Superman Returns

Have you seen the trailer? Well I think that’s sufficient. The plot is woven as if the trailer was made before the movie. Expect no more action scenes other than the shown in the trailer. Brandon Routh, (as Clark Kent) the new Superman returns to Earth after spending five years looking for his home planet Krypton. Immediately, he saves his sweetheart Kate Bosworth (as Lois Lane) in some great mid-air action that redefines Newton’s laws. 5 years back, newswoman Lois was pissed off at Superman for leaving (her) abruptly and she’d writtn an award winning article “Why the world doesn’t need superman”. Suddenly, (her) hero is back.

Meanwhile Kevin Spacey (as Lex Luthor), the villan is free from jail and has discovered the supposedly unguarded wealth of Kryptonian knowledge. He intends to ‘grow’ new land on earth by displacing present continents and killing billions of people in the process. He does manage to grow lands of dark ice, and the idea of civilization on that land looks preposterous. Predictably, Superman fights the villians, lifts the whole island and launches it away into space.

The movie should have ended there, but the director chose to be theatrical. Krypton elements from the island he just lifted have affected him and he comes crashing down to earth. They treat him in a hospital, but what really cures him is a tender kiss from Lois and another peck from his son. There are plenty of such melodramatic and overdone romantic scenes which at times make you wonder if the movie is called Superman or Loverman.

Superman Returns is a disappointment, especially when Spiderman and Batman sequels have done really well. The only thing I liked is superman’s blue eyes and Lois’s soft lips.

Krrish

Krish: The Indian superhero

Rakesh Roshan directed “Krrish” stars his son Hritik Roshan (as Krishna Rohit Mehra) and Priyanka Chopra (as Priya). Nasseruddin Shah (as Siddhant Aryan) plays the villain. In this movie, which is a sequel to the erstwhile superhit movie “Koi Mil Gaya”, Krrish is shown as the son of Rohit Mehra and inherits the alien powers that his father possesses (minus the mental underdevelopment).

I don’t know why the director has projected Krrish as “Superhero of a third world country”. He is so poor that he can’t afford a zipper on his costume, or a razor to shave his stubble. His powers don’t give him the ability to fly or spin a web or resist bullet shots. All he does is take really long jumps while he ‘runs in air’ with facial expressions akin to that of an ‘angry man’ of the 80’s who is about to say ‘kutte…’.

Superhero Krrish is present in the movie only for about 40 minutes. For the initial 2 hours, he is just Krishna, the lover boy who goes to Singapore to meet Priya, after falling in love with her when she was holidaying in India. Add to this the cheap humor, terrible music, silly songs and absurd dance sequences and you’d guess it has typical elements of hindi movie.

Several brands have sponsored the movie and they are endorsed every now and then. Roshan has continued his age old Bournvita, but now additionally there is Navaratna, Lays, Hero Honda, Samsung, Fairever and so on. Have you ever seen Siyaram’s travel bus or anyone pouring spoons of Tide detergent to wash a bucketful of clothes?

Wait a minute, there’s still some hope. Director Roshan has spent lavishly on technology, probably for the first time in Hindi cinema. Some effects in the action scenes are awesome, though not breathtaking. Even the story is kind of ‘visionary’!

I believe the sequel (Krrish II) will be better if he focuses more on superhero qualities and technology instead of second grade elements of Hindi movies.

To conclude: Neither movie is must-watch. They are rather watch-once-only type.

¶ Blogged by Priyank Thatte | Tags: Entertainment, Movies, Review