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thematchless-13486
Reviews
Explorers (1985)
Boring
So we wanted to watch a nice, time pass, nostalgic, family movie and we landed on this title through IMDB's suggestion cards (or whatever they are called). Having already seen movies from the 80s such as "the Goonies", "Flight of the Navigator" and "Short Circuit", we were definitely expecting more from this movie. Add to this the fact that some of the reviews posted here seem to be stemming from some sort of nostalgia (the kind that would even over look the weak, slow & boring story telling in the movie) got our hopes even higher.
The story definitely had potential and there were many missed opportunities that could've otherwise made the movie more interesting, engaging and less boring to watch. I wouldn't want to watch it again.
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021)
Too noisy and stupid!!!
I cant believe the score it has on IMDB. This movie was too much noisy full of nonstop destruction and annoying characters. At many places I was wondering, how this movie can be suitable for 7 year olds? It gave me a headache, what effect would this trash movie have on an innocent 7 year old's mind. I truly regret playing this movie for my kids and advise especially Asian parents to first watch and then decide if their children should watch this movie. The animation was good and that's it. This also shows that the rating system that suggests this movie good for 7y old is very questionable. Not worth watching in my opinion.
Encounter (2021)
It's definitely not as bad as the scores suggest
The IMDB score here makes it look as bad as Moon Fall which is just not fair. If this movie is 5.xx then Moon Fall should get 1.
Technically, cinematography wise, acting wise and even story telling wise this movie was way better than what I had expected and it certainly had something to offer. Riz Ahmed did a very good job as was expected of him. The two boys especially the elder one also acted very well. The real issue with the movie though is that the point they were trying to make didn't come through as strongly as it should've. The ending, although not as bad, did leave more to desire and that's pretty much it, rest of the movie is definitely worth watching something I can't say for Moon Fall.
Eternals (2021)
A very weak attempt
The story line was flawed and very childish. The whole movie felt like a desperate struggle for justifying a story line having a flawed logic at its core. It's one of those movies where you can clearly see that they are now beginning to loose it in favor of promoting certain political agendas at the cost of good content and story writing.
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018)
Pleasant Movie.
Right from the animation to the story line, this movie is pleasant and worth watching with kids. While based on a true story, the lines between the fact and the fiction get blurred so easily that it begins to look more like a fantasy. There are certain formula stereotypical characters and ideas in the movie that has forced my to rate it down to 7. Otherwise it did have the potential of getting 8-9 /10. Overall it is certainly recommended.
Mia et le lion blanc (2018)
Falls short!! Parents be warned, should watch it before showing it to the kids.
There are certain things shown in the movie that could leave the children curious and uncertain specially towards their relationship with the parents. It is strongly advised that parents should view it before the kids do and then decide accordingly. The script is very weak. The message in it is very good. The bonding between Mia and the white lion didn't look convincing enough. It was as if a switch is turned by the director and Mia suddenly begins to develop a strong bond with the cub for apparently no convincing reason. My 7yr old daughter didn't like it as much.
Croc-Blanc (2018)
A pleasant surprise!
Simply beautiful with it's rather minimalist approach towards story telling. The whole family enjoyed.
Sherdil (2019)
It's in the second half where it picks up! The main spoilers are at the bottom of the review.
Although the movie starts with a rather impressively convincing dog fight especially if one considers that it's been made by a very young and recently revived Pakistani cinema with a very limited budget, yet ironically, the real problem is in the first half of the movie. The first half of the movie has all sorts of issues starting from storytelling, editing to acting and even casting. Add to that the rather weak musical numbers which otherwise can save the day for a movie much like they did for JPNA2 (not saying that JPNA2 was as weak a movie rather it relied heavily on its musical numbers). The worst actors in the movie would have to be the hero's father accompanied by some extras and the weakest casting choice ironically would have to be the heroin of the movie as she never looked inspiring enough on the silver screen and therefore the chemistry between the protagonists was missing to say the least. However, if you are able to make it through the first half then the second half of the movie surprisingly truly picks up. So much so I was beginning to wonder as to whether the first half of the movie was made by another team altogether, but no, perhaps it's due to the fact that in the first half PAF was trying to make a love story and unsurprisingly failed badly at it while in the second half they get to the real point and the focus of the movie naturally build's up. It was sad to see only 5 people watching the movie and from that number a couple left after watching the first half leaving only the three of us to enjoy the second half. Had the movie not been so weak in the first half, it wouldn't have met such a sad and gloomy fate in the cinema house.
Note: The spoiler paragraph along with the alert has been moved to the bottom from here for the reader's convenience.
To wrap it up I wish someone could make an edited version of the movie to reduce the burden of the first half cause then it could get a really good score but for now I am forced to give it 6/10 (and that too could be considered generous from certain point of views) with a heavy heart as the movie isn't bad in totality. In fact the main reason for all of the above may have been due to the budget constraints that were probably eaten up by the dog fight scenes. Please if you can, then do wait for the second half to start and you may not regret watching it as much. We came out very happy after watching the movie perhaps also due to the fact that we have all the claims in the movie to back up in the real life in the light of the recent incidents that have taken place in the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan. Hope we learn our lessons sooner and learn to give and earn respect. Pakistan Zindabad.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
The hero's acting (Mikal Zulfiqar) too improves with the introduction of one of the finer actors Hassan Niazi who is playing the Indian Pilot and has previously proven his mettle in the movie Malik. With his introduction the level of acting goes considerably higher. The best thing about the movie is that it didn't follow the mellow drama and didn't run down on the adversary in the endeavor to highlight the hero. A critical mistake that even Richard Attenborough made in the movie Gandhi (1982). In fact the Indian pilot is depicted as a very professional and composed officer who wouldn't lose focus on the mission or play it dirty when the time comes. While the Pakistani pilot on the other hand, though very capable, is shown to be aggressive and someone who needs to learn a few lessons in order to become a greater fighter pilot. Those lessons he learns indirectly from the adversary. The movie also very nicely touches on some poking things and doesn't take typical route towards explaining or justifying them and by the way, these are the places where one begins to wonder if the second half of the movie was made by another team. Another thing that failed to fully establish a point is the hero's rich family background, though it may have made a greater impact if he was shown to be coming from a rather humble middle class family, the reason why they probably did it was to show that the hero is willing to leave all the luxuries of a wealthy life in favor of his passion for flying and for his motherland which, as mentioned before, didn't make the impact it was supposed to leave.