Da 5 Bloods (2020)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 1

 

VERDICT – 4/5

 

 

PROS –
1) Beneath Spike Lee’s usual black emancipation theme, this movie is an intense treasure hunt adventure where 4 US Army veterans return to Vietnam to retrieve the hidden gold. What happens next is the routine story of greed and mistrust.
2) Delroy Lindo as Paul gave the performance of his lifetime.
3) The same actors played their younger-self in the flash-back scenes without any make-up or de-aging effect. This was a bold move from the director.

 

 

CONS –
1) 154 minutes running time is not acceptable for this story. The entire first hour was spent on plot built-up.
2) Spike Lee’s obsession with the black community and racism ruins everything. He should try making a stand-alone documentary next time to vent out his bitterness.
3) The primary plot borrows heavily from the back-story of Charade (1963). 

 

 

QUOTE –
Otis: Madness! Madness!

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 1
CULT – 1

VERDICT – 5/5

 
PROS –
1) The epic finale of the 11-year-old journey culminating with the 22nd film. A journey started by Jon Favreau, led by Joss Whedon, and concluded by the Russo brothers. A rare grand emotional movie event of this generation.
2) The time travel plot enabled the screenwriters to add all the good & bad, major & minor characters from the franchise to make one final cameo in this grand finale.
3) Captain America lifting Mjolnir is got to be the most epic scene of this movie. A scene 4 years in the making.
4) A fulfilling climax for Steve Rogers.
5) Fun filled storyline with great comic-relief from Ant-Man and Thor “The Dude” Lebowski.
6) An epic finale needs an epic sacrifice. It had to be Tony Stark.

 

 

CONS –
N/A

 

 

QUOTE –
Rocket: What did you do?
Thor: I went for the head.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 1
CULT – 1

Verdict – 5/5

 

Pros –
1) A comic-book movie plot gains weight when the heroes hit rock-bottom and a triumph costs enormous sacrifice.This was not even a triumph but the casualty is huge.
2) Not a single boring sub-plot.No time wasted on built-up.High on emotions, not just from the Avengers but Thanos as well.
3) In spite of all the battle sequences, the comic element was not compromised.
4) The jaw-dropping climax that will put Rains of Castameres to shame.
5) Thanos on one side, single-handedly balanced the scale with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on the other side. Probably the best multi-starrer.
6) Avengers musical theme used extensively for the first time.
7) The presence of Red Skull on Vormir left a lot of unanswered questions.
8) Ebony Maw: Boba Fett of MCU.

 

Cons –
1) We know the timeline will eventually get reset in Infinity War II.

 

Quote –
Tony Stark: I’m sorry.Earth is closed today.

Black Panther (2018)

STORY – 1
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 1
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 0

Verdict – 3/5

Pros –
1) Return of Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue
2) Michael B. Jordan as “Killmonger” – Villain with a motive
3) Winston Duke as M’Baku – entertaining character

 

Cons –
1) The whole Wakanda civilization is full of contradiction – super advanced science with a functional xenophobic monarchy where the king is chosen by a ritual combat.
2) Entertaining one-time watch origin story- it’s hyperbolically cherished by critics as an emancipating movie for the black community.
3) Forest Whitaker as Zuri – seriously stereotyped.

Quote –
T’Challa: We can still heal you…
Erik Killmonger: Why, so you can lock me up? Nah. Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ’cause they knew death was better than bondage.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

STORY – 0
DIRECTOR – 1
ACTOR – 0
MUSIC – 0
CULT – 0

Verdict – 1/5

 

Pros –

1) Crossbones fighting Cap. America
2) Return Of General Ross
3) Ant-man & Spider-man should be in a MCU movie teaming together : Paul Rudd made best of his short screen-time.
4) Berlin airport battle : Giant-Man sequence
5) Daniel Brühl : Convincing as always
6) Re-enactment of Civil War # 7 Cover Art.

 

Cons –

1) Basically this movie core secret is Bucky responsible for killing Howard Stark
2) Martin Freeman : too less screen time
3) Tom Holland as Peter Parker : Can’t let Toby out of my head,he’ll remain the definitive Spidey.

Quote –

Zemo: Mission Report: December 16, 1991.