tharindu-ssl Reviews

Maharaja Gemunu (2015)

A masterpiece to be admired in days to come

[8/10 · 23 February 2015]

What can I say? From the start of the movie, it keeps you hooked with amazing picturization of the Greatest King of Sri Lanka. Even before the movie was released, I had high expectations about the movie as it is directed by Jayantha Chandrasiri. He is a creativity genius who does not take short cuts to deliver his arts. So if someone should take the risk of bringing King Dutugemunu to the screen, it is surely him. Music of Nadeeka Guruge is awesome. Camera work is mind blowing. When I read the book, I had a visual imagination of the book because Jayantha Chandrasiri, also the author of the book, has written the book in that way. Watching the movie was exactly the same experience except I think the battle strategies are more detailed in the book.

Why 8 points then? Because there should be always room for improvement. And for Maharaja Gemunu, it is the battle scenes that need more improvement. Given the budget of the movie and how much can it be expanded due to the constraints of income in Sri Lanka cinema, this film has the best battle scenes to date. Drama, acting of the movie is really good. It gives you a pride feeling about being a Sri Lankan. Some scenes sends a chill down the spine. Loyalty of ten great giants to the King, Angampora battle arts are a treat to watch. All the creators and actors have done full justice to their roles in the movie and Maharaja Gemunu is a masterpiece of Sri Lankan cinema to be admired in days to come. It surely set new benchmark for future of Sinhala Cinema and gives the message that "if you work hard and do justice to what you do, you still can earn well in Sri Lanka box office" because Sri Lankan people love good cinema.

Happy New Year (I) (2014)

Only good thing is Abhishek Bachchan

[4/10 · 24 October 2014]

Before the movie, I had read reviews and had very low expectations. But the first half of the movie was really funny. There are so many out of place and mismatch contents yet it kept the audience laughing. Not that the jokes are original or very well thought. Creators put in all they can and it is like watching a cartoon. How can you not laugh when you watch cartoon . So if it's the entertainment you seek, first half of the movie is for you. Abhsihesk Bachchan is shining and he gives the most entertainment. Also references to other movies are okay, funny.

But then the life of the movie drops significantly in the second half. Other than one or two jokes here and there, there is nothing to keep you entertained. You want to get it over with but the movie drags on trying to justify the heist and why the characters are involved in it. There is unnecessary fight between Charlie (played by SRK) and a Korean where Charlie's team does not come to help despite the risk involved in the fight.

The patriotic angle of the movie is forced on. SRK does what he does in all the movies. His signature all over the movie. Some dance is like actually you are watching a SRK Live in concert. In a song they make all other actors raise their arms like SRK always do. How a leading actor like Abhishek falls to that level is so sad. In fact most of the scenes involving SRK looks very familiar.

In the theater I was watching, there was a technical error and movie was stuck before it's last 10 minutes. It took some 5 minutes to fix and resume play but meanwhile many people had started to walk off as they were waiting for it to be over and took the tech error as an excuse to do so. Film being too long actually overshadows some rare key points in the movie.

Finally, expect SRK does some meaningful movie. After all, he is an actor who has given some memorable movies. Riding that success to do movies like CE, HNY is so sad.

I give 4 stars. 3 stars to the comic flow in the first half and 1 star to Abhishek Bachchan.

Dhoom 3 (2013)

Super cool movie

[22 December 2013]

When the first time I watched it, I was not able to comprehend with the movie. Because it was an Aamir Khan movie, I expected better. But next time I watched as a Dhoom movie and I was thrilled. It was my fault. This is not Aamir Khan next movie, this is Dhoom next movie. People complaining about the major twist ripped off from Prestige is understandable. But what the creators have made out of it is very entertaining. They use the trick to rob banks and they have developed super cool gadgets and technologies with the mastermind of Samar. They are cool and visual interpretation of those technologies and other stunts are almost perfect for an Indian movie. Aamir Khan acting as twins is so convincing that I actually thought they are two. (Imagine two Aamir Khan movies in an year)

There are some unclear things too such as how Jai Dixit found out the twins would be on that dam. Btw, in all three movies, not only Jai Dixit does not apprehend the thief but also they jump from a height. what is that all about? Also, it's not the bank Sahir and Amar should be angry with but with their father who teach them great lessons but finally committed suicide like a coward leaving two kids alone and vulnerable. But at least this movie had a story. That is a good thing. Is it the best Hindi movie ever? No. Is it the best Hindi movie in 2013? perhaps. But this is super cool movie which will entertain you and surprise you at every corner.

p.s: People seemed to be wondering why Sahir was counting seconds when he is under water. actually it's Sahir sending a signal to his brother Samar with timing and it's Samar who comes out of river, converting the boat back to bike. It's the same trick they did in the first robbery they show. Sahir hide in Van and Samar escapes on the rope. This time Sahir hides under water and Samar escapes from other side of the bridge misguiding the Police. That's why it's Samar who got shot by Jai Dixit.

Pee Mak (2013)

Its was unbelievable experience

[8/10 · 18 June 2013]

I watched this movie yesterday along with some new friends in Singapore,and this is the first Thai movie I have watched.I had watched the trailer of Pee Mak and thought I should watch it and boy,I was in for a treat as it turned out to be an amazing movie.What I liked the most about the movie is the perfect combination of horror and comedy.Its not like "scary movies" where the ghost is also funny and all.There is time where you are terrified with the horrific events but then the movie takes you to the opposite end of those emotions by putting some genuine comedy around it.I repeat,I quite liked how perfect the combination is.The stupidity of the boy characters and how well those characters are played out bring a lot of laughter (with tears in my case) is brilliant.And there is drama, some tiny plots that goes quite well with the story,and human emotions of love which does not want to let go of love even after death.This movie is highly recommended if you like to laugh a lot, and missing it just because you are not a fan of horror movies or Thai movies in common, would be a big miss.

Now You See Me (I) (2013)

Exciting and well paced

[7/10 · 6 June 2013]

I was so excited by the trailer although I thought the trailer revealed more than it should.I had high expectations for the movie and it delivered more than I expected except for the ending.Different people will feel differently about the ending but in my opinion it was not much convincing, need to have more proof on how it happened. But apart from that, the movie had a good pace where everything is happening at quick sessions where you don't see scenes wasting time. Jesse Eisenberg was great again,I was so impressed with his arrogant character in "The Social Network" and he has actually inherited some of those characteristics to his character in "Now You See Me" too. His style of speech gives a great personality to the character he plays. In stories like this, (like Italian Job, Ocean 13) although our story leaders are robbers or con artists, we want them to win. We like them to succeed. But will NYSM story leaders win their game against the determined FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo)? What is Thaddeus Bradley's (Morgan Freeman) role behind all these? Fascinating and exciting movie "Now You See Me" is worth to watch as you don't know how the time pass by until it ends.

The Croods (2013)

One of the best animation movie I have ever watched

[9/10 · 24 March 2013]

I am in my twenties and love animation movies so I went to the movie with my friends.The movie kept us laughing and surprised at the every second of it.The pace of the movie is very good and you don't feel to take your eyes off it.Though this is animation movie, don't misunderstand its not for adults.The humour is very equal to all of us despite of the age. The creators have put up a good idea and it teaches us a lesson too no matter how old you are,which is what, I will not spoil for those who have not watched it yet.From of the cute "owws" from the girls behind our seats,I have to admin that there were very cute moments in it.Worth watching, 3D would be better.

Touch (2012–2013)

Series should have an identity

[8/10 · 18 March 2013]

When Touch first came to TV,most of the fans who tuned into the show was 24/Jack Bauer fans.Most of them were disappointed to see Kiefer Sutherland as a guy who is afraid of heights and say some random guy "I care for you".Anyway it held its strength in the first 3-4 episodes with story-line which eventually ended up connecting lives in touching ways.But then it got predictable.I think season 2 has come to correct those mistakes focusing more on the Amelia-Aster Corps-Jake story-line with a different tone to the show where some violence is involved.And Martin Bohm is no longer a weak guy but gets the nature of a detective who is chasing clues and the scene him with guns have thrilled 24 fans who hanged in with the show.But it is notable now that the fans who watched the season 1 for its touching moments losing the interest in the show.So the real challenge for the show to survive is not to lose the identity of the show which it originally meant to.Hopefully it well turn out to be a good show.So far its a good show to watch weekly.