ABCD: A Watchable Film Filled with Predictable Clichés

Any Body Can Dance, ABCD, is India’s first true blue-blooded 3D dance-genre film, full of clichés. ABCD is predictable in all sense of the word yet it is quite watchable, and what better team to direct India’s first true dance film than some of country’s finest dancers? After seeing Remo D’Souza’s directorial debut, Faltu, it was certain that come what may, Remo D’souza cant direct a film. Well for his second film he stuck to a theme he knows and understands the best, Dance.

ABCD is a film about dance and dancers. Vishnu (Prabhu Deva) is a celebrated, successful and dedicated choreographer of Jahangir Dance Academy. Vishnu finds himself at a loss when the dance academy’s proud and boastful owner, Jahangir (Kay Kay Menon), ousts him out of the academy with a new American choreographer to replace him. Disappointed and disheartened Vishnu is ready to leave Mumbai forever, but a good friend and talent of young dance enthusiasts of a ‘basti’ (a slum-like settlement), makes him return to his passion of dancing. Vishnu takes on himself to bring together this undisciplined and rowdy bunch of passionate dancers, to form a team (KKR) and compete in a dance competition.

The film’s best part and most important part is it’s dancing. All the dances in the film are not just beautiful but quite interesting as well. Especially the 3D, made these dances even more enjoyable to watch. When you see dancers like Remo D’Souza, Prabhu Deva, Ganesh Acharya, and the young dance enthusiasts from television’s most celebrated talent search show, Dance India Dance, then you realize the actual power of ABCD being, what I earlier wrote as well, a true blue-blood dance film.

Coming to the film’s story, if Remo D’Souza accepts that he rehashed all Step Up films to make ABCD, then I think every question arising on all the predictability in the story should be put to rest. But even if he does then also the clichés in the script are hard to pass by. All the strands of greed versus talent, rowdy undisciplined disciples working as a team, underdogs being driven to win a title…cliché, cliché, cliché.............

To read the full review of ABCD please visit the link:

http://notjustfilms.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/abcd-review/

MIB 3: One-time watch for the MIB fans,Rare Laughs,still waiting to be enthralled and entertained like MIB 1.

Men In Black (MIB) III is nice, comfortable, has its interesting moments, a some really great addition of characters and actors in the story, and is definitely way better than its predecessor (MIB II). But, yes there is a big good ole' capitalized But here; it fails to enthral you as something spectacular and imaginative.

Film begins as a hot girl walks into a high-security prison on moon, with rather harmless looking cake, visiting a ruthless alien held captive there. From the first look itself you kind-of start to feel 'haven't we seen that already, don't we know its a ploy to free the prisoner'; and you were right. The 'rather harmless' looking cake is the escape plan, and so the villain of the 3rd instalment is free. Boris The Animal (Jemaine Clement) is the prisoner who is seeking his revenge on Agent K of MIB who took away his freedom and his one hand, 40 years ago.

MIB partners, Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back to save the unsuspecting humans from the knowledge and harm of the aliens existing amongst them. This is followed by a few run-off-the-mill jokes by Agent J, and the continuous space oddities of the two-odd partners, and a few 'wait, that's an alien, who could have guessed' moments. 

Agent K had apprehended Boris The Animal in 1969, when he was working on his plans to take over Earth and a few other planets. The freed Boris now time travels to 1969 to the day when Agent K had foiled his plans and he had lost his one hand and freedom to the young Agent; in order to change the course of history. He wants to kill young Agent K before he arrested him, and he is successful in that.

Coming back to the present day, K has been dead for 40 years, and only person who refuses to believe this is his partner Agent J, being the only one whose memory has just been fractured rather than being erased. Agent J too must now time travel back to 1969, to stop Boris in his plans of complete annihilation plans of his partner and his planet. Once he is in 1969, he meets young Agent K (Josh Brolin) and sets out on the adventure to find Boris and kill him before he kills K. Rest will be a spoiler, that I think is to early to give out, and something surely good for a one-time fun catch-up with the franchise.

The film has some nice interesting laughable moments, such as the part where in 1969 Agent J is involved in a car theft; and the introduction of Andy Warhol in the story is quiet engaging. The recreation of the setting of 60s is quite vibrant and colourful, keeping with the look and feel of the era.. 

The best part about MIB III is definitely Brolin, as young Agent K, who is bang on perfect and reminds you so much of Tommy Lee Jones playing Agent K. He is a welcoming change to the film and a great insight into the young Agent K. He dons a perfect stone-faced expressions and one syllabi responses in a dead-pan voice; yet coming across very much unlike his 'older' self, is still a youthful man of late 20s. Agent K of 1969 is still un-tempered by the events that will be changing him completely to become very much like his present day self. Or well did we just hear the bells for the plot of the next offering of the series ringing out loud. What is it that changed Agent K from the one in 1969 to the one whom we have seen in the first two film?? Let's see if this thread is exploited ahead or is it just a confusion that film created to leave unattended, for sure did a leave a perplexing thorn for me as the film ended.

What I also liked about this film, other than Brolin, was the introduction of the new friendly alien character Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg), he is someone who can perceive different future realities at the same time. This makes an interesting chance for the director and the special effect team of the film to rattle their brains to bring out some interesting special effects. 

The make up artist it seems has done some interesting takes this time on the looks of characters this time around, but sadly the script and direction fails to take them forward and completely exploit them to dish out something engrossing. I won't say much about 3D, because even though the 3D here is not irritating or disturbing blackening your vision; but it does very little to increase your viewing experience as well, as there is very little action in the film that would make it 3D worthy.

I definitely missed Agent Z, Frank the Pug, and the hilarious 'worm guys'. Also the jokes at times became a bit stale, and the plot has nothing magnificently interesting to offer, as in it doesn't appear to be anything new. The last movie in the series came out about a decade back and since then there have been countless other alien flicks in between to bridge in our gap. I wish MIB III would have neutralized me as an audience before it began, that way I would have still been able to laugh and few jokes, wow-ed the time travel concept, and loved the mushy-touching ending, that is absolutely misfit in an MIB film, that is supposed by about intense action, cool gadgets, and essentially funny.

In the end, I would definitely tell that it is a one-time watch for sure, only for those who are fans and followers of the franchise. I would give MIB III, two and half stars. One for Josh Brolin alone, one for the new addition of characters and the make-up artist, and half for being in love with Agent K & J.