Contagion Review  |

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 Rating:  'Contagion' - a spine-chilling real tale  - Abhi Disaster movies, where humanity faces an unassailable enemy in the form of a meteor, floods, virus, aliens etc. are aplenty. It would hence take a genius to make another and yet make it feel fresh enough for it to be enjoyable and terrifying. Steven Soderbergh, with "Contagion", is that master. Its genius lies in its matter-of-fact approach without literally making a statement on anything, either humanity or the possible theories behind an epidemic as also in not using melodrama to raise empathy. In the world of twists and counters twists, the film treads a near straight line, yet manages to give one the shivers. After a trip to Hongkong, Beth (Paltrow) falls sick and dies in a few days. Even before her husband can come to believe it, their son dies similarly. Before researchers identify the virus, hundreds of people all over the world begin to die. As the global health bodies jostle to figure what's happening, an epidemic breaks out that threatens to destroy the political, social and economic structure of the world as mobs run riot and anarchy rules. How humanity survives it, forms the later part of the film. "Contagion" is the story of one virus's journey through humans, its exponential multiplication and final elimination. Unlike many other virus disaster films like "28 Days Later" or "I Am Legend", it is not a horror film. Yet, it is much more terrifying for this one seems chillingly possible, as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), bird flu and others have proven. And it doesn't take a meteor like in the underrated masterpiece "Deep Impact" or "Armageddon"; not even aliens like in "Independence Day"; nor even global warming as in "2012" to threaten human life and bring the world to its knees. It takes one small, invisible virus. "Contagion" is a spine-chilling tale because it literally and very simplistically shows how a conveniently connected world could actually become a problem in such a case. And how the well oiled governmental machinery globally could collapse under such an onslaught. If one were to look at parallels or metaphors, they are aplenty. Consider for example, the financial contagion of 2008-09. The virus of greed, which first showed symptoms in America, nearly took down the world, till two years later, the same time it takes to control the virus in the film, it was controlled and the world limped back to normalcy. Face it, we live in a world where there may be physical borders but which is so well connected that viruses - be that on bodies or computers or financial systems - can spread rapidly through the world and systematically destroy everything. Thus, without attempting to make a statement, "Contagion" decimates the stupid notions of nationality and borders and paints the world as one extended body, where problems in one part, even one human in this case, can affect and destroy the world as we know it. And it is to the credit of a dream, ensemble star cast who not only do bit parts in a film they believed in, but also give their best. One can only hope, pray, wish that the scary possibility of such a story stays confined within cinema halls and that we actually never see it.

Johnny English Reborn Review  |

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Rating:  'Johnny English Reborn' is a reboot indeed  - abhi For every good, there's bad. For every suavity, there's the uncouth. And for every swashbuckling James Bond, you have a nutty Johnny English. So, if the Bond franchise can reboot, why not Johnny English? So what if the franchise, prior to this, was only one film old? After a rather embarrassing episode, suspended MI-7 spy Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) has been hiding in Tibet. However, information about an attempt on the Chinese Premier's life and no clues about its origin, forces the MI-7 to trace this unconventional spy and bring him back to Her Majesty's service. But, he is so bogged down by his colossal past failure, the question arises whether he can bring himself together to do the impossible in the present. Rowan Atkinson reprises the role he first essayed in the 2003 film Johnny English. And he reboots it as well; making this one a much subtler, refined and quirkier version of the first. Like the first film, this one has many moments, but unlike the first, this one does hold itself together till the end. There are some really funny moments. The one where English is chasing down a parkour exponent who's leaping through barriers and jumping over buildings while English uses his 'wisdom' to outsmart him, is especially funny. So is the one where he flies a chopper like he is driving a car and another one where he is being chased down by agents in fast car, while he's riding a wheel chair. As with most films or series that Atkinson has acted in, the story is like a vessel to comfortably set him up to play his childlike gags. Though cliched as it is, since we all have seen Atkinson deliver the goods in the past, this vessel does hold his gags comfortably together without being cheesy or too unbelievable. Yet, there's definitely a lack of originality in the film. Most of the gags are quite familiar and though Atkinson tries to instill a different sense of timing, he does not really get it right enough for the film to go beyond its own limitations. Despite the film never really taking off, it's good to watch some good old, trustworthy gags giving you company. Hope Atkinson does more of Johnny English. After all James Bond does need equal and opposite competition.