare minimum realizing it could hamper the flow of the action. You wonder what Laura Linney would do in this movie, and you are left wondering till the last scene, where some sort of justice is done to the casting. This one could be a fairly good way to have a fun evening.

Good visuals, good action, no yawns!

2.5/5