“The action in Raid 1: Redemption makes Sly and Arnie movies look like Disney fairy-tales!!” said my friend. And that perfectly encapsulates the reason for its magnetic appeal. It is action envisioned and presented like never before.

Oh Gareth Evans!… It must take a special kind of madness to cook up action sequences like these. Breathless, yet breathtaking. Unwatchable ( for all the bone breaking, throat slitting gore), yet unmissable ( for its sheer brilliance). I was flinching in my seat, yet couldn't take my eyes off it.

It’s like a symphony of action, with the star (Iko Uwais) and hundreds of other performers moving in perfect harmony, at the command of the grand conductor - Gareth. And its sheer, brutal music. A kind which not everyone can digest, but those who can, can’t get enough of!

Well, if you have seen Raid 1, you will be surprised by the fact that this movie has a plot! Yep, it is almost double the length of its predecessor. Also, it is bigger in design and execution. While the first one is a no frills, all thrills action orgasm in a building, this is more like old fashion foreplay with some high octane bang.  It has action sequences in cars, trains, pubs, roads, jails but the biggest impact comes when Iko is in confined spaces, like toilets, kitchens and hallways.

The story is of a typical gangster movie, where the hero has to go undercover to find moles in the system. Iko sacrifices his personal life and infiltrates the mafia. The drama plays out in typical clichéd fashion, but when it comes to the action – it’s peerless! Be it the no-holds-barred brawl in the jail, or the mind-numblingly fast man-to-man combat in the end. It has to be seen to be believed. Yes, the plot makes the story move very slowly, but the action is worth waiting for. It’s almost as if Gareth wants to finger you until you say “Please”, and then hit all the right spots to make you say “Yess, Yess!”

While Iko, Cecep, Julie fight like a dream, it’s Gareth Evans (the director) who is the real hero of the film. He paces the film beautifully, orchestrating every action sequence with precision. The background score is electric and keeps the tension going. Also, the camerawork enhances the fast, brutal art of Silat (Indonesian Martial Art) many-folds.

Here’s to Gareth. He must remain in Indonesia and should keep directing such gems with a rare visceral impact. Hollywoodisation of this will be really sad. It will definitely lose its raw appeal. It’s a must watch for action lovers, but beware – this is not for the fainthearted. Buy your tickets now if you want to experience this action porn, full of grunts, fists, thrusts and more, on the big screen.

Rating: 7/10  

When I think of Godzilla, I remember the good old days of Giant Robot. I imagine a monster destroying buildings and Giant Robot saving the day. Not much has changed in 20 years, except today it is in 3D and is 30 times as expensive to watch. While the 1998 version, by the baap of disaster films (both literally and figuratively) Ronald Emmerich, was mildly amusing, this one is purely boring.   

Gareth Edwards, the director, creates some epic monsters and moments, but fails in the most basic of things. The script is as old as the concept of Godzilla. The screenplay ebbs from monstrous highs to abysmal lows, leaving you shifting in your seats. After a few views, even the monsters look boring.

The movie begins with tragedy. Bryan Cranston, of Breaking Bad fame, loses his wife to a disaster in the nuclear plant he works in. 15 years later, he still believes that it was a massive cover-up and the accident was not caused due to a natural disaster. By then his son (Aaron Taylor Johnson) has his own family and is a lieutenant. His wife is a nurse ( How original!). Then begins an unbelievably long chain of coincidences, with Aaron at the epicenter of every monster sighting in the world. When the monster first awakes, he is there. When the monster reappears in Hawai, he is there. The monster even swims all the way to San Fransico from Hawai, where quiet coincidentally Aaron’s family lives. It almost seems like the monsters are more attracted to him, than the radio-active shit that the scientists believe they are. Lest I forget, I must mention that this film has more than 1 monster. Infact, there are 3, 2 bad ones and 1 hero – the savior of humanity – Godzilla.

The problem with all these Disaster films is that they are extremely formulaic. There is always a family angle, there is a hero who is the epicenter of everything that is happening. He does the most inane things possible, but still survives ( not so surprisingly). There is the Golden Gate Bridge with the mandatory kids in a bus. There are millions of American soldiers, with heavy artillery, saving the world. There is a team sitting in the control room helplessly biting their nails. And then there is the WOHOO saved the world moment after which the Hero finally runs and kisses his wife/GF/etc).

Now the problem with this specific film is that apart from all the clichés, the pacing of the film is horrendously bad, there are not many edge of the seat moments and you remain detached almost throughout. Ken Watanbe simply broods like Alok Nath and seems as helpless as Rahul Gandhi in the elections. His eyebrows are the only thing that act throughout the film. Aaron Taylor Johnson lacks the hero appeal and Bryan Cranston is killed off pretty early. Even the sound design is not as epic as Del Toro’s summer blockbuster – Pacific Rim.

The summer is just getting worse. From Amazing Spiderman to this. If you really want to see this, I suggest lower your expectations. That way you might not be monstrously bored. Godzilla truly is a disaster film disaster.

Rating: 4/10

PS: On Friday, as this Godzilla entered the theaters, another Godzilla entered our Parliament. Let’s hope that king of monsters performs much better than this one.