Personal Details
Ranjith Kumar
- India
- 1100 Points
Reviews
14
Followers
0
Following
0
Comments
0
Likes
0
Timeline
Ranjith posted a review for Bloodshot in Movies
In BLOODSHOT, soldier Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) is on a mission in Kenya, where he rescues a hostage and kills a terrorist. Later, he's kidnapped, and a man named Martin Axe (Toby Kebbell) kills Ray's wife when Ray can't provide the details behind the mission. Axe then shoots Ray. Astonishingly, Ray wakes up to discover that Dr. Emil Harting (Guy Pearce) has brought him back to life, using micro-biotechnology, and turned him into a super soldier. At first Ray can't remember anything, but when a song triggers a memory of the killing, his first reaction is to hit the road and get revenge. However, when the task is finished, he learns that everything that's happened has been a lie, and that he's being used. Will he remember what's going on the next time he's rebooted? A pretty good sci-fi plot idea is mostly ruined by mindless action sequences, vacant characters, and a need to completely wring the life out of whatever cleverness the movie might once have had. Based on a popular comic book, Bloodshot doesn't really feel like a superhero movie as much as it does one of the lesser Fast & Furious movies. It's all dumb swagger, chaotic fights, and slo-mo explosions. Both the heroes and the villains are so tediously one-note that it almost doesn't matter who wins. Given the basic skeleton of the story and its potentially interesting twists, it could have really been something. In other hands, it might even have been as good as Memento (which, coincidentally, starred this movie's villain, Pearce). But first-time director David S.F. Wilson, whose previous work has largely been in video games, takes the easy way out, going for spectacle, traditional plot arcs, and a tidy wrap-up rather than using the idea of identity and memory in any kind of interesting way. Wilson does manage one fairly interesting fight sequence in a blocked-off tunnel filled with powdery clouds of dust. And there's an amusing supporting character, coding genius Wilfred Wigans (Lamorne Morris), who brightens up a few of the later scenes. But for the most part, Bloodshot is wearingly empty entertainment.
- Acting, Story, Visuals
- Direction
Ranjith posted a review for Angrezi Medium in Movies
The first half represents change, the second half tradition. A couple of recent Hindi films have tried to upend traditional family structures, only to reach for the comfort of normality as the narrative winds down. Jawaani Jaaneman starts to judge its footloose forty-something hero by the end. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan spends its second half trying to win over Gajraj Rao’s sulky homophobe. We see this in Angrezi Medium as well, though the moral pressure here is so subtle as to make the person it’s applied on think it’s her idea. At the start of Homi Adajania’s film, we see Champak (Irrfan, back after a break for cancer treatment), an Udaipur mithai-seller, casually put a stop to his bride’s studies after marriage. The wife dies, and Champak swears that he’ll give their only daughter the best education possible. Tarika (Radhika Madan) grows up obsessed with the idea of studying abroad. And so Champak, though unwilling to squarely deal with the thought that she’ll leave him one day, starts putting together the money needed for her to go to college in London. Though the comedy is sometimes too broad for even Irrfan and Deepak Dobriyal (playing Champak’s brother) to salvage, the first half has a raucous underdog energy. But once the trio leave for England, the film acquires a slapdash quality that suggests either a lack of time or screenwriting resolve. The brothers’ plan is laughable: team up with a childhood acquaintance they barely know and somehow make a large amount of money in a very short period of time, all the while carrying fake passports, in a country where they don’t speak the language. There’s the odd slapstick winner – Dobriyal twirling his arm before introducing himself as Saqlain Mushtaq is hilarious – but the writers are mostly clutching at straws. The film also seems to realise after the interval that it lacks dramatic heft. And so, out of nowhere, we get Dimple Kapadia and Kareena Kapoor Khan, playing mother and daughter, facing off in an emotionally charged scene. The problem is, these are characters we’ve spent no time with, barely know anything about. How are we supposed to suddenly be invested in their damaged lives? The film doesn’t really care either; it just needs someone for Champak to be able to displace his fatherly guilt onto, since he and Tarika have a falling-out over her getting a job and saying she’ll pay him back for the money he’s spending on her fees.
- Acting, Story
- Direction, Visuals
Ranjith posted a review for Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai in Movies
"Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai" is the story of a middle-class housewife. Set in Mumbai in October 2016, the story hits right ‘notes’ till the middle portion. Depicting the life of an ordinary bank employee and her struggles to clear the piling debts, Anurag Kashyap paints a realistic picture of the Mumbai dwellers and their lives. There’s a beauty in mundane things. Despite the growing gap between them, the husband and wife still share warmth. Kashyap and the story writer set up the drama nicely. As the announcement of demonetization, the film takes an unexpected turn from a story of middle-class husband and wife to a satire on ‘note ban’. The announcement of demonetization - We have decided that the 500 rupee, and 1000-rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight tonight – by PM Narendra Modi comes exactly at 55 minutes after the film and the movie focuses on the things that we had witnessed – serpentine queues at the banks, middlemen enchasing the crisis. “This is a chance of a lifetime. Once in 50 years such incidents happen,” a broker tells Saiyami Kher asking her to deposit old notes in her bank and take a commission for doing it so. Anurag has portrayed many such close-to-real-life sequences in the film. However, the film turns into a dull affair after this moment. It turns ineffective after that. It has its many moments to praise about but the satirical portion of demonization lacks sharpness. It turns sloppy at times as well. The film boasts good performances and especially it is Saiyami Kher’s show from start to finish. In the role of Sarita is excellent, she brings life to the character. Her body language and expressions are perfect as a Marathi middle-class woman. Roshan Mathew as Sushant Pillai also plays the role well. The cinematography and the production design is topnotch. The story takes place mostly in a cramped apartment room and the camera brings authenticity and also the chocked feel. The colors are warm. The music is okay. “Choked” is quite a departure from Anurag Kashyap’s regular style of narrating. The director known for his aggressive style lets the story take center stage. This is his restrained work. On the whole, “Choked” is a mixed bag. The initial hour is excellent but it gets disconnected after that but makes a decent watch and a good satire on note ban.
- Acting
- Direction, Story, Visuals
Ranjith posted a review for Gulabo Sitabo in Movies
The movie uses trope for a transparent depiction of the class distinction between haves and have-nots in our society, among other subtexts. who seem to be constantly at loggerheads. When Baankey’s former girlfriend Fauzia pays a visit to his shop to buy ‘organic wheat’ and that he must have never even heard the term organic ‘kyunki dekh ke nahin lagta’. Or that one time when Baankey’s sisters Guddo Shristi, Neetu and Payal – take a jibe at him for being uneducated and playfully demand he appear again for 10th and 12th board exams. comedy of quotidian manners: the first gave Bollywood a new kind of hero in Khurrana; the second gave the Bengali alimentary canal the importance it through Bachchan’s elderly gent and his penchant for gelusil. you can still see Mirza’s scheming brain working; his eyes sparkle when he thinks of a particularly devious way to trouble his tenant. A word that many people use for Mirza – ‘tuccha’ – is hard to translate in English, but perfectly sums up the character. but Mirza doesn’t get a happy ending, and that is just as well.
- Acting, Story
- Direction, Visuals
Ranjith posted a review for Thappad in Movies
Director Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Thappad’ begins on a sweet, comforting note of an idyllic couple Amrita and Vikram (Pannu and Gulati) who have embraced each other and have this covetable rhythm they enjoy. Just like that simmering ginger black tea that Amrita enjoys every morning, this couple seems aspirational and absolutely lovely. But cracks in their relationship appear when Gulati loses his temper at a party and slaps his wife. Their bond unravels rapidly following that swift violent action as Amrita re-examines her relationship with her affable husband and the unspoken power equations between them. It’s a searing relationship drama that’s gut wrenchingly sensitive, personal and sad. It gets nasty, but never vitriolic. This film is all heart and human frailty.
- Acting, Story, Visuals
- Direction