Well, I happened to do a double whammy movie watching recently when I visited Satyam Theatre for consecutive shows at 12:30 and 3:30 to see what all the build-up was about - The movie Oceans 13 & Pirates of the C - at Worlds end -Part 3 which are both vaguely interconnected movies - The Ocean comes in both right?
I have long been a great fan of the Ocean's 11 series - I mean Gentleman Thieves do have a certain attraction to lazy bums don't they? In adddition, these cons don't hit the average guy, they just take out richer and more despicable crooks. The latest addition to the series has all the razzledazzle of the series - great one-liners, suave Clooney, ingenious plans, good time-pass for the money - BUT, and this is a big but, I don't know whether I'd watch it again and again, like I did the first one. I think not - for this one lacks a certain something there was in the first edition, it lacks emotional connect - heart (is it the absence of an heroine?) I mean, remember Rambo? Those tag lines which went "First time was personal, second for the country, third for a friend"? Now Oceans 11 is based on the same - First time it was Personal, and how personal, it was literally a fight for Julia Roberts stolen from George Clooney and it made us root for the little guy with his brains and his buddies up against the rich bully. The second was so, so - not quite believable, but not this slick. The third for all its fast moving screenplay simply fails to build up that pressure and anticipation in the audience - heck, these Guy's are Ocean's Men - they can sure pull it off, can't they? And Al Pacino does a great job -as the oh so real, fall guy, who literally forces the audience to sympathize with his bewildered life. All in all, a good way to pass an empty afternoon - but I wont be joining the fan club based on this.
My next movie - was about the other Ocean - the big blue one. Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End has one astonishing scene where Captain Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp, forces the crew of the Black Pearl to try and rock their ship enough to capsize it - without alerting them to what he is aiming for. Other than that, the rest of the movie wasn't up to the hype - even when compared to a far better 2nd part - where every appearance of the Kraken on-screen led to a palpable tension in the audience watching the movie. This part doen't have that grip on the pulse of the audience - a weak villain compared to the Kraken (come on who's afraid of the Big Bad East India Company compared to an indesctructible monster?) - except maybe at the very end when Will Turner is stabbed by that despicable fish-face. Orlando Bloom in a fine understated performance - pulls the rug right out under Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp - both having heavy author backed roles. Johnny Depp did a far better role as the quavering Constable Ichabod Crane battling the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow - a more believable persona than in this half crazy/ half gay role. Wonder why they don't revive that franchise?
Well, that was me, film fan and fanatic - trying to watch two movies on the same day without a break . And on the whole - a day not wasted i think...........
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