X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST: Entertainment just can’t get any bigger, any better! [4/5]

The most loved mutant series X-MEN returns to its original generator after 11 long years and the influence, empathy and compassion between the two grow like they were never separated. No wonder, Bryan Singer helmed X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST turns out to be the most entertaining affair of the lot. It is also an adrenaline-charged reunion of the older and newer members of the mutant gang known for their magical, mystical & marvellous powers. Together they ensure a wholesome entertainer you’ll cherish long after leaving the theatre. Action speaks louder than words but action here in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is more amusing, enjoyable and flattering but without eclipsing the power of words.

In the futuristic world of endless possibilities, heroic mutants headed by the older professor X [Patrick Stewart] and Magneto [Ian McKellan] are being hunt and gunned down by army of Robotic Giants called The Sentinels supposedly developed by the gene and blood-cells of Raven-the Mystique, played by the enigmatic Jennifer Lawrence. The threat upon the very existence of mankind and mutants are constantly getting thicken and the only way out is to rectify the mistakes done in the past by taking the much fascinating time-travel route. The volunteer chosen is the edgy & impatient Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman. Now, he has to deal with the younger versions of his associates who are still ambitiously driven by their own set of differences and unaware of the fact that eventually they had to be one at one point of time.

This journey from future to past sees ample of electrifying moments to keep you constantly on the edge of your seats. The engaging plot and unpredictability in the writing make sure you never have a dull moment even for once. Rather, the story moves forward and gets unfold in a manner that the 2 hour duration of the film looks absolutely jam-packed with much of thrills and chills. Of the lot, the best is when Peter aka Quicksilver [Played by Evan Peters] decides to help Charles Xavier [James McAvoy] and Wolverine release Erik [Michael Fassbender] in a prison-break in an almost impossible Pentagon. In a lyrical representation of how the ‘blink and you miss’ fastest of the all Quicksilver reacts in fractions of a second to this particular sequence, you are bound to be left awe-struck and overwhelmingly impressed by the ultra-slow-motion technique and the fascinating music score over it to double it up the whole experience. In another, you see Erik using his epic superpowers to thrash and lift up an entire sports stadium in the air and later, to make it a guarding wall around Washington DC. This is as big as Chris Nolan creates in his super science fictions. Absolutely breath-taking!

If anything that does get unsatisfying to some extent, is when you see many of your favourite characters like Storm played by Halle Berry getting side-lined with a not-so-evolved brief role but then possibly this is not the film for them to be remembered for. They had their own share in the previous and hopefully will get another in next. With the layered emotionally dehydrated and hilarious drunken act of James McAvoy as younger professor X, the witty reactions and one-liners of Wolverine, the action sequences involving the tiff between Erik and Raven, you shouldn’t really ask for more reasons. It tastes as good as it smells. Entertainment just can’t get any bigger, any better! [4/5]  

LUCIA: India’s answer to Nolan’s INCEPTION, that too in Kannada. Be proud! [3.5/5]

Psychological thrillers that bend your mind with a thin blurred dividing line between dream and reality have always been fascinating stories to shake & shock cinema-lovers across globe. Christopher Nolan’s much acclaimed INCEPTION was the last most-talked venture in the said genre…and the latest has just arrived. Not from the other side of the world but from our very own Kannada film industry.

 

Pawan Kumar’s LUCIA is a small film […made merely in a shoestring budget of 70 lakh, funded by hundreds of cinema-enthusiasts on social networking sites] that never restricts or limits itself from being big in aspiration, execution or projection.

An usher/ torch-shiner in a dying talkies [not multiplex or theater  mind you!] in the town finds it difficult to have a good sleep in nights, thanks to his ‘a little too much to be comfortable with’ roomies of every kind, and soon develops symptoms of insomnia. Next in the line comes an illegal drug-distributor who, as an ultimate solution, provides him a set of sleeping pills named ‘Lucia’ that could miraculously not only helps him in getting good sleep but also allows him to live his personalized dreams like a one big movie of his own. Eventually, you see our protagonist leading two separate lives respectively one in reality and the other in alternate reality aka dream […clearly shown divided with sequences in color and in b/w].

So, whatever in one life he can’t do is now doing in the other to entertain his soul. The girl of his dreams, the career he always has looked up to and everything else…but who really can tell if what you see is reality or a dream or it is just both within you? Best unanswered for you to explore at your own!

LUCIA is a brilliant example of what a far-reaching vision can create- achieve & celebrate despite having cumbersome obstacles largely called here as age-old ‘business norms’. Leave Kannada alone, I am still looking for examples to equal this effort in all of Bollywood. Cinematography by Siddharth Nuni is exceptionally good and of qualities that could take it to bigger platforms proudly and profoundly. Siddharth plays with lights and well-designed shots that are bound to leave you awestruck…and to complement it evenly, there is crispier than ever scissoring hands of […sadly, did not find the name of film-Editor anywhere].

Watch out for the opening-montage where the addictive Lucia capsules are shown being experimented, manufactured and later consumed but in an innovative reverse order. Though performances are not so overwhelming, you also don’t complain as it is very very satisfactory.

Ironically, the biggest strength and the biggest limitation in this case are the same. The screenplay does provide to promises of huge expectations but the story quite doesn't fulfill your appetite as it decides to remain massy for most parts, keeping the entertainment need of commercial Kannada audiences, I guess. And to some extent, I personally consider it the need of hour to reach and to bring more people to this kind of cinema than just being a complicated experience for few hardcore art-cinema fans; they sure will find it a little distracted 2 hour 15 min long effort which could easily get trimmed by 20 odd min, at present, deeply dedicated to masses only.

Having said that, I must recommend it to all of you who are not constrained and classified in terms of language when it comes to good quality cinema! It has shines and glares of ‘Cinema Paradiso’, ‘Memento’ and ‘Inception’ but stands out at its own because of technical excellence and a sheer example of gripping story-telling. [3.5/5]