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REVIEWSPREVIEWS: Cradle 2 the Grave
Cradle 2 the Grave has been karate-chopping the competition at the box-office. Jet Li’s previous martial arts/hip-hop thriller, the fabulous Romeo Must Die with the late Aaliyah, was a huge success and created a new fusion as far as film genres are concerned: Martial Arts-African American. With Cradle, the kung fu master returns to the genre, but without the romance, because this time he teams up with gangsta rapper turned actor DMX, née Earl Simmons.
In this fast-paced, action-packed, brainless thriller, Li plays a Taiwanese cop who has come to Los Angeles to recover a bag full of black diamonds that were stolen from his government. When an international criminal (Mark Dacascos) kidnaps the daughter of a gang leader (DMX) as part of the diamond heist, the gangster and his men join Li in his intensive search.
Moviegoers will get a kick out of Li’s grace and lightning-quick moves. His fight scenes are sensational and seemingly effortless. Half the time it looks like his hands are buried in his pockets while he’s fending off multiple villains! However, Cradle’s perfunctory plot, borderline acting (fortunately Li’s English lines are minimal), and the lack of chemistry between the leads prevents the film from kung-fu-ing into your heart.—-T. U. Dawood
Leela
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Leela is an American production which deals with an Indian theme and employs Indian actors. Written and directed by Somnath Sen, the movie focuses on themes like broken relationships and confused identity of the desis living in the US.The film narrates the story of a strong and liberal woman called Leela (Dimple Kapadia) who is a visiting professor in the States. She is experiencing a troubled marriage with her poet husband and during the visit, her interaction with certain people changes her life. One of them is Kris, who is her student and finds a lot of comfort in Leela’s friendship after learning of his mother’s (Deepti Naval) affair with an American. There is also a sub-plot in which Kris’s father had thrown his wife and son out of their home. Kris and Leela start getting intimate when he woos her in response to a weird challenge from his friends.
The story of a young boy getting attracted to a much older woman is not a new one both in Hollywood Summer of ‘42 as well as in Bollywood (Dil chahta hai). But what separates Leela is the realistic approach with which it deals with characters and their conflicts. As a director, Somnath Sen has done a fine job, but as a writer, he has left some loopholes. Some dialogues are so vague that one cannot extract any meaning from them. The music of Jagjit Singh is soulful and enjoys an appropriate place in the movie. Dimple Kapadia seems to fully understand what kind of character she is playing and as a result, she gives a mind-blowing performance.
Leela deals with a mature theme so it’s recommended to viewers who are interested in serious stuff.—Azeem Haider
The Core
The Core is yet another disaster flick where a bunch of hotshots (Aaron Eckhart, Hillary Swank, Delroy Lindo) from different fields are handpicked to save the world. They eventually achieve the target, albeit with a few hiccups along the way, including losing some of the crew. The only difference between this and other natural disaster films is that this time, it’s the earth’s core which has stopped rotating. This process is responsible for the electromagnetic shield which protects us from the harmful radiation of the sun. With the core stalled and the shield down, solar winds penetrate the atmosphere and literally cook the planet, which gives the special effects wizards an excuse to show off their ‘destructive’ powers.
The earth can be put back on track manually only, which is achieved in this case with the help of a subterranean craft capable of reaching the core of the earth and detonating a couple of nukes. Hillary Swank, after an award-winning performance in Boys Don’t Cry, is in a stereotype role here which lacks the depth to make any impression.
From the very first scene the movie promises to be classic Hollywood fare — destroyed buildings, bridges falling apart, chaotic atmosphere and never a dull moment. If you can live with that, then you shouldnn’t have much trouble getting through the two hours. A word of advice though: wait a few weeks for the master print so it could do justice to whatever this movie has to offer.—-Saqib Khan
Willard
Willard spins the tale of an introverted young man, Willard Stiles (Crispin Glover) who is a loser. He is ostracized by all, can’t stand up for himself and is always subdued by his boss. Willard lives with his ailing mother in a dilapidated house and hardly has any ‘human’ friends. The only friends he does have are a couple of rats (Ben and Socrates) who inhabit his home. Gradually, the number of rats at his house multiplies and he soon has an entire legion of rodents at his command. Sounds like the Pied Piper minus the noble intentions.
Willard’s services are about to be terminated by his over-ambitious boss, but the last straw for him is the death of one of the rats, Socrates. This leaves a severe emotional scar on him and he decides to unleash his wrath. He assembles his ‘band of followers’ and seeks revenge on those who treated him with disrespect. Ben, a cunning rat of unusual proportions, now leads Willard’s army.
The movie revolves around the rats for the most part, and unless you are an animal rights activist or a rat freak, you won’t exactly enjoy it. It’s actually pathetic to think of someone who would confide in rats and socialize with them. And perhaps, that is where Willard’s strength lies; it forces you to think! A movie not for everyone.—Taimur Saleem
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