Tag Archives: taken

A walk among the Tombstones (2014)

My Ratings: 2.5/5.

There areA million ways to die in the west but probably the worst kind is to get kidnapped by a couple of psychos, get tortured and then sliced up into pieces.

A prayer for the dying but that’s not enough. The Mission here is to catch these Unknown kidnappers who are repeatedly Crossing the line, are in a Non-stop rampage murdering The innocent clueless victims.

The only Satisfaction for the Husbands and Wives or anybody Next to kin to the victims is to make sure that the Suspects responsible for such gruesome deeds are Nailed by the law (or may be an out of the law settlement is even better).

And here comes the not so Gun shy detective, ex-cop Matt/Matthew Scudder who is Taken for the job.

An actor who has been a part of the Gangs of New York and The A-Team, have seen both The clash andThe wrath of the Titans; has witnessed times of Batman Begins till The dark night rises.

Yes he is The nut job who has been Rob Roy, Ethan Frome, Michael Collins and Alfred Kinsey; has ticked off his Schindler’s list and is now ready to take A walk among the Tombstones’.

Who else but Liam Neeson.

There are only a few such actors who can make a simple action thriller look super cool. And A walk among the tombstones is worth a watch only for Liam Nesson’s presence and performance.

Directed by Scott Frank, the film builds up enough suspense in the first half to excite the audience, we begin to expect and anticipate but unfortunately in the second half when it comes to wrapping things up neatly (I mean logically) the film goes for a brisk walk somewhere among the tombstones.

At the end even the dangerous psychotic kidnappers seemed to loose their edge.

The deadly evil men who relished butchering innocent girls throughout the film suddenly gets nervous when Matthew Scudder (Liam Nesson) threatens them to hunt them down (that too on the telephone). And soon enough they stupidly agree to reveal themselves!

But I am not going to reveal any further except that the film stretches on for a good half an hour more than it should. The editor also seemed to have gone for a walk among the …

The title sequence is impressive, very well shot and innovative.

So if Liam Nesson and an innovative title sequence can lure you to the cinemas – you are most welcome.

Mardaani (2014)

My Ratings: 3.5/5.

The word Mardaani if translated means ‘like a man’.

And when such feminist words are used as a film title, there is a high probability that the director goes totally over the board in order to portray the heroics of the on screen femme fatale.

But i must confess that the latest Yash Raj-Pradeep Sarkar collaboration, the film Mardaani is surprisingly balanced and realistic.

Of course you have to endure a few melodramatic action sequences and tacky dialogues from the lead character Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji).

But overall Mardaani never stretches the suspension of our disbeliefs too far (a rare quality in the recent so called commercial Bollywood film genre).

Superb acting by Rani Mukerji and more importantly very good selection of script. Such daring roles (like her character in No one killed Jessica) suits Rani perfectly.

Really impressed by Tahir Raj Bhasin‘s performance who also calls himself Walt (Breaking Bad huh?) and probably one of the coolest villains of our times.

A perfect opponent for the brave senior inspector from crime branch Shivani Shivaji Roy to tussle on throughout the film.

Priyanka Sharma (very natural) and Jisshu Sengupta (though in a cameo) also made their presence felt in Mardaani.

Some of my friends have this feeling that Mardaani is the desi version of Liam Nesson starrer Taken.

Well, i have to admit both the movies are  on children trafficking and in both the films the protagonists go after some organized human traffickers gang when one of their close relation is being kidnapped.

But nevertheless Mardaani has managed to infuse the Indian sentiments and successfully portrayed the horrors of the alarmingly high rate of children trafficking in India.

Finally a film that is based on a serious issue and also handles it in a serious manner.

Director Pradeep Sarkar has done a great job and Rani Mukerji plays a hundred times more realistic cop than the likes of Chulbul Pandey and Bajirao Singham. 

Artur Zurawski done a decent job with the camera and no complains with the editor Sanjib Datta.

Crisp dialogues, fast story telling and decent characterizations make Mardaani enjoyable.

A perfect modern take on the concept of ordinary girls transforming into Goddesses Durga or Kali to vanquish the evils from our society when the need arises.

Worth a watch.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04E-jHtWrDA