ThironthoramDude Reviews

Kaathal - The Core (2023)

Mammooty is aging like fine wine

[9/10 · 11 February 2024]

This is probably a topic that none of the other mainstream mega stars would never even consider acting in. Not only did Mammooty act in it, he did excel in a brilliantly crafter movie.

Due to the sensational nature of the topic it could have easily been a missed opportunity with a mistake in script/direction or for that matter any of the technical fields. However, every aspect of this movie is top notch and despite the slow moving narration (which for me is apt for this kind of storytelling) just epitomizes the brilliant watch the movie is. Jyothika deserves credit for powerful performance as well.

In the end its all for one man Mammooty. He has time and again proven that he is aging like fine wine.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Tom Cruise is aging like fine wine.

[9/10 · 13 July 2023]

Lets not beat around the bush here. This movie is all about Ethan Hunt and the insane levels to which he is willing to push all boundaries in order to give us an action masterpiece. I do get the rave reviews and am absolutely on board with them.

The rest of the supporting cast does what the role asks of them to, to support Tom Cruise and fill some space while he does some awesome things on screen that blows our mind off.

The story is predictable, With all the AI talk in the real world, reel world MI takes it up a notch. The stunts are anything but predictable and there was a surprising amount of comedy added that sat quite well with me.

On the whole its a Tom Cruise masterpiece and despite this being the part 1 of a two part movie, its a standalone mission. The story is whole and quite gratifying.

Go watch it in the theatres because Tom Cruise is rolling back the years (yet again!)

Ghosted (I) (2023)

Should have ghosted this movie.

[6/10 · 22 April 2023]

This was probably one of the worst movies of 2023. Despite boasting one of the strongest stock price of the movie was a dud. Most of the blame should lie on the screen play although Chris Evans with his acting did not do any Justice to the viewers or the movie. It's a True and true Anna movieAnd she does shine throughout with her good looks and charm. But there is only so far that good looks and charm can take you nd this movie was left far behind.

Adequate to Chris Evans for calling in the Marvel cavalry as the guest appearance Let's turn out to be a huge surprise. In the end there were some scenes that were good but the bad far outweighed in Film.

If Apple's intention was to penetrate the niche movie streaming market this movie had the potential but fell far too short. I felt I should have ghosted this one.

The Night Agent (2023– )

Decent enough to keep you engaged

[8/10 · 8 April 2023]

Netflix had been bringing out bummers all of last year and with Night Agent they seem to have come out of that rut. There is some fine action and a whole lot of decent story telling on the way. Netflix also tries to keep it simple with a lot of simple cliches peppered here and there.

Even though some of the twists are so cliched the obvious ones. Don't leave you disappointed because of the way in which the story is told. On the whole it's a decent watch and the way it ended Netflix definitely thought it would make the cut as a season 2 is probably on the cards. I would recommend this for fans of action and suspense. A good one time watch.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Fun kick ass John Wick Chapter

[9/10 · 24 March 2023]

Although this latest installment was a tad bit longer than the rest of these movies in the series it was every bit worth it. With the introduction of a few martial arts Legends the movie took the series to the next level.

The creative Geniuses behind some of those long single shot fight sequences deserves a hats off. A couple of them really stand out. One overhead shot of John Wick running from room to room fighting his enemies And the other with John Wick, Donny Chen and group fighting in a room filled with art pieces made of bulletproof glass.

The climax was one to behold as well.

On the whole it was a fun John Wick experience with a lot of entertaining fight sequences that makes it worth your money and time. And if you are a John Wick fan, this was what you were waiting for, and it's not going to disappoint you.

Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (2022)

A brilliant adaptation of a literary masterpiece.

[9/10 · 30 September 2022]

Mani Ratnam delivers a masterpiece yet again. One would have been forgiven for being a sceptic considering the fact that Ponniyin Selvan is an all time classic of Indian Literature and could have forgiven the makers for not living up to the expectations. However, Mani Ratnam and crew delivers aplomb with PS1. Vikram, Karthi and the rest of the stellar cast did not disappoint a wee bit. The screenplay, direction and music holds its lofty standards throughout the movie. The numerous delays that the movie had before finally hitting the theaters now make sense as well as Mani Ratnam did not leave any stone unturned in making sure the audience were treated to a visual masterpiece.

Part 1 is a must watch and cant wait for Part 2.

The Pogmentary (2022)

A self obsession sob story

[1/10 · 24 June 2022]

Wondering who thought it was a good idea to try and sell self obsession story of an over rated, abomination of a human being. There are narcissistic tendancies and then there are destroy everything on the way narcissistic tendencies. This falls into the latter. A thoroughly disgusting watch.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Brilliant crazy Madness

[10/10 · 4 May 2022]

Sam Raimi hits the mark on his return with the Multiverse of Madness version of Doctor strange. With so many elements to the movie, it was so easy to have screwed this up big time but I felt this was a perfect mixture of everything. Horror as a genre makes its way into Marvel world through this one. Loved both Cumberbatch and Olsens performances in this one. A must watch and an apt follow up on the multiverse world.

Bro Daddy (2022)

Mohanlals mannerisms carry this film through and through

[8/10 · 30 January 2022]

Vintage Lalettan mannerisms is the highlight of this movie. Prithviraj manages to the get the best out of the Mohanlal in the out and out comedy. Its light hearted, un-conventional and a very good one time watch.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Welcome to the Multiverse.

[8/10 · 18 December 2021]

This has to be the best Spidey movie yet. The reason being, fans get to watch their favorite Spiderman and nobody is going to have any complaints whatsoever. There are so many goosebumps moments with all the spideys and with the different villains at display.

No Time to Die (2021)

Daniel Craig signs off in style

[8/10 · 9 October 2021]

The movie was an entertaining and fitting end to Daniel Craig version of James Bond. This had the modern day intense storytelling coupled with the cars, gadgets and one-liners from the past era. For me Daniel Craig just stamped his authority as the best 007 ever with this sign off. A tad bit lengthy but an enjoyable long ride.

Black Widow (2021)

Underwhelming and so late to the party

[5/10 · 10 July 2021]

This should have been something that the marvel bosses should have planned along with one of the phase 1 movies. Not as an afterthought after the end of phase 3. There was. Alot of expectation but the story, script and villain disappointed big time.

Cold Case (2021)

A cold avoidable one this.

[5/10 · 8 July 2021]

If we go by the build up this one should have been a masterpiece. However it ended up being an average movie. There were lot of cliched sequences and the actors to seemed disinterested. Cold Case moves against the tide in which the Malayalam movie industry is moving right now when we see a lot of good movies on one side we also see duds like these occasionally.

Prithviraj and Aditi , the delete characters did not seem to have any common inkling the story did not also keep the viewer in me interested throughout the support cast was wasted the music was unbearable and the special effects for shoddy.

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Will end up being the lucky break HBO Max was looking for.

[8/10 · 2 April 2021]

For a person who likes both Kong and Godzilla, this is a tough watch for most parts. Its difficult to root for one over the other. The various battles where the two titans are involved takes CGI to the next level and the entertainment factor is maintained throughout.

The plot, however, is something that leaves a lot to be desired. If the recent Justice League - Snyder cut proved anything its that if you give the characters a chance to develop, even the same storyline, can be made entertaining. That is precisely what Godzilla vs Kong lacked as well. The human characters and the titan characters were never given a proper chance to express themselves but for the epic fight scenes. Despite that, the movie is definitely a thoroughly fulfilling watch.

I will definitely recommend the movie and watching it in the small screen made me realize that this should have been one for the IMAX.

Pagglait (2021)

A light, moody, thought-provoking movie

[8/10 · 28 March 2021]

After numerous failed attempts, Netflix finally delivers a Hindi movie worth watching. A light, moody, thought provoking movie.

#SanyaMalhotra in the central role was thoroughly convincing. The movie has a brilliant support cast as well, #AshutoshRana being the pick of the lot for maintaining his usual lofty standards.

Over time, there has been a steady decline in what to expect out of a bollywood movie and I am glad this one swam against the tide 🙂 I would definitely recommend this one for a one time watch.

Putham Pudhu Kaalai (2020)

Just the need of the hour !

[8/10 · 25 October 2020]

Amazon Prime Video's #PuthamPudhuKaalai is precisely what I needed right now. This Anthology movie follows 5 stories relevant to Corona times (also known as 2020). My favorite of the lot (it was a toss up really) is GVM's 'Avarum Nanum' that follows the reunion between a retired scientist and his grand daughter and the mending of their troubled relationship. Sudha Kongara's (Ilamai Idho Idho) follows the real life father-son duo of Jayaram and Kalidas as the younger and older versions of the same character. It was good to see Uravasi back in action as well. It a fun segment. Rajiv Menon's Reunion provided a different perspective where a chanced encounter between two school friends resulted in a very interesting dynamic between them and the guy's mother. Loved Andrea's, Leela's and Gurucharan's acting in this one. Sudha Manirathnam's 'Coffee, anyone' is all about three sisters and parents. Sudha managed to keep it light hearted throughout despite the premise of the story. Karthick subburaj's 'Miracle' is the fun gangsta segment with the obvious twists and witty dialogues. I did love this one as well.

Aziz Ansari: Right Now (2019 TV Special)

One of the better Specials out there !

[8/10 · 14 July 2019]

Aziz Ansari brought in some sweet genuine moments lased in humor and genuinity in this special of his. Definitely worth a watch.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Loved it !

[9/10 · 19 May 2019]

John Wick Chapter 3 is a movie that has inspired me to pick up a pen(hypothetically) and write a review after eons. Delicious is the only word that comes to mind. I was scared that the third installment of the John Wick series might not be up to the mark as the first 2 had set the bars high. I have to say that the third one exceeds all my expectations and surpasses 1 and 2 by leaps.

The fight scenes are not limited to Guns this time around, there are a lot of fights with knives, swords and sometimes random things like books, belts and horses. Keanu Reeves has delivered an amazing performance and it helps that he does not age.

Lovely choice of actors to pay the various roles. I would have loved to see Ruby Rose again, but the new characters do not disappoint. Some of the strong characters in the movie have hardly any screen time. Most of the newly introduced characters leave us with more questions than answers. This makes more sense towards the end as you realize that you do not want this series to end at all, or better still - it would have been fantastic if John Wick were a series and we would not have to wait years between installments. Lovely character building and makes you want to see more of these characters.

Halle Berry has a nice role with a lot of emotional background which are left vague - I wonder if she will get her own movie soon. If she does, I would be amongst the first to get the tickets- after all anyone with 2 awesome dogs deserves their own movie.

As crazy as the fight sequences are, I love the way certain scenes make us smile. When John Wick started pulling signature WWE moves, I all but jumped out of my seat cheering.

If there were one movie that was made with me in mind as the audience, it has to be John Wick - A hero with emotional baggage, almost suicidal with self-pity, A dog lover to the core, fight sequences that belong on stage as art, a different world within our world and the right kind of humor. I am glad that my biggest countdown of 2019 is a completely worth my time.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers Endgame - Questions, Lots of Spoilers and thoughts.

[8/10 · 26 April 2019]

Endgame turned out to be a good one time watch but fell a bit short of my expectations. Go in with low expectations and you might think differently. What follows next in this article is a bunch a questions I had and a ton of spoilers which go with them. Along with those are some of those goosebumps worthy moments in the movie and a small review as well. So read along only if you don't mind the spoilers.

How did Hawkeye end up with the Soul stone? Nat killed herself and she is definitely not one that Hawkeye loved the most. I thought you need to sacrifice that you loved the most to get the Soul stone ? The Time Travel sequence did mess up my brain. The second snap is supposed to have put things back to prior to when the first snap took place for the people who perished in the snap. It now meant that 50% of the population has lived all the way from 2018 to 2023 while the remaining 50 percent of the population is probably just waking up in 2023, seconds after they went into a nap in 2018. Mixed timelines for everyone. Spiderman Far from home is going to be interesting in this aspect unless every character from part 1 were snapped to dust only to return, unaged in 2023. Loki from 2012 took off with the Tesseract and this should have some real huge ramifications in the current day timeline including the events of Thor 2, Ragnarok and even Infinity Wars. Remember, this was still the time when Loki was still the bad guy and could have had serious impact in the whole timeline of any story that happened afterwards and did he survive the events of the Infinity war due to this new timeline ? I am still not able to wrap around the fact that they found it okay to go back and change the timeline for saving half the population but found it okay that certain few individuals could be sacrificed in the process when time-travel was still a possibility. The availability of Pym particles should not really be a criteria as there definitely should be somebody who could have ended up developing something that was discovered in 1970's. If you time travel once and do end up creating those alternate timelines, you should definitely be okay to do it again to save someone else you lost in a previous timeline. Marvel jumped right into the time travel mess that 20th Century had with X-Men. Now about Mjolnir. Why on earth did the out-of-shape lazy Thor bring it back from the 2013 Asgard or did Cap return it while returning the stone. After all the things done to alter the past what prevented Thor from telling his mother what the battle of Maliketh meant to her future? That was something Thor should have let out considering the fact that the whole movie treated Thor like an idiot (I repeat, not one with sense of humor but one who is an idiot). Where did vision go ? He should have been part of the last scene right or was it because the snap happened after Vision died? What about Cap's splintered timeline? He effectively had a different life post the events of 2023 in the 1970's as a superhero and ended up taking no part in any of the events of the previous Marvel movies ? That would make him a superhero who couldn't care any less about 'bad' events that were supposed to happen and he could have prevented. Now, to the event that I could not wrap my head around even a wee bit. Thanos from 2014 went to 2023 (present) to get dusted himself by the Avengers. So essentially he dies even before he got hold of even a single Infinity stone. That pretty much wipes out almost 90 percent of all the bad things that happened in the past few Marvel movies. Does it not essentially mean that other than Tony and Nat the rest of the world survived as they never had Thanos to deal with in the first place? Doctor Strange and his pals does this space travel thing through the circle of fire thing (for lack of better words) to get all the Avengers to the right spot, even from far away planets with a blink of an eye. Why on earth didn't he do the same during the course of the other movies (especially Infinity war) when they could have really done with some space travel to get to where the action was? Is it some sort of skill that pops up only when there needs to be no explanation provided? There should be a lot more that I missed as the movie as such has too much going on in too less of a timespan and yet it felt like some of the scenes could have been avoided. The movie itself started off brilliantly with an emotional tone and the mood pretty much remains the same throughout. If I were to select one character that had the movie gave justice to the most, it has to be Cap, even though Tony had a better sent off and if I were to select one character that was absolutely marginalized and made useless, it has to be Thor with a whopping margin.

Thanos has to be one of the most wholesome villains ever in Movie history. His goals are not mired by emotion. He has absolute faith in himself and he genuinely believes in the result of his actions. How a 'stone-less' Thanos was still stronger than most of the Avengers combined was something I could not wrap my head around. This could have been one of the reasons why they kept Thor fat and Captain Marvel far away from action to bring some parity to the proceedings.

Now to some of those goosebumps worthy scenes, most of them involved Cap (not a Cap fan here!)

Avengers Assemble ! 'I can do this whole day'. 'Yeah, yeah, I know' 'Hail Hydra' 'I went for the head' 'I knew it' Cap using Mjolnir It's definitely a fitting swansong for some of the characters in the Universe but I probably expected more from the movie. Definitely worth a watch.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Questions, Lots of Spoilers and thoughts.

[8/10 · 26 April 2019]

Endgame turned out to be a good one time watch but fell a bit short of my expectations. Go in with low expectations and you might think differently. What follows next in this article is a bunch a questions I had and a ton of spoilers which go with them. Along with those are some of those goosebumps worthy moments in the movie and a small review as well. So read along only if you don't mind the spoilers.

How did Hawkeye end up with the Soul stone? Nat killed herself and she is definitely not one that Hawkeye loved the most. I thought you need to sacrifice that you loved the most to get the Soul stone ? The Time Travel sequence did mess up my brain. The second snap is supposed to have put things back to prior to when the first snap took place for the people who perished in the snap. It now meant that 50% of the population has lived all the way from 2018 to 2023 while the remaining 50 percent of the population is probably just waking up in 2023, seconds after they went into a nap in 2018. Mixed timelines for everyone. Spiderman Far from home is going to be interesting in this aspect unless every character from part 1 were snapped to dust only to return, unaged in 2023. Loki from 2012 took off with the Tesseract and this should have some real huge ramifications in the current day timeline including the events of Thor 2, Ragnarok and even Infinity Wars. Remember, this was still the time when Loki was still the bad guy and could have had serious impact in the whole timeline of any story that happened afterwards and did he survive the events of the Infinity war due to this new timeline ? I am still not able to wrap around the fact that they found it okay to go back and change the timeline for saving half the population but found it okay that certain few individuals could be sacrificed in the process when time-travel was still a possibility. The availability of Pym particles should not really be a criteria as there definitely should be somebody who could have ended up developing something that was discovered in 1970's. If you time travel once and do end up creating those alternate timelines, you should definitely be okay to do it again to save someone else you lost in a previous timeline. Marvel jumped right into the time travel mess that 20th Century had with X-Men. Now about Mjolnir. Why on earth did the out-of-shape lazy Thor bring it back from the 2013 Asgard or did Cap return it while returning the stone. After all the things done to alter the past what prevented Thor from telling his mother what the battle of Maliketh meant to her future? That was something Thor should have let out considering the fact that the whole movie treated Thor like an idiot (I repeat, not one with sense of humor but one who is an idiot). Where did vision go ? He should have been part of the last scene right or was it because the snap happened after Vision died? What about Cap's splintered timeline? He effectively had a different life post the events of 2023 in the 1970's as a superhero and ended up taking no part in any of the events of the previous Marvel movies ? That would make him a superhero who couldn't care any less about 'bad' events that were supposed to happen and he could have prevented. Now, to the event that I could not wrap my head around even a wee bit. Thanos from 2014 went to 2023 (present) to get dusted himself by the Avengers. So essentially he dies even before he got hold of even a single Infinity stone. That pretty much wipes out almost 90 percent of all the bad things that happened in the past few Marvel movies. Does it not essentially mean that other than Tony and Nat the rest of the world survived as they never had Thanos to deal with in the first place? Doctor Strange and his pals does this space travel thing through the circle of fire thing (for lack of better words) to get all the Avengers to the right spot, even from far away planets with a blink of an eye. Why on earth didn't he do the same during the course of the other movies (especially Infinity war) when they could have really done with some space travel to get to where the action was? Is it some sort of skill that pops up only when there needs to be no explanation provided?

There should be a lot more that I missed as the movie as such has too much going on in too less of a timespan and yet it felt like some of the scenes could have been avoided. The movie itself started off brilliantly with an emotional tone and the mood pretty much remains the same throughout. If I were to select one character that had the movie gave justice to the most, it has to be Cap, even though Tony had a better sent off and if I were to select one character that was absolutely marginalized and made useless, it has to be Thor with a whopping margin.

Thanos has to be one of the most wholesome villains ever in Movie history. His goals are not mired by emotion. He has absolute faith in himself and he genuinely believes in the result of his actions. How a 'stone-less' Thanos was still stronger than most of the Avengers combined was something I could not wrap my head around. This could have been one of the reasons why they kept Thor fat and Captain Marvel far away from action to bring some parity to the proceedings.

Now to some of those goosebumps worthy scenes, most of them involved Cap (not a Cap fan here!)

Avengers Assemble ! 'I can do this whole day'. 'Yeah, yeah, I know' 'Hail Hydra' 'I went for the head' 'I knew it' Cap using Mjolnir It's definitely a fitting swansong for some of the characters in the Universe but I probably expected more from the movie. Definitely worth a watch.

Lucifer (I) (2019)

A thoroughly entertaining Thriller for the Masses

[9/10 · 30 March 2019]

The Prithviraj Directorial debut, Lucifer, truly quenched the longing for an entertaining Mass movie from Mohanlal. It's truly 'the thriller' that many of the recent high profile Malayalam movies promised to deliver but was unable to deliver. I must confess, I was not at all a fan of the recent 'Pulimurugan' circus as well (It was at best a below average movie) ! An Ensemble star cast, a humongous budget and the fabled 'first venture' into direction by prodigal son of Malayalam Cinema had 'recipe for blockbuster' written all over it from the day the movie was announced. However the recent high profile duds such as 'Odiyan' and 'Kayankulam Kochunni' did leave the skeptical Malayalee in me a bit doubtful at times. Lucifer, however, did deliver handsomely.

A lot of what was on the screen owed to what was on the paper prior to the first day of shooting. Murali Gopi's script gave us quite a few fan-worthy moments with not so subtle references to 'Erupatham Noothandu', 'Narasimham' and 'Spadikam'. The script enhanced the reputation Mr Gopi had built from his days of 'Left Right Left', although here every single scene had a focal point at Stephen Nedumbally , the character played by Mohanlal. Prithvi did absolute justice to the script and it was quite obvious that the Producers knew it all along with the way the money was spent for the right seasons.

Even though the movie did not allow any of the other characters to have a real screen presence Vivek Oberoi (as the conniving villain), Manju Warrier (as the grieving daughter and aggrieved mother) and Indrajith Sukumaran (as the mad truth seeker) were absolutely brilliant in their portrayal of the roles. Tovino, Saikumar, Shahjohn, Baiju, Fasil and even Prithvi had roles that were good while it lasted but of minimal impact.

Despite all that is mentioned above, I think the elements that contributed an overwhelmingly major share to the movies brilliance is the music by Deepak Dev, Cinematography by Sujith Vasudev and the stunts which were straight out of a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster. Khodos to the entire team on the work of art.

In conclusion its a movie that rewrites some of the boundaries that Malayalam movie industry had in terms of 'budget', 'quality' and 'action'. A must watch for any Mohanlal fan !!

Triple Frontier (2019)

A Half decent action flick

[6/10 · 17 March 2019]

Netflix had hit he ground running in 2019 with a host of big name Originals in The Meyorowitz Stories, Dumplin and Velvet Buzzaw. Triple Frontier now adds to the list. The movie however failed to deliver to the fullest of its potential.

Triple Frontier leads us through the lives of 5 ex-special forces men who are going through less than ideal times in their lives. They decide to rob a cartel boss for a score that would set them for life. Oscar Isaac and Charlie Hunnam as 'Pope' and 'Ironhead' were thorough in their roles, whereas Ben Affleck maintains his usual 'I do not have any clue on what I am doing here' expression throughout the movie.

The movie passes through its best phase by the end of the hour mark and from there on its a slow meandering journey towards the end. Quite few of those sequences should have been avoided.

I would recommend this as a one time watch but only if you are done with the better recent Netflix offerings in Love, Death & Robots (scifi thriller) After Life (comedy).

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

A likable movie with certain obvious flaws

[7/10 · 15 February 2019]

The movie left me with mixed opinions. One part of me absolutely loved the VFX, the heroine and bgm. The whole premise was pretty new to me due to my ignorance of the 'Manga' world. I certainly understand what the craze is all about. However, when a movie ends with more questions than answers by the end of it its obvious to leave you a bit flabbergasted and that is precisely how i felt.

If you are a fan of 'manga', it probably is a no-brainer but for the rest of the world this movie is going to evoke a mixed response. You will be Wowed by the heroine, doctor, VFX and action but would be left questioning some of the cliched roles and characters including that of the villain and 'hero'.

All I can say is that, there is a better chance of you liking it than disliking it.

Solo (II) (2018)

Could have been a lot better

[4/10 · 22 January 2019]

Based on a true story, solo describes the ordeal of a surfer who falls off the cliff and is left stranded. The protagonist , in his loneliness, remembers all the choices he made in his life while conversing with figments of his imagination. He pretty much messed up his own life and this gave him the will power to fight for his survival. The makers could have done a better job of portraying these and I feel they missed on a golden opportunity there.

Petta (2019)

Marana Mass !

[9/10 · 11 January 2019]

Petta is nothing but a trip back to the Rajinified days. Catchy punch dialoges, enthralling BGM, twists, humor and the disarming nature of Rajini charisma. You name it and Petta has it. Go watch it if you want a proper trip down the memory lane to what made Rajni the Thalaivar, he is today.