I am really getting into the groove of these Bollywood movies!

When I watched Dhoom 1 and 2 it turns out I watched a couple of the best Bollywood movies I might ever watch, with amazing dance scenes, amazing chases; amazing fights... amazing everything compared to the (I suppose) more mediocre quality of the average Bollywood movie. In terms of realistic/majestic fighting, catchy tunes and car chases this one doesn't compare, but it was a great movie all the same, in other ways.

It's about a criminal, Don, about his double, Vijay, about a corrupt cop, two other gang leaders in the criminal organization where Don still isn't boss (hint hint), a girl, a kid, a victim... and about a lot of fates, all of them intertwined. The further it goes, the more it surprises, and only at the end is everything really revealed.

At times I'm thinking the acting could've been better; the main character isn't as sincere as he could be... or is he? Everyone's really not who they say they are, or who they seem to be, and at the end of it all... I'm both a little disappointed over the results, a little exalted over the clever plot that was actually a plan all along, yet at the same time a bit concerned about how things will turn out in the future for all characters who were who they seemed to be... and what about that kid? Who will take care of him now? Onto the sequel!

Btw, this isn't the best watch if you just want action, even if has plenty of that: jumps without parachutes, fistfights, gunfights, car chases; explosions. It was however one of the better plot-twisters I've seen in a while. Enjoy the ride!

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

One of the things that Bollywood haven't forgotten, one thing that Hollywood seemed to abandon after the 80s, is how to make a good action movie! They don't scrimp (just learned a new word!) when it comes to camera pans, replays, snappy sound effects and cheesy fights or romance... but that's how it's supposed to be! That's what entertains! American movies are exaggerated in a different kind of way, in a... too exaggerated kind of way (is that even possible?!). Anyway, about this movie..

The main character in this movie isn't just one character, but two, two characters that look so similar it might as well be the same actor. One's a cop, one's a thief, and through crazy circumstance their fates intertwine. Of course there's also a little love on the side, both drama and comedy and plenty of action to balance it out.

The movie starts off with a clue, a hint at what's coming next (a grave that's filled with stones, a notion that Vikram Singh Rathore is still alive! And then... it jumps to another city, to another character (before this mysterious Vikram Singh Rathore is really introduced) and for a while I forget about him completely, as the movie delves into comedy and introduces this Rowdy Rathore character, as he later calls himself: a swindler, child-hater (so of course he gets a kid), drummer, happy-go-lucky dude who suddenly stumbles upon the girl of his dreams, and then a treasure chest with a little girl in it, and then suddenly a group of people are all out to kill him. Not until mid-movie is it revealed what the introduction was all about... or maybe I was just thinking slow.

That's where things start changing, and a much more sinister side of the movie is finally revealed. I was a bit shocked at the shift of plot. It's sudden; unexpected, and all of a sudden it's a fight for survival, for justice, about life and death (there's a bit of both) and then... it jumps back to the comedy.

You're never really sure if the next scene's going to be powerful and brutal, heart-wrenching or just fun, and that's one of the things I like about this flick. Some people may call it inconsistent, but I believe it's a strength rather than a flaw, and all but unintentional. Then of course there's all that sensual dancing we associate with Bollywood, some pretty intense fights, some pretty good special effects too. Maybe It's the variation, or maybe this is really how movies were meant to be, but I'm really enjoying this Bollywood rage! Great watch!

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

At the beginning of the movie, I'm thinking the old actors are all back! Well at least the thief. It starts with an elaborate heist, snowboarding on dunes of sand, and a quote I'll probably remember If I can see the skies [in the crown], it can be seen from the skies.

Turns out the thief from the last movie no longer is the same after all, though, so maybe the cops final words weren't without meaning. What a waste of life, is what he said. At that time I thought the thief would obviously be back in the sequel, and the cop would be wrong, that it was more an actual escape than just suicidal stupidity... but it turns out that's not the case. So that was a shame... but there's a new thief now, a better one, and a plot that intrigues plenty.

The two cops are still playing main roles, but the one you feel empathy for is turning into more of a clown than just a sidekick, the girl he loves falls in love with another guy, and at the start of the movie she's not even present (what about that final scene in the last one?!)... it didn't follow the track I had hoped. Once I get over these introductory disappointments, there's no denying it's a great movie, but it'd have been better if it wasn't a sequel, the loose ends aren't picked up at all.

The fights are the highlights of the film. On the roof of a train, on boats, on jet-skis, on rooftops, in Brazil (!)... they're all great! I miss the motorcycle action a bit (there's a bit, but not near as much as the last one), and it feels like the movie has moved away from just speed-based warfare to regular thievery, which is another disappointment. The dances aren't as flashy as in the prequel, not quite. Great movie anyway, but the original was something else. Let's see how #3 makes up for these losses!

At least the ending is happy. :)

 rated 3/5: not bad

Don't know how I stumbled upon this movie, maybe by title, expecting something with a bit of action.

It did have action, but it also had the tale of an abducted girl, a psychopathic junkyard kid eating human flesh together with the corpses of his dead parents, feeding his dog human material, finally doing the error of trying to kidnap a female FBI agent, having his junkyard blown up, going up in a ball of flames, his dog getting shot in the face and both girl and agent escaping soundly, partly thanks to a somewhat alert old Sheriff. Oh, spoiler alert btw.

The movie ends with this inspiring message:

According to an F.B.I behavioral unit study, 85% of the world's serial killers are in the United States of America.

Hmm, makes you wonder if the states breed serial killers (not consciously, of course... or is not of course?), or if it's just the place they're most suited to be, with gun laws, private properties, capitalistic interests and such regulations that benefit the individual instead of the country as a whole. It's an interesting topic!

As for the movie... nothing wrong with the acting, nothing wrong with anything really, not acting, nor plot, but it wasn't my type. It's gritty, moody, dirty, depressing... not very memorable. It is based upon a real event, though..

 rated 2/5: decent

It's just past New Year, closing in on 2... the most inspiring time of day! Think I'll get a bit of a head start on this New Year's project. :) All the hopes, all the dreams, all the visions, will I see... my ambitions, redeemed? Or by wisdom, envisioned.

---

The New year is here,
Pyro-ware lit the air,
Yesterday I shed a tear
For hopes that never flared

But this year, I'm not scared,
That I won't be in it's care,
Like a Snake I'll soak bliss for this is -
My year.

So hear me as I thin!
For a while I disappear,
As the air clears I venture
Away into the cosmos!

So where do I begin?
For a while I'm but a bare,
A blank, an empty page,
A stank, of pending change

Give thanks, to all the banks,
Give blanks, to all who kill,
And will, this year be crank?
Or crunk? My will is ill

In bunks, we lie still
And fill our minds with highlights,
Of a trialled life and trails,
Of success and many fails.

And darkness, and dread,
It's parked in, my head,
But there, something flares..
Something fair! Something gleams!

Shed your fears and lets beam to-
Two-thou-sand-four-teeeen..

BzzzzzzZzzZzzzt.

Happy New Year! May your visions for this new era sparkle even brighter than the fireworks in the sky! May your dreams come true! May you encounter supreme bliss, world peace and a cure for hunger as a bonus!

Have a good one. :)