By Rama Gaind
Film: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg
Director: Brad Bird
In the fourth installment of the Mission Impossible series, super-spy Ethan Hunt (Cruise) accepts another assignment after a break of five years.
As a member of the IMF team, they race against time to track down a dangerous terrorist called Hendricks who is planning an attack on the US. One attempt to stop him ends in tragedy after an explosion causes severe damage to the Kremlin. This results in the president involving Ghost Protocol under which the IMF is disavowed and being offered no help or back-up.
Ethan and his team brave the odds with a fearless attitude, constantly in motion, undertaking some spectacular stunts along the way including Cruise dangling outside the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The plot moves at break-neck speed between Budapest, Moscow, Dubai and Mumbai.
With Ghost Protocol, director Brad Bird delivers something extraordinary out of a recognisable storyline.
Cruise, who is surprisingly agile, is the real star (and the film’s executive producer), but the role of the female co-star is underplayed with Patton being one-dimensional.
However, Bollywood star Anil Kapoor is impressive in the small, but significant role of a Mumbai-based tycoon.
Puss in Boots: A delightful spin-off from the Shrek series, you will have fun trying to find out how Puss (Antonio Banderas) became an outlaw.
Arthur Christmas: A lively animated comedy in 3D, Santa’s younger son (James McAvoy) dashes across the world to deliver a misplaced present.
Restless: Gus Van Sant’s unusual, bittersweet romance for which you will need a pack of tissues. Australia’s Mia Wasikowska is a star.
Bollywood film: Don 2
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Lara Dutta, Kunal Kapoor, Om Puri
Director: Farhan Akhtar
This sequel sees Shah Rukh Khan return to anti-hero roles he carried off with aplomb earlier in his career (Anjaam, Baazigar, Darr).
This character is attractive, but wicked and immoral. SRK dons several disguises from looking debonair to being dishevelled.
The intrigue surrounds a scheme involving the robbery of currency printing plates from a bank.
The Don appears in Malaysia, gets arrested in order to get convicted Vardhan (Irani) out of jail as he has the keys to a video they is used to blackmail a bank VP to get access to the security system of a German bank.
This is an action film that sees the Don’s one-man army being introduced in Thailand, then there’s the convenient escape from a Malaysian prison and some predictable car chases in Germany.
Jason West does wonders with the exotic locations with some eye-catching cinematography through the French Riviera, the jungles of Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Zurich and Berlin.
In this heist film, the bland first hour lacks thrills, while the energetic second keeps you on the edge of the seat.
It comes in a sleek package, has witty dialogues and worthy action sequences, but it needed a tight reign on the script.
The ‘wow’ factor is missing from the music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, even though the score has plenty of vigour.
Don 2 emulates the changing trends in Hindi cinema and redefines ‘slick’ in Bollywood.
Farhan Akhtar proves, yet again, that he is one of Hindi cinema’s stylish director/storytellers.
