The Hobbit - A delightful return to the middle-earth

Theatre - Gopalan Grand Mall
Show - 17-Dec-2012, 4PM
Status - 60-65%

Warning: A lot longer than I thought! Had started writing this review two weeks back. Constant laptop crashes confined this to notepad. Noticed it just a while back and decided to complete the review.

My love affair with the middle earth lore started with the Lord of the Rings. A dusty, old book I found in a regular forage in the Trivandrum British Library. It was a time before the films and I had never heard about Tolkein before. The book was extremely slow to begin with after giving it a fair chance, it simply blew my mind.

Middle earth became an obsession and read everything I could get my hands on. Even The History of Middle Earth, a twelve-part series that analyzes the development of LOTR. (Trivia - Aragorn aka Strider was originally a Hobbit, the long lost cousin of Frodo!) In comparison to the epic LOTR, I found Hobbit a bit too plain. It was written as a children's book and before he developed the middle earth lore. The one ring is simply a ring of invisibility.

Fast forward to the films. I found the LOTR films to be fantastic and probably the best film series ever made. I was amazed at the characterization because everybody was just like I imagined when I read the books. Best part were the hobbits. I found the previous depictions to be appalling, specifically in the old LOTR games for DOS.

That said, I was sort of appalled when they announced the making of Hobbit. I was even more puzzled when they talked about making it a 2 part flick. Another cash grab was my thought. Peter Jackson cut out Tom Bombadil from LOTR for a good reason and entire Hobbit was sort of Bombadilish to be frank. It didn't sit very well with rest of the middle earth lore as well. Seeing Guilermo Del Toro attached to the project was a relief, but his departure and entry of Peter Jackson left me a little cold towards the entire project.

On to the film review.

I decided to watch the flick after looking at a few positive reviews and the trailer. One of the better decisions I made as far as watching movies go! Outstanding is the only word for how Peter Jackson has weaved the story. The screenplay has taken the best parts from Hobbit, removed everything that stood in the way of a good movie, and added significant content from the LOTR appendices. Splendid effort that would make Tolkein proud. The plot became a lot more exciting with stone giants, wargs, and Azog the white orc.

Performances are top notch. Martin Freeman eases into the role of Bilbo. Dwarves were aptly cast and kudos to Peter Jackson to make them look distinct from human dwarves. Ian Mckellen is in his elements as Gandalf.

Technically, the film is superb. Lavish middle-earth locales where the line between reality and CGI is blurred beyong recognition. The pacing of the film is Peter Jacksonesque. He takes him time to set things up and if you are expecting a quick fix of 2 hours, the film may feel dragged at places.

Ultimately, the Hobbit makes you never want to leave middle-earth. Hope that the Tolkein estate gives permission for rest of the work as well.

TL;DR: The Hobbit is a gorgeous comeback to the land of middle-earth. A must watch for folks who have even a passing interest in fantasy.

Rating: Excellent.

Karmayodha - An impeccable yodha in a flawed battlefield

Theatre - Gopalan Grand Mall
Show - 22-Dec-2012, 9:45 PM
Status - Around 30%

Opportune time. Hero in prime form. More than a decent story line. Major Ravi still manages to screw things up as everyone had expected. But, the first three factors along with a straight forward take from the Major ensures a watchable flick. In an ideal world, this flick should have been directed by a better director. Joshi is the first name that comes to mind. May be Priyadarshan on a welcome return to non-comedy or one of the new folks like Rajesh Pillai. Had that happened, the film would have been an excellent one. Thankfully, Major has avoided his Kandahar antics and the direction slightly better than Kurukshethra as well. That said, he should stick on as a consultant/producer in films. Decent ideas, bad execution has been his motto.

At its heart, Karmayodha is taken from Taken. A vigilante cop against flesh traders. Script was nearly decent upto a point. Then Thenkashi Selvam comes into picture and the things that happen afterwards does not have a rhyme or reason. Director lacks the skill to cover up the deficiency and instead relies on his trademark sentimentalism. Major trademark family sentiments is alive and well throughout the film. Still, it starts bugging you only in the second half.

Relevance to the current scenario in our country as well as how young girls are tricked into the flesh trade is shown quite well. Major gets major props for that.

Apart from direction and the script, the problem is with the casting. When the experienced hands are in the picture, you never feel a problem. When others get in the frame, the quality of the film goes way down under. Binesh Kodiyeri is surprisingly tolerable, but he still is not an actor worthy of so much screen space. Same case with his friends, good enough for a fight or two, not any good otherwise. The old hands are good and goes a long way not making the film a chore to watch. Saikumar and Mukesh does well in their limited roles. Sukumari is tolerable, but Janardanan not so much. The girls are passable. Villain is too over the top and cartoonish.

Mohanlal carries the film throughout. He has brought in a brutal and out of control feel as Mad Maddy along with all the baggages that the character carries. He covers up for some terrible dialogues and stays true to the character. He is there throughout the film and that goes a long way in making the film watchable. Given the state of the character, punch dialogues would not have suited. Still better, fiery ones would have been a treat.

Camera is not that great. Editing at times slick, but passable. BGM is okayish, but the Karmayodha BGM is quite good.

If you decide to watch Karmayodha, you won't feel robbed or bored. You cannot help but wonder how good the film would have been under a different management.

TL;DR: Karmayodha takes up a relevant issue and ends up as a watchable, average fare. Watch it for Mohanlal and the theme.

Rating: Average and below.