Tag Archives: Netflix Film

Film Reviews

Film Review: Friday Night Plan (2023)

REVIEW

‘Friday Night Plan‘ is a Netflix coming-of-age comedy-drama about two brothers Sid and Adi who get a chance to drive their mother’s car and attend a party at Nat’s with whom Sid has a crush. The film stars Babil Khan, Amrith Jayan, Aadhya Anand, Medha Rana, Ninad Kamat, and Juhi Chawla.

This film gives an insight about an introvert Sid who has been a pupil in the same school for eight years but has not gained any recognition and reputation like others. He has a crush on the girl but doesn’t know how to interact and impress. But then suddenly, he is the talk of the school and has built a status because he won a football tournament for his school. And now he is more uncomfortable.

There is always a need of the background story for the main character in the coming-of-age genre. This film grew Sid by talking about his past in the later phase of the film that developed more reasons behind his being extra silent and careful. His younger brother Adi is the best detailing for a younger brother as he was fast, smart, chill, irresponsible as well as a troublemaker. The last two traits are obviously not the best qualities in the person but in a character because the smart Adi just couldn’t realize why losing a car to the police was a big problem. Instead, he suggests that the mother will take care of it as he does not want to give up the party at all.

The heated argument between the two was interesting because they opened up their lives to each other. What Adi brings to the story is trouble as well as relief for Sid. He is his hype-man and really wants his brother to calm his solemnity and open up to the world. It is so well shot without exaggerating when Adi starts praising his brother when Nat enters the room.

CLOSING REMARKS

‘Friday Night Plan’ has a very simple and straight route for the continuity of the story. There are no interesting filming techniques to bring an excellent crafting from a coming-of-age. Also, for such a simple story based on one day, this film is too lengthy and slow for having a screen time of almost two hours. The dialogues were easy-going and realistic.

The whole sub-plot of inspector being furious over being egged was a bit time wasting and unnecessary stretch. Another reason why I say that the film was too simple is because Juhi Chawla’s role of the mother of two kids didn’t get to test. She came nowhere close to her car getting towed. If I was the writer, I would have her character do the talking with her sons and conclude the film on a better note.

I am getting fond of Babil’s acting since watching him recently in The Railway Men as I watched that first. His character execution, voice, and behavioral attitude is a gift from his deceased legendary father and anyone can observe that.

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Friday Night Plan’ but for me, it was at least 30 minutes long and deserved a better conclusion to all dramas that occurred in one night.

RATING 6.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire (2023)

REVIEW

 

A ruthless admiral of the empire of the Motherworld, Atticus Noble, demands the villagers of Veldt an extraordinary supply of grain in 10 weeks. One of the villagers Kora decides to assemble the warriors from across the galaxy to fight against the Motherland.

I have a tremendous respect for Zack Snyder because of his style of filmmaking and the dark elements of political philosophy that he applies in his directional artistry. The meticulous structure that constructs his artistic image of the world that he shoots in the film takes time to grow. Same is the case with the first part of Rebel Moon that is now the beginning of an exciting franchise.

Although, the core of story doesn’t add much to new ideas as the plot heavily reminds me of Star Wars and Dune as well as Zack’s very own Justice League but Zack Snyder has this quality of making the film look beautiful and artistic that covers the mediocrity of the story. To my surprise, even action sequences were unimpressive. Slow-motion technique has been one of Zack’s uncontrolled habit in detailing a shot. But this time, he overused this and he needs to put limit on the slow-mos.

After I get settled with the plot in the first 40 minutes, the growth of the screenplay got confined because the remainder of the film proceeded with Kora recruiting warriors by traveling to different planets and after watching their heroics against the oppression. Moreover, the introduction of the warriors who join Kora’s justice league lack character development. The final thirty minutes were interesting but the screen-time overall is nearly 140 minutes which is quite short for a space opera. And this is exactly why the characters of Titus, Nemesis, Bloodaxe, and Tarak were unable to grow nor their worlds were given enough minutes to understand and therefore looked like mere theme parks to us.

So what’s the talking point if the film has an ordinary story and typical action sequences? It is the fictional universe and its aesthetics that are captivating. The entire universal detailing of the Rebel Moon is not based on some novel but Zack’s own vision about his universe. Rebel Moon is like any director’s re-imagination of Star Wars with darker elements and mature content. And after watching the trailer of the second part of the Rebel Moon, the vision is much clear that the Rebel Moon franchise has similar plot elements of Akira Kurosawa‘s Seven Samurai. Even Kora had seven.

There was an interesting shot about a princess of whom Kora was the royal bodyguard. Her name was Issa and had the ability to give life to the dead. Did Zack get inspiration from the Islamic faith or should I assume if it is a strange coincidence? Because Issa in Islam is the messenger of God and he was a lifegiver.

Junkie XL‘s music is a plus and so far has been a fabulous collaboration with Zack. And there is no question about Zack’s art of worldbuilding, exellence in CGI and VFX.

CLOSING REMARKS

Although, the second part will give the whole picture of where Rebel Moon stands in the elite ranks of space universes or if not. See, Rebel Moon without a doubt is enjoyable especially for Zack Snyder cultists like me. But on a judgement scale, Rebel Moon offers a repeated plot line that has been watched before with better scripts and action sequences. The visual spectacle is never a question, its just the film lacks novelty.

RATING 6.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Passing (2021)

I swear I never knew the word ‘Passing‘ has a racial meaning and that is unsurprisingly connected to American history. Passing is a term that is used for light-skinned Black Americans who can assimilate into the White majority or in other words, they are accepted or perceived as ‘White’.

This film is based on Nella Larsen‘s 1929 novel ‘Passing‘ about two light-skinned Black American friends who meet each other after a long time in the Harlem neighborhood of New York in the 1920s. Irene (Tessa Thompson) is married to a Black doctor while her friend Clare (Ruth Negga) has passed as ‘White’ and is married to a wealthy white man John (Alexander Skarsgård) who ranks and regards Black people low. Clare rediscovers the truthfulness of life in Irene and tries to gather more with her friend until she ‘pass’ out.

The film is slow-burn but the emotional application is more burning on Clare’s side. The revelation and denial are shocking as it looks disturbing when Clare agrees with John that she is white. Although it is dramatic, the story is executed in the right direction so that the audience gets to feel how difficult it was for a Black to be accepted in a society most of the Whites more than a hundred years ago.

Passing is a technical brilliance with a delicate sense of crafting of the screenplay and direction. The subject was given its piece of thoughtful tribute to that generation who were divided in color concentration. Thompson and Negga were brilliant, especially the latter made us feel heartbroken with her remarkable body language. I am surprised Passing got not a single Oscar nomination. At least Negga deserved the nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Ratings: 7.5/10

Film Reviews

Film Review: Dhamaka (2021)

TV news anchor Arjun Pathak gets his biggest break when he interviews a terrorist who has just tried to blow a bridge alarming the national security sensing a high-level terror attack. With time, catching the terrorist becomes complicated due to his demands and Pathak struggles to find the solution to end this madness.
Dhamaka is the official remake of the South Korean film, The Terror Live. Directed by Ram Madhvani who made Neerja. There is no doubt that just like Neerja, Dhamaka is another top-class nerve-building intensity and the first half is the clear proof. The film lifts up the attention in a few minutes at the start and successfully attracts the audience and builds curiosity.
Dhamaka offers a few scenes that have been shot with careful direction like the entire build-up of Arjun struggling to recover after he vomited. Or another scene of giving a hope of possible reunion that ends up with a tragedy when the bridge collapses.
Technical excellence? Impressive sound design throughout the film and compelling screenplay and direction in the first half. Amruta Subhash had an impressive supporting role and Mrunal Thakur is one of the new talents who are serious about the profession and trying to make the name. This has to be Karthik Aaryan‘s best performance to date and maybe one of the best leading performances of the year. His expressional timing and behavioral attitude were sharp and handled with delicacy.
But handling the continuity of such a potential plot towards the last phase lowed the anticipation. A well-settled first 40 minutes into the film held a lot of promises but numerous plotholes raised the eyebrows.

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

One major problem is the dramatization of a typical newsroom trying to break a news on air. The seriousness and hullabaloo of the room get an odd feeling about the authenticity over covering a national outcry of terrorism. If the terrorist is so prepared to blow the proportions of the building, how come he believes in a theory that a minister can come to the show to apologize when he could have asked for forgiveness from any platform. If he was eventually hiding in the building, how come the anti-corruption unit did not spot out and took so long to trace out? The film shows that the call on the phone was coming from the IT room. How come no one noticed that?
When Arjun depicted that his earphone had the bomb, the police began to solve the mystery of who would fix that in his ear. I don’t understand how come no one in the newsroom identified the possibility. This is their daily routine and they all know each other who is assigned what work. What politician doesn’t cooperate with such sensitive issues on air and put the lives of many at-risk after suggesting that he must not enrage him? A journalist died in the bridge collapse and there were no injuries when the body was found. Really?
Yes, the film successfully shows the reality behind the news media politics and all the black efforts that are made to dramatize/sensationalize the events. But Dhamaka will be remembered for Karthik’s performance who looked like the captain of the sinking ship. If the efforts were made in dramatizing more compelling writing on the situational tense and newsroom drama, this may have been one of the best films of the year.
Ratings: 6.5/10