The water horse, legend of the deep : Directed by Jay Russell, it is just another fantasy film. Special effects are good, locations are great, but the plot is not well developed.
The main character is a boy who comes across a mysterious egg and takes it home. The story develops with an unknown creature hatching from the egg.
The creature, the water horse, that hatches out of the egg is named "Crusoe" and the creature becomes the boy's best friend. We are made to believe that the water horse is a huge but lovable creature. The bonding between the boy and the water horse is the theme of the story. The theme is cute because it is always cute when a huge animal forms a bond with a human being. Is this a cliche? Maybe.
The boy's father, a sailor, is missing after the ship he was in, sunk during the war. The boy doesn't believe that his father is dead. The boy's memories about his father are shown as flashbacks in the narrative.
The boy's mother looks confused. Confused about what? Her role, probably. There are hints of a love story developing between this lady and the handyman of the house. This parallel plot is not developed and we are made to feel that it is not important. Was the script writer (or the director) not confident about this story line? Probably, yes.
I was not able to connect to the characters. I didn't like watching it. At no point I found me saying "Brilliant".
Accident (Kannada, 1985): This was directed by Shankar Nag. This is the story of a spoiled son of a rich father, a politician. One night, this spoiled son drives his car on people sleeping on the footpath and kills 12 of them during the act. After the incident, he drives back home, washes the car, changes the tyres and tries to be normal. This accident and the following incidents form the plot of the movie.
However, the evidences lead the police to the son. The father comes to know about the incident. He is shocked, but doesn't want to lose the elections and decides to play the political game. The cop who was working on this case is asked to go on a long leave. Frustrated and helpless, the cop calls up a journalist and discloses the details of the accident and the culprit.
Shankar Nag plays the role of the journalist. Rest of the movie is about the journalist's fight against the culprits.
I liked the movie. The characters look real and convincing. There is a poetic justice in the climax and you are made to believe that truth triumphs. But that is the director's attempt to end the movie with a positive note. Thumbs up to Shankar Nag.
The alphabet killer : The article in wikipedia explains the plot better than I can do. I liked the movie. The main character is schizophrenic. The hallucinations of the character are effectively used in the narrative. At one point, her hallucinations become yours too.
The twists in the plot come at right points. The narrative is not desperate and doesn't try to impress the viewer. Plus, there is no logical conclusion. It just presents a story and allows the user to decide on the meaning. At least, I like to believe that way.
Dostana : Not worth watching. In fact, it is a crime watching it. Most of the times, Bollywood sells nonsense. But this one is extreme. I hated it for cliches it uses. I hated it for the treatment of characters. I hated it for the laziness of the script writer. I hated it, I don't remember for what else.
Vaaranam Ayiram : Again, the wikipedia article explains better. I liked the movie. The script is not tight and the director has managed to use this as a positive point. The movie doesn't try to prove any point. It shows the transformation of a boy to a man, in a refreshing way.
The female characters are dressed up like normal human beings and not like models ready to walk on the ramp. Phew! It is such a relief to see normal human beings on screen. That is the first thing I liked. I liked Surya for the way he portrayed the two characters. I liked the way the kidnap incident in the movie is handled. I somehow felt that the director was just trying to show the transformation in the character. I felt that the fight in the kidnap incident was not to impress the viewer.
The movie tries to tell many things about life, without giving in to popular beliefs. The underlying emotion of the movie is the love towards life. When I realised this, I liked the movie more.
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